Anabasis: The Persian Expedition

I became aware of this story when reading Will Durants History of Ancient Greece. Durant described it as one of the greatest military accomplishments in history. I knew right then, I had to read it. This is the account of an army of 10,000 Greek mercenaries who were hired by Cyrus the Persian to help him overthrow his brother, the King. Cyrus, however, was defeated and killed in battle stranding the Greeks in Persia. To make matters worse, the Greek officers were slain by Persians under a false flag of truce, leaving the army leaderless, surrounded by overwhelming hostile forces and without provision 1500 miles from home. Leaderless, broke and despondent, the army, encouraged by Xenophon (354 B.C.) who was a solider on the expedition, elected new offices and began to fight its way home. This is a story of leadership, faith and courage. What is particularly interesting is the dialogues recorded (or recreated) by Xenophon. Especially telling was the debate among the officers as they were negotiating with the Persians before they were slaughtered. They were caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. Could they trust the Persian truce? Were they capable of defeating such a large army so far from home? If they choose to retreat, just how could they get this army of 10,000 home? They choose to negotiate and were betrayed and killed.No group of people remains leaderless for long. Leaders will arise, for the good or the worst. Fortunately for the Greeks, good men began to lead, and the long retreat up through Armenia, Kurdistan and to the Black Sea began. Throughout the march they faced one crisis after another- attacked by hostiles, struggling through the snowy mountains, depraved of food, water and provision. What is particularly sad, was the growing anarchy in the army as it came nearer to Greek civilization. Party factions arose, men began identify with their particular city-state rather than the army, resulting in discouragement and loss of life. This has to rank with one of the greatest military marches in history, perhaps only matched my Mao's long march during the Communist revolution in China. It is worth the read.

This is an excellent edition for those who are studying Greek on their own. The Anabasis is a fine second year book because its Greek is easier than the "Apology of Socrates" by Plato. This edition also has grammatical notes and a Greek-English dictionary of all the words you will need for translation. You do not have to spend hours looking them up in the Liddell-Scott lexicon. Also, it lists interesting cognates and borrowings for most words. I strongly recommend this edition for those working on Greek as a hobby or outside of an academic environment.

This is an excellent translation of Xenophon's classic report, also known as "Anabasis." Xenophon (c. 430 B. C. to c. 355 B. C.) was a Greek soldier and historian who was born in Athens and was a student of Socrates. In 401 B. C., Xenophon joined an army of Greek mercenaries who were aiding Cyrus the Younger in his military campaign against his brother, King Artaxerxes II. Unfortunately, Cyrus was killed in the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 B. C. and the 10000 Greeks find themselves alone in enemy territory, more than 1000 miles from the nearest Greek colony. In addition, the leaders of the force were treacherously murdered by the Persian satrap Tissaphernes. Xenophon is one of the Greek leaders chosen to lead the army in retreat out of Persia. In a march that lasted five months, traveled over 1500 miles, and overcoming many obstacles (both external and internal), they finally reach the colony of Trapezus (now Trabzon, Turkey) on the Black Sea. This book, which (in the original Greek) is usually the first book read by modern students of the ancient Greek language, is Xenophon's eyewitness account of that retreat and is one of the most famous books in military history. It should be required reading for everyone.