was Xenophon, the future historian of the expedition, the friend of Sokrates who still lives for us in his pages. Lured by the highly coloured pictures of his friend Proxenos, who spoke of Cyrus as immeasurably dearer to him than his country, Xenophon was induced to join the prince, as one of the few Greek horsemen in his camp, under the assurance that he was marching to punish the Pisidians and that at the close of the expedition he should at once return home with an ample recompense for his toil. This delusion was shared by all the Greek commanders except Klearchos, who was alone admitted to the secret. On reaching the Phrygian city of Kolossai the number of the Greek troops was increased by the arrival of 1,000 hoplites and 500 peltasts under the Thessalian Menon.

On reaching Tarsos the Greek mercenaries discovered that they had been drawn thus far by a mere feint. They had left the Pisidians far behind them. The real object aimed at must therefore be the overthrow of the Great King himself. But they had been hired for no such purpose, and when the order came to march on, it was met by a flat refusal which called forth summary punishment. But the army was not in the humour to be deterred even by the harsh measures adopted by Klearchos. Violence provoked resistance, and Klearchos, having narrowly escaped being stoned to death, thought it prudent to take another course, and summoned his men to a general assembly. There is something ludicrous in the picture in which Xenophon represents this terrible ruffian as standing before them for a long time weeping like a woman, Hideous in face, timber-toned in voice, he had brought his men by a studied system of severity to fear himself more than they feared the enemy; but yet he knew that something might be gained from Greek soldiers by showers of crocodile's tears before he began his address. The whole scene was a sham, With sobs and tears he informed his silent and astonished hearers how keenly the present state of things distressed him. Cyrus had bestowed on him 10,000 dareiks, which he had spent not on himself but in levying men and in providing for their comfort and efficiency. Their refusal to march on would therefore compel him either to be ungrateful to Cyrus or to be treacherous to them. He should abide by their decision; but he could do so only as their comrade, not as their leader. They were to him country, friends, allies, his all, for without them he could neither injure

an enemy nor help a friend. His address was received with hearty cheers, and more than 2,000 men left the encampment of Xenias and Pasion and took up their position by that of Klearchos.

In a second assembly the resolution was taken to ask Cyrus plainly what he intended to do. By his answer they might decide whether to go on or not. Cyrus, instructed, we cannot doubt, by Klearchos, told them he must advance some 300 miles further to the Euphrates, where he had to punish his enemy Abrokomas. The soldiers knew well enough what the excuse meant; but they had not been told in so many words that they were marching against the king, and their reluctance was in some measure overcome by a promise of doubling their pay.

The sequel of the story to the catastrophe at Kunaxa exhibits little more than the incompetence of Persians in contests with a disciplined enemy. In the course of the march the prophet Silanos had told Cyrus that no battle would take place for ten days, and the prince had promised to give him 3,000 dareiks if his words should prove true. The ten days had passed without any engagement, and Cyrus fulfilled his promise. He had well-nigh convinced himself that Artaxerxes had given up all intention of fighting; and this impression was strengthened when he found that not a man had been left to defend a trench, thirty feet broad, eighteen feet deep, and forty miles in length, which had been dug specially to oppose the Cyreian army. On the eastern side of this trench Cyrus saw, not indeed his enemy, but clear traces of his recent flight. He began to look upon his prize as won without a blow, when on the second day the tidings were brought that Artaxerxes was advancing across the plain with his army in order of battle. One or two hours still passed before the cloud of dust was seen which shrouded the royal squadrons, and the Cyreians had thus ample time to form in fighting array. His Greek troops had already won an easy victory, but while they were pursuing the enemy opposed to them, the force surrounding the king threatened to outflank the army of Cyrus, who instantly charged with his guard of six hundred horsemen. The onset was thoroughly successful. The ranks of the royal troops were broken, and the Cyreians hastened away in pursuit, leaving the prince attended only by a small knot of men. At that moment Cyrus caught

sight of his brother, and the feeling of personal rage, thus roused to boiling heat, cast to the winds all restraints of prudence. I see the man,' be cried as he dashed at the king, wounding him through the breastplate. In the next instant he was himself struck down, and in a few minutes more was slain with eight of his bravest men.

The head and the right hand of Cyrus paraded in the front ranks of Artaxerxes showed to the native army of the prince that the strife was at an end, and the discovery of his death was followed by their immediate flight to the station which they had occupied the night before. The Greeks were three or four miles distant pursuing the Persians whom they had routed, when they heard that the enemy had been victorious on the left. Hurrying back, they found the king's troops moving towards them in order of battle; but the onset of the Greeks again filled them with terror, and these also fled in dismay. Still nothing was known of Cyrus, and vain guesses were made of the reasons which might keep him out of sight. On the next morning they learnt that Cyrus had been killed and that their own victory had been won in vain. Soon afterwards Phalinos, an Arkadian Greek, appearing along with the historian Ktesias, as an envoy from the king, bade them lay down their arms, and added that the king proclaimed a truce so long as the Greeks remained where they were, while any change of position would be regarded as a declaration of war. 'What am I to say about this?' asked Phalinos. 'Say that we are of the same mind with the king.' 'And what mind is that?' he asked again. Why, that there is to be truce, if we stay where we are, and war, if we move.' At best their situation was full of danger. The only course open to them, as it seemed, was to retreat along with the native troops. A solemn compact made with their commander Ariaios was followed by a resolution to march onwards with the utmost speed. Before the day closed they saw, as they thought, the main body of their enemies. Three days later, Tissaphernes appeared, charged, as he said, by the king to ask why the Greeks had come up against him. Klearchos answered, in words which would have been perfectly true in every mouth but his own, that they had set out without the least idea of their destination, that Cyrus had led them on by vague pretexts and promises from one stage to another, and that the Greeks, having received much good at

his hands, shrank from deserting a benefactor in the hour of his need. Cyrus was now dead; with the king they had no quarrel, and their only wish was to return home without doing him any harm, if they should be suffered to depart unmolested. Tissaphernes promised to deliver their message, and bound them to observe the truce until they saw him again.

Twenty days passed, and still there was no sign of the coming of the satrap. The king and his advisers had probably taken the true measure of their position. The first step was to detach from the Greeks the native army of Cyrus, and this was done by offering to the latter a complete amnesty for the past. The estrangement thus caused between them and the Greek mercenary force clearly revealed the purpose of the king: but when the Greeks expressed their fears to their general, Klearchos could only insist on the difficulty or the impossibility of retreating against the will of the despot, and on the unlikelihood that Artaxerxes would have entered into a solemn compact with them, if his only desire was to destroy them. Such treachery would make his name vile among Greeks and barbarians alike.

At length Tissaphernes came, and the whole Cyreian army set out on its retreat. The Greeks marched as a distinct body and with the utmost caution. They were now moving nearly due east. Three marches brought them to the wall of Media, two more to the flourishing town of Sittakê, four in a northwesterly direction to the city of Opis near the river Physkos. A halt of three days on the banks of the Great Zab was marked by so manifest an increase of suspicion and irritation between the Greeks and the forces of Tissaphernes, that Klearchos resolved to do what he could to bring this wretched state of things to an end, and demanded an interview with the satrap, Seeing at once how to lay his snare, the satrap cordially invited Klearchos with all his generals and chief officers to a conference in his tent on the following day. With astonishing simplicity Klearchos promised to bring them all, and with infatuation still more marvellous refused to be turned from his purpose, when warned that Tissaphernes was not to be trusted. On the following day he appeared at the tent-door, accompanied by Menon, Agias, Sokrates, and Proxenos. Twenty captains with 200 men, forming their escort, remained outside, while the generals entered the tent. Presently the signal was given.

T

The generals were seized and bound, the officers and soldiers outside were cut down. One man only escaped into the Greek camp and told the terrible story. Fearing instant attack, the Greeks flew to their arms. But nothing followed beyond a visit from some grandees, who demanded to speak with the Greek leaders. In the absence of the Spartan Cheirisophos, the Orchomenian Kleanor and Sophainetos of Stymphalos came forward with Xenophon and were informed that Klearchos had paid with his life the penalty of his treachery, while Proxenos and Menon were to be highly rewarded for revealing his crimes. The speaker wound up with a demand for instant surrender, and was met by an outburst of wrath at the monstrous conduct of Tissaphernes. If Klearchos was a traitor and has met a traitor's doom,' said Xenophon, 'be it so. But you say that Proxenos and Menon are your benefactors. They are also our leaders. Send them to us, and then everything can be settled.'

6

The Persians had thought that the power of the Greeks lay only in the generals. They were wholly mistaken. For the moment, indeed, there was universal depression. Scarcely a man in the army closed his eyes in sleep, and among these weary watchers whose thoughts were running on kinsfolk and friends whom they dared not hope to see again, was the Athenian Xenophon. Having joined as a simple volunteer, he had no official rank; but none the less the common peril pressed heavily on his heart. Why do I lie here?' he asked himself. 'The night is creeping on. The morning will bring the enemy, and defeat will be followed by tortures and death. Yet here all lie, as though it were a time for rest; and am I to wait until some officer comes forward to give counsel and to act?' Rising up hastily and summoning the captains who had served under his friend Proxenos, Xenophon with manly courage and good sense told them that on the whole the present state of things was better than that which had preceded it. The treaty made with Tissaphernes had hampered and clogged them; the treachery by which the Persians had broken the compact had at least left them free. For himself he was willing, he added, either to follow or to lead. One voice only was raised against the general shout which summoned Xenophon to take the command, and that voice was justly disregarded. The others went throughout the army, summoning the officers who had not followed Klearchos into the snare. When these were gathered,