Robin Waterfield Reflects on Xenophon’s Anabasis in Persia, and Other Greco-Persian Conflicts

What can we learn by reflecting on Robin Waterfield’s take on Xenophon’s Anabasis,
the Persian Expedition?
The Anabasis is Xenophon’s remarkable eyewitness account of the Greek mercenary
army hired by Cyrus the Younger. Cyrus was challenging his brother Artaxerxes for
the throne of Persia.
Although the Ten Thousand Greek hoplites won the battle militarily, this win was
wasted when a spear ran through their patron Cyrus, killing him in battle.
Stranded behind enemy lines, and with many of their generals murdered by the
treacherous Persians at a banquet, the Greek army of Ten Thousand elected
Xenophon as the main general to lead them on their march for many miles and
many months through enemy territory before they reached the Greek colonies on
the shores of the Black Sea.
The modern historian and translator Robin Waterfield has many interesting insights
on this adventure story and the Greco-Persian conflicts that preceded it.

Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments. Let us learn and reflect together!
At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video.
Please feel free to follow along in the PowerPoint
script we uploaded to SlideShare.

Robin Waterfield’s Perspective:
Xenophon: Anabasis, Persian Expedition of 10,000
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We have reflected on Xenophon’s remarkable
account of this adventure, the Anabasis. In this
adventure, by Cyrus the Younger and his Persian
rebel army, with the Greek mercenary army,
marches thousands of miles to battle the main
Persian forces near Baghdad, deep in the desert
on the banks of the mighty Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers.

The Greek hoplite infantry forces were the best warriors of their time,
they were eagerly employed as mercenaries in the ancient world. The
Greeks won the Battle of Cunaxa, and although Artaxerxes was wounded
in the battle, his younger brother Cyrus died fighting. The Greek forces
were stuck thousands of miles from home, but the Persian forces of
Artaxerxes were fearful of directly attacking them. At first, the Persians
guided them north towards the Greek colonies of the Black Sea, but then
they double-crossed them, killing many of their generals. The Greeks
simply elected new generals, with Xenophon now leading their forces, as
they first fought the Persians, then mountain tribesmen, fighting for
provisions, as they retreated to the Greek colonies on the shores of the
Black Sea.

Route of
Xenophon
and the Ten
Thousand
(red) in the
Achaemenid
Empire. The
satrapy of
Cyrus the
Younger is
delineated in
green.

A history of the ancient world, for high schools and academies, Alexander the Great is charging at the left, 1904

Robin Waterfield has much background history that is
either missing or underemphasized in Xenophon’s history
of this long retreat of the Ten Thousand to the Black Sea,
which includes the fascinating Persian court intrigues.
Waterfield also answers several questions we had when
reflecting on the Greco-Persian Wars, and he also has
some insights into the Peloponnesian Wars that followed,
where the Persians bankrolled the eventual victory of the
Spartans over the Athenians.

https://youtu.be/JjNcyLo54ko
https://youtu.be/cabAkQwHnlk
https://youtu.be/frBzSQVala4
https://youtu.be/SW9Zq4IiLF0

Greek Colonies in the Archaic Period: 8th to 6th Centuries BC
Greek Colonies in Mediterranean & Black Sea

The Greek colonies both in Ionia on the west coast of Asia Minor, and on the north
coast on the shores of the Black Sea, played a major role in the Greco-Persian Wars,
and in the subsequent wars and Xenophon’s adventure. Many Greek colonies were
established as early as the eighth through the sixth centuries BC across the
Mediterranean Sea and on the shores of the Black Sea. When a Greek city-state
was unable to provide for all its citizens, it asked for volunteers to colonize distant
shores of the Mediterranean, which many historians call the Mediterranean an
ancient Greek pond. Although the main city-state assisted in their founding, they
were not colonies in the modern sense, like the colonies of the British Empire.
These colonies were independent city-states with only emotional and historical and
trade ties to their mother city-state. Sometimes the colony and the mother state
would oppose each other. For example, the first Peloponnesian War was sparked by
a conflict between Corinth and her colony Corcyra.

Areas of the world that were part of the British Empire with current British Overseas Territories
underlined in red. Mandates and protected states are shown in a lighter shade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire

Fortress at Black Sea Coast, by Armenian painter Wartan Mahokian of Trebizond (Trabzon, Turkey)

The colonies in Ionia, which are on the islands and west
coast of what is Turkey today, were often controlled by the
Persian Empire, although they were briefly free after the
Greco-Persian Wars. The Greek colonies on the shore of
the Black Sea on what is the northern coast of Turkey
today were usually not controlled by Persia. The Athenian
Empire relied on trade with the Greek colonies on the
shores of the Black Sea for grain to feed its citizens. The
main Greek colony of Syracuse in Sicily won a major battle
against the Athenians in the final Peloponnesian War.

Greek Colonies in the Archaic Period: 8th to 6th Centuries BC

Greeks are Victorious in Greco-Persian Wars
Acropolis, by Leo von Klenze, painted 1846

In the last decade of the sixth century BC, an expanding Sparta was threatening to
annex the then-insignificant Athens into its land empire. The Athenian aristocrat
Cleisthenes, who passed reforms that would strengthen democracy in Athens, sent
an envoy to investigate the possibility of an alliance with King Darius I of Persia, as
Athens was being threatened by Sparta. Darius told the envoy that an alliance was
possible only if Athens consented to become a vassal state of Persia. The envoy felt
compelled to accept this condition.
Back in Athens, the crisis had passed, so they repudiated the agreement to become
vassals of Persia, which irritated Darius. Relations grew worse when Aristagoras of
Miletus in Ionia rebelled against Persia, seeking independence. Athens unwisely
sent twenty triremes with hoplites. The Greeks foolishly attacked Sardis, the capital
of the regional Persian satrapy, burning the residential areas of the town before
turning back.

The reconstructed ancient Athenian trireme
Olympias. Flisvos Marina, Attica, Greece.

In retaliation, Darius decided to sail a modest Persian
force to subjugate Athens, to make her a vassal state of
the Persian Empire. Most Greek city-states declined to
assist Athens, fearing the wrath of Persia. Sparta claimed
she was busy with a religious festival; she did not want to
anger the god Apollo. Only the hoplites from Athens and
the small city-state of Platea faced down the mighty
Persian Empire, winning a surprising victory in the Battle
of Marathon.

Battle of
Marathon,
Georges
Rochegrosse
1859

The ancient historian Herodotus, in his account of
the Battle of Marathon, does not answer the
question: Why didn’t the Persian cavalry fight in this
battle? Some scholars theorize that the horses could
not charge in the marshes surrounding the
battlefield. But Robin Waterfield has another more
plausible answer to this question.

Marshes
Marshes
Battle of Marathon.
Many scholars argue
that the marshes
kept the Persians
from deploying their
cavalry.
Robin Waterfield
suggests the
Persians had loaded
the cavalry in their
ships and were
preparing to leave
when the Greeks
attacked.

Robin Waterfield says that the “Greeks had
encamped on rising ground to dissuade a Persian
attack, and the two sides watched each other for
several days. The Persians became bored with the
stalemate and decided to reembark and sail
around the Attic peninsula to attack Athens more
directly. When the formidable Persian horsemen
were out of the way, boarding the ships, the
Athenians and Plataeans moved down the slope,
ten thousand Greek hoplites facing twenty
thousand or more Persians, and charged, to
minimize the amount of time they were
vulnerable to the Persian arrows.”
Color reconstruction of Achaemenid infantry on the
Alexander Sarcophagus (end of 4th century BC).

Robin Waterfield continues, “In the center, the
Athenians only just managed to hold their ground,”
“but the two wings” “were victorious. They routed
the enemy, but with admirable discipline turned to
assist the center, rather than pursue their fleeing
opponents.” This was not done later in the Battle of
Cunaxa. “Before long the entire Persian army was
withdrawing in disarray to their beached ships. After
some bloody hand-to-hand fighting right by the
ships, the Persians managed to take to the safety of
their ships.” “The Athenians lost 192 men, while the
lighter-armed Persians lost over six thousand men;
the ghosts of dead men and horses were said in
later years to haunt the battleground every night.”
Color reconstruction, Achaemenid
infantry, Alexander Sarcophagus, 300 BC

The Persian ships then sailed around the peninsula to attack and sack the
unguarded city of Athens. The Greeks marched quickly to the beaches of Athens
and were there to meet the Persian ships. Seeing that their landing would be
opposed, King Darius and his forces sailed back to Persia.
The Greeks knew the Persians would be returning, and in greater numbers. But
before Darius could mount another larger force against Greece, there were
rebellions in Egypt and Babylon. When he passed away in 486 BC, his son Xerxes
had to first stabilize his rule before organizing a more substantial invasion of
Greece.
A conference of Greek states was held in Corinth in 491 BC, only about five percent
of Greek city-states sent delegates, the participating city-states decided that Sparta
would lead the defensive efforts. Not only did many smaller Greek city-states fear
the Persian Empire, but they also knew that the Persians ruled with a light hand,
permitting cultural and religious diversity, only exacting payment of tribute.

Acropolis, by Leo von Klenze, painted 1846

.
479 BC: Xerxes
retreats to Persia

Major preparations were made for this invasion, this time a much larger
army would march around the coast, fording the Dardanelles with a
double pontoon of boats, with a substantial navy following the army off
the coast. The Persians even dug a two-kilometer canal across the Athos
peninsula so the ships would not have to risk the stormy seas in the area.
First, a small Greek force held the much larger Persian army at the
narrow Pass of Thermopylae for several days, until a traitor showed the
Persians a mountain trail bypassing the pass. Then the famous Spartan
Three Hundred fought the Persians to the death. The Athenians
evacuated their inhabitants to safety on the island of Salamis and
elsewhere, the Persians sacked Athens unopposed.

Leonidas at
Thermopylae,
by Jacques-
Louis David,
1814

The Greek leader Themistocles tricked the Persian navy
into blockading the Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis,
keeping them from escaping. This mainly meant that the
Persian sailors pulled an all-nighter guarding the straits and
had to fight the Greek navy in the morning without a
proper breakfast, and likely without drinking water. The
superior seamanship of the Athenian rowers meant that
their triremes sank many Persian ships, winning a major
victory. Like his father, King Xerxes sailed back to Persia,
along with the least effective soldiers.

The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach, 1868

The core of the Persian army marched north to
winter with the Persian ally King Alexander of
Macedon, but this large army was slaughtered in
battles in central Greece in the following spring, with
only a few Persian soldiers escaping. Many
generations later it would be Alexander the Great of
Macedon who would defeat the Persian Empire.

Aristides,
commander of the
Athenians,
informed by
Alexander I that
delaying the
encounter with the
Persians would help
further diminish
their already low
supplies. Battle of
Plataea, 479 BC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_I_of_Macedon

First Phase of Peloponnesian Wars

The fifty-year period from the end of the Greco-
Persian Wars, when the Persians were defeated, to
the beginning of the Peloponnesian Wars, is called
the Pentecontaetia by the ancient historian
Thucydides. With the Persian morale broken and
many of their ships sunk, many of the Greek city-
states in Ionia successfully revolted against Persian
rule.

The Spartans initially led this effort,
but as Robin Waterfield says, “The
Spartan regent Pausanias, in charge
of land operations against the
Persians in Asia Minor, was an
arrogant, unlikeable man, and he
made the mistake of appearing too
familiar with his supposed enemies.
The rumors spread thick and fast.
They said that he had contracted to
marry the daughter of a Persian
satrap,” or regional governor, and
“that he had agreed to abandon
Asian Minor to the Persians.”
Greek hoplite and Persian warrior fighting, on ancient kylix, 400’s BC

In response, the Ionian Greeks requested that Athens form the Delian
League, an alliance of Athens and the Ionian city-states to protect them
from Persia. This Delian League gradual evolved into the Athenian
Empire. Many larger city-states benefited from increased commerce by
belonging to the Delian League, while other city-states chafed under
Athenian rule, resentful of the tribute they paid to Athens.
The Athenian leader Pericles, convinced that armed struggle with Sparta
was inevitable, planned for the first phase of the Peloponnesian Wars,
which was a war of attrition: Sparta would repeatedly raid the Athenian
farms, while the Athenian fleet would attack the far-flung territories of
Sparta and her allies. Pericles died in the plague struck the Athenians
crowded behind the city walls, and the Peace of Nicias was negotiated.

https://youtu.be/QabwtFANCDc https://youtu.be/uhtGzfxVdzk
https://youtu.be/1ra58mg33nM https://youtu.be/szi7-9QQWI0

Alcibiades Restarts the Peloponnesian Wars
Alcibades being taught by Socrates, by François-André Vincent, 1776 / Socrates dragging Alcibiades from the

The Peace of Nicias was interrupted when the cocky, charismatic
Alcibiades, who was raised in the household of Pericles, persuaded the
Athenian Assembly to commit a large portion of the Athenian navy to the
Sicilian Expedition. Alcibiades had many enemies in the radical
democracy of Athens, after the fleet set sail, he was summoned to a trial
in the Assembly on trumped-up charges for acts offensive to the gods, a
trial where he would lose since those in the fleet could not vote. He fled
to exile in Sparta, leaving the timid Nicias to lose the battle through
indecision, where most of the Athenian navy was destroyed, with over
ten thousand Athenians slaughtered. Athens had lost a quarter of its
population due to a plague, this added to their catastrophic loss of
manpower.

Alcibiades then offered good advice to the Spartans, which
enabled them to prevail against Athens in the war. But the
outrageous Alcibiades seduced and impregnated the Spartan
queen, causing him to be exiled from Sparta also. So, he fled to
the court of the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, they became fast
friends. Following the advice of Alcibiades, Tissaphernes adopted
a policy of supplying the Spartans just enough to keep them in
the fight, but not assuring either side of a victory, so that Persia
could swoop in and control Greece once the two sides had
exhausted each other.

Alcibiades was playing a double game: he told the Athenians he was
driving a wedge between Tissaphernes and Sparta. But when
Tissaphernes hinted he might finance the Athenians, the Spartans
abandoned him and received aid from the other Persian satrap
Pharnabazus.
Alcibiades talked himself into the good graces of the Athenian fleet
posted in the Aegean Sea, under his command they won victory after
victory. He was welcomed as a conquering hero in Athens, but the
Athenians became too accustomed to his victories. He was exiled once
again after a minor defeat. The successor generals were both timid and
careless, they allowed their trireme naval crews to beach and go into
town. The Spartan general Lysander caught them by surprise, destroying
the Athenian navy, leading to the total defeat of Athens.

Intrigues of Persian Court Influence Events

What we did not discuss in depth in Xenophon’s account was
how the intrigues of the Persian court affected Persian policies in
the Peloponnesian Wars and afterwards; including the decision of
Cyrus the Younger to attempt to overthrow his brother.
When King Artaxerxes I died, the throne passed to his son, King
Xerxes II. But after only a month and a half, he was murdered by
his brother Sogdianus. His illegitimate brother Ochus rebelled,
executing him, seizing the throne under the name of King Darius
II, with help from his wife Parysatis. Queen Parysatis had a
network of spies and informants; she ordered the execution of
several Persians who were a threat to her husband’s throne.

But since Cyrus the Younger later died on the battlefield, in hindsight Robin
Waterfield calls him the pampered boy and favored younger son of Queen Parysatis,
brought up to believe in his abilities and leadership qualities, much as the future
president FDR was pampered and encouraged by his mother. She convinced her
husband, King Darius II, to send his young sixteen-year-old son Cyrus the Younger
east, giving him military and administrative control of both these satrapies,
sidelining both Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus, demoting them to governors of
subordinate regions. Cyrus the Younger took over the war effort, developing a close
relationship with the Spartan commander Lysander, providing him with an initial
sum of five hundred talents. Cyrus said that if that was not enough, he would use
his own money,” “and if that also ran out, he would break up his throne of silver and
gold on which he sat.” Cyrus’ generosity in supplying the Spartan navy and army
helped Sparta win the Peloponnesian Wars.

Cyrus the Great boar-hunting, Palace of Versailles, by Claude Audran the Younger, 1600's

- Encounter between Cyrus the
Younger (left), Achaemenid,
satrap of Asia Minor, and
Spartan general Lysander (right)
in Sardis. The encounter was
related by Xenophon, by
Francesco Antonio Grue, 1600's

- Cyrus providing
Lysander with an initial
sum of five hundred
talents. Cyrus said that
if that was not enough,
he would use his own
money,” “and if that
also ran out, he would
break up his throne of
silver and gold on which
he sat.”

Cyrus let his youth cloud his judgment when he
executed two of his father’s cousins when he thought
they did not show him the respect due to a king,
although he was only a satrap and not yet a king. His
father, King Darius, recalled him to Susa to remind
him that he was not a king. Meanwhile, the scheming
of Parysatis did not go unnoticed, she became the
bitter rival of Cyrus’ older brother’s wife, Stateira,
who also involved herself in palace intrigue.

The Hall of Hundred Columns, Throne Hall, in Persepolis, Persia, Cyrus’ Ceremonial Capitol, SW Iran.

Not long afterward, King Darius fell deathly ill. He
sent a message to Cyrus imploring him to allow his
older brother to assume the throne in peace. Cyrus
returned to Susa, the capital, and remained there for
his brother’s coronation, who assumed the royal
name of King Artaxerxes II.
But a worrying incident guaranteed that peace
between these brothers would be impossible.

-
Robin Waterfield informs us,
“Not long before the investiture
was to begin, Tissaphernes
brought to Artaxerxes one of the
priests who had an astonishing
tale to tell. Cyrus, he said, was
planning to hide himself in the
sanctuary and kill Artaxerxes
when an opportune moment
presented itself. What made the
story especially credible was that
this priest was close to Cyrus; he
had been his boyhood tutor.”
Encounter between, L-R, Cyrus the Younger, a satrap, and Spartan
general Lysander in Sardis, by Francesco Antonio Grue, 1600's

But even so, the story is implausible and makes little sense, perhaps it
was even manufactured long after the death of Cyrus. But Queen
Parysatis persuaded her older son Artaxerxes to allow his brother to
return to his post in Susa.
This distrust led King Artaxerxes to reduce his brother’s power, so he
reassigned the Greek Ionian city-states, with their generous tribute
payments, to Tissaphernes. Cyrus suspected that his brother would
tolerate him only as long as their mother, Queen Parysatis, was alive. This
was the period when the satrap Pharnabazus, eager to earn the king’s
gratitude, had his agents murder Alcibiades, the former advisor to Cyrus.
Around this time, Queen Mother Parysatis was suspected of poisoning
her rival, Queen Stateira. But her son, King Artaxerxes, did not exile or
execute his mom for this.

-
The Death of
Alcibiades, by
Philippe Chéry,
1791

Robin Waterfield also asserts that the aristocratic rulers of the Greek
Ionian city-states preferred Cyrus over Tissaphernes since they suspected
that Tissaphernes preferred that the Greek city-states adopt a more
democratic form of government, which meant that their citizen
assemblies would have more power. Only the important city-state of
Miletus supported Tissaphernes since he executed or exiled the Milesian
aristocrats. These exiles went to the court of Cyrus, who gave them men
and assistance to take back Miletus. Perhaps Artaxerxes was relieved that
Cyrus was distracted by this conflict, it was not uncommon for Persian
kings to exploit conflicts between satraps to weaken them. This meant
that Cyrus could assemble forces for his coup attempt under the guise of
plotting against Tissaphernes.

-
The Market
Gate of
Miletus at
the
Pergamon
Museum in
Berlin

-
The Ionic Stoa on the Sacred Way in Miletus

Robin Waterfield said that Cyrus “began
a propaganda war against his brother,”
seeking support among the Persian
nobles. Cyrus spread rumors that “his
brother was a weakling and a drunkard,
who might run a splendid court but
would ruin the empire.” “Xenophon
tamely agreed with this assessment of
Artaxerxes. By contrast, Cyrus saw
himself as the chosen of the gods, and a
man of vigor: a great hunter and warrior,
schooled in the Persian virtues and
capable of holding his drink.”

Xenophon, in his Anabasis, speaks of his admiration
for his patron, Cyrus the Younger, comparing him to
Cyrus the Great.

Indeed, Xenophon’s fanciful portrait of Cyrus the
Great, the founder of the Persian Empire many
generations ago, echoes the qualities he most
admires in Cyrus the Younger. This loose biography
should be read as background for Xenophon’s
Anabasis. This biography contains many stoic sayings
by Xenophon.

Robin Waterfield discusses Xenophon’s judgment of the character of
Cyrus the Younger. He cautions that in war, and ancient Greece was
definitely a warrior culture, sometimes deceit is needed so you don’t
reveal your plans to your adversary. Desertion was endemic in ancient
armies; sometimes Greek armies supplied the enemy with false deserters
to mislead them of their plans. Cyrus was thus compelled to deceive his
brother of his intentions, and thus he was also compelled to deceive the
Greek mercenaries of their true mission until they marched deep into
Persia, confiding only in his Greek commander, Clearchus. Waterfield
observes that Cyrus may not have been quite as widely loved and
admired as Xenophon claims, he threatened brutal retaliation if certain
Greek forces rebelled. It appears he received scant support from the
other satraps and disaffected Persian nobles.

We included in Robin Waterfield’s biographical notes
on Xenophon with other sources, including the
ancient biographer Diogenes of Laertius’ Lives of
Eminent Philosophers, in our reflections on the life
and adventures of Xenophon.

Cyrus and Greeks Prepare To March
Cyrus the Great of Persia, from Four Illustrious Rulers of Antiquity, 1590’s

Cyrus opened negotiations with Sparta, who was not
interested in honoring their obligation to Artaxerxes
in guaranteeing that the Greek Ionian city-states
would continue paying tribute to Persia. Cyrus
promised Sparta a free hand in Greek Ionia, the city-
states on the west coast of Asia Minor, if they helped
him defeat his brother and seize the throne of Persia.

Robin Waterfield presents some background information on Clearchus, the Spartan
general leading the Greek mercenary forces of Cyrus, that is not emphasized in
Xenophon’s account. Clearchus occasionally directly disobeyed orders for his
personal gain. He had been a Spartan naval commander in the last phases of the
Peloponnesian Wars, and was proxenos, or military general, of the area surrounding
the small town of Byzantium. He displayed the same high-handedness in dealing
with the Ionian Greeks as did Pausanius at the end of the Greco-Persian Wars.
Clearchus’ solution to the internal strife in Byzantium was to execute the
troublemakers and seize their property for himself. When he was briefly absent
from the city, they opened their gates to the Athenians.
The Spartans recalled him, but when he refused to relinquish his post and return to
Sparta, they sent an armed force against him, causing him to flee to the court of
Cyrus in Greek Ionia. The Spartans then banished him, proclaiming a death sentence
on him. This was the Spartan general Cyrus chose to lead his Greek mercenary army.

Athenian
mercenary
peltast
supporting an
Achaemenid
knight of
Hellespontine
Phrygia
attacking a
Greek psilos,
Altıkulaç
Sarcophagus,
300's BC

-
Robin Waterfield summarizes Xenophon’s
thumbnail sketch of Clearchus: “While, in his
dealings with his fellow generals, Clearchus
usually looked for a consensus before
implementing any strategy, his treatment of his
men was quite different: he possessed the
admirable ability to weld his men into an obedient
fighting unit, but” he did this “by making them
frightened of his quick temper and random, brutal
punishments. Spartan officers were notoriously
harsh disciplinarians, but many of the mercenaries
were little more than thugs, eager for blood and
booty, and a harsh disciplinarian may have been
just what was needed to keep them at bay.”
Clearchus of Sparta, by Adrien Guignet, 1800's

Armies of Cyrus and Greek Mercenaries
MercenariesArtaxerxes
Cyrus the Great of Persia, from Four Illustrious Rulers of Antiquity, 1590’s

What motivated the Spartans and other Greeks to
join the mercenary army of Cyrus the Younger? A
large professional army had been fighting in the
Peloponnesian Wars for many years, many now
sought further glory and booty.

Robin Waterfield explains: “Mercenary pay
covered little more than their daily
expenses during the campaign. They
bought quite a bit of their food, and in
many cases, there were dependents to
maintain, prisoners to keep alive until they
could be sold or ransomed,” and the need
to repair fragile equipment. “Nevertheless,
mercenaries generally expected to arrive
home wealthier than before,” which meant
they sought “to profit from booty. It is a
distasteful fact of war that soldiers loot:
they steal from the corpses of fallen friend
and foe alike, if there is no more
substantial target available.”

For the upcoming struggle, Artaxerxes commanded an army of
about 45,000, the ancient sources overestimate his strength at
400,000, some say 900,000. The Persians had a standing army,
the core of the Persian infantry was the Immortals, which always
numbered at least ten thousand. The Persian nobility made up
the cavalry, riding the sturdy Nesaean breed of warhorses.
Cyrus the Young’s army was about 30,000, including the famous
battle-hardened Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries, mostly
Spartan hoplites, with a few Athenians and other Greeks, which
included Xenophon, former student of Socrates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoplite

Battle of Pelusium Between Persians and Egyptians, 343 BC

-
As Robin Waterfield states, “The Greek arms, armor, and
tactics outclassed anything they faced, even the famous
Persian cavalry: no horse, however passionately urged on
by its rider, will hurl itself into a solid phalanx, bristling
with spears. In a tightly packed phalanx, the spears of the
first three lines were long enough to project in front of the
first line, if the soldiers had the necessary strength and
skill. The most a horseman could do was ride up close
enough to discharge a javelin, and even that was difficult
to do effectively in the days before saddles and stirrups.”
The so-called Ten Thousand consisted of 10,600 Greek
hoplites, or heavy-armed infantry, and 2,300 peltasts, or
light-armed infantry, from the margins of the Greek world.

-
“Xenophon’s The
Expedition of
Cyrus is an
account of
astonishing
successes: every
time the Greek
hoplites charged
an enemy, the
enemy chose to
run away rather
than engage
them at close
quarters.”

Robin Waterfield has wonderful descriptions of how
Greek hoplite armies engaged each other in Greece,
perhaps it is better than the sources we used to
discuss this topic in our reflections on Herodotus and
the Greco-Persian Wars.

Retreat of the Ten Thousand at the Battle of Cunaxa, by Jean-Adrien Guignet, Louvre, 1854
Battle of Cunaxa: Greeks Win, Cyrus Killed

We don’t know where the actual battle was fought, the modern name is the Battle
of Cunaxa, after the ancient village of Cunaxa.
Cyrus, with his army, approached a massive trench sixty-five kilometers long but
was surprised that his brother’s forces were not anywhere nearby. Maybe
Artaxerxes was not planning to oppose him? As they crossed the ditch and marched
on, discipline became lax, he allowed the army to be strung out in disarray.
Two days later, a Persian nobleman on Cyrus’ staff galloped into camp with news
that his brother King Artaxerxes was approaching with a massive army. Cyrus’ army
hurried to the front, taking hours to deploy, but in the desert heat, they delayed
putting on their heavy armor as long as possible.
They could hear the enemy army rumble towards them.

Retreat of the Ten Thousand at the Battle of Cunaxa, by Jean-Adrien Guignet, Louvre, 1854

Robin Waterfield describes the moment: “As
Artaxerxes’ army approached, the Greeks
could see that the enemy was preceded by
deadly scythed chariots, whose sharpened
blades projected not just to the sides of the
axles but swept the ground underneath so
that nothing could escape their onslaught.
These chariots were a recent Persian
invention, specifically designed for the
destruction of hoplite phalanxes. The terror
of the sight was magnified by a horrible
silence: the Persians were not whooping
and shouting but marched on steadily in an
eerie quiet and with far more discipline
than the Greeks had been led to expect.”

Since they outnumbered Cyrus’ force, their right flank wrapped around
Cyrus’ left flank.
The original plan was for the Greek troops to wipe out the Persian left
flank, and then swing around to the center where the two kings’ forces
were confronting each other. At the last minute, Cyrus ordered Clearchus,
the Greek commander, to instead attack the center, but the Greek, wary
of this last-minute change of plan, refused, as in his position the river
would cover the phalanxes’ weak right side.
The Greeks won their battle. The Greeks, facing the left wing commanded
by the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, advanced towards the Persians at a
quick walk. The Greek hoplites in their tight phalanx formation became
more confident, they quickened the pace.

Heated
fighting in
Battle of
Cunaxa,
LIFE, 1901

Heated fighting in Battle of Cunaxa, LIFE, 1901
But even before they had closed to
about 150 meters, which was the most
dangerous point, within range of the
enemy bows, although at this distance
the arrows lacked much penetrative
power, most of the Persian left wing”
“caved in. Charioteers abandoned
their vehicles and ran, horsemen
turned tail, foot soldiers dropped their
weapons and fled.”
As Robin Waterfield puts it, “Soon the Greeks were all running forward, shouting
and screaming and banging their shields with the shafts of their spears,” in perfect
hoplite formation, of course, “in an attempt not just to demoralize their opponents,
but to overcome their own terror at the imminent, brutal shock of contact.

The Greeks slaughtered the fleeing Persians while sustaining only
a handful of casualties. The battle was a repeat of the Battle of
Marathon when the Athenians first defeated a Persian raiding
army in the first Greco-Persian War.
But there was a difference. Tissaphernes rallied some of his
horsemen and counter-attacked, with little immediate effect. But
then he withdrew, he made it appear like he was fleeing the
battlefield, but it was a feint to draw the Greek forces off the
main battlefield to keep them from attacking the center, behind
the forces guarding Artaxerxes.

Greeks battling
Persians,
illustration for the
Story of the
Greatest Nations,
published 1900,
Edward Sylvester
Ellis and Charles
Francis

-
What happened in the center of the
battle? Robin Waterfield tells us:
“With the Greeks off the immediate
battlefield, Artaxerxes’ cavalry
galloped forward, followed by the
Immortals and the rest of the infantry,
in an attempt to encircle Cyrus’ right
flank, now exposed by the forward
movement of the Greeks. Cyrus had to
act quickly to come up with a
significant counter-threat. He spotted
the Persian royal standard with its
spread eagle, and led his elite
horsemen in a reckless, headlong
gallop straight for his brother.”
House of Faun, Battle between Greeks & Persians, Pompeii

(REPEAT) Robin Waterfield continues: “They broke through
Artaxerxes’ cavalry, but at the cost of becoming scattered, and by
that time Cyrus’ impetus had carried him deep into the enemy
ranks while he was accompanied by rather too few of his
bodyguards.” In the melee and chaos of war and pitched battle,
both kings were seriously injured, but Cyrus’ wounds were more
serious, the killing stab was below the knee, and he died on the
battlefield. And, as Robin Waterfield reminds us, “The death of
the pretender spelled defeat, whatever happened elsewhere on
the field of battle.”

-
Robin Waterfield continues:
“They broke through Artaxerxes’
cavalry, but at the cost of
becoming scattered, and by that
time Cyrus’ impetus had carried
him deep into the enemy ranks
while he was accompanied by
rather too few of his
bodyguards.”
And, as Robin Waterfield
reminds us, “The death of the
pretender spelled defeat,
whatever happened elsewhere
on the field of battle.”
House of Faun, Battle between Greeks and Persians, Pompeii

What happened in the rear of the battle? Marauding
Persians fought for the baggage carts of the Greeks,
the camp followers defended themselves and the
supplies as best they could with whatever weapons
they could find. Many of these Greeks survived, with
some of the supplies and concubines, but much
precious food and equipment was lost.

-
The long day then turned to
night, and darkness enveloped
the battlefield. As Robin
Waterfield tells us, “The Greeks
did not yet know that Cyrus was
dead, they had no idea that the
battle was lost. Given their own
apparent success, they probably
assumed they had won. Weary
and hungry, with bodies chafed
sore from the abrasive blend of
dust and sweat inside their
armor, they returned to the
plundered camp.”
House of Faun, Battle between Greeks and Persians, Pompeii

Route of
Xenophon
and the Ten
Thousand
(red) in the
Achaemenid
Empire. The
satrapy of
Cyrus the
Younger is
delineated in
green.
Long March of Ten Thousand to the Sea

The Greek mercenaries won the Battle of Cunaxa, but their
victory was for naught since Cyrus, their patron, was dead.
The Greek hoplites were the most feared military force of
their day, the Persians dared not challenge them in battle.
They could not return the way they came through desert
and hostile territory. Instead, they chose to go north,
Tissaphernes offered to guide them, offering them
provisions if they would retreat. We will let Xenophon tell
the tale of the march of the Ten Thousand to the Black
Sea.

Halfway through Persia, Clearchus and many other Greek
generals are tricked into attending a banquet in the Persian
camp, where Tissaphernes orders that the Greeks in their camp
be executed, though some were held prisoner for some months.
The Greeks elect new generals, and Xenophon is elected as the
chief general to lead them towards the Black Sea. They fight the
Persians as they retreat, and then fight mountain tribes the
Persians were never able to conquer.
After thousands of miles, the Greeks started shouting when
marching through the northern mountain passes. Xenophon was
at the rear, and rushed forward on horseback, fearing the worst.

Robin Waterfield quotes Xenophon:
“Xenophon mounted a horse, and with the
cavalry rode up to lend assistance, and before
long they could make out that the soldiers
were shouting ‘Thalatta! Thalatta! The Sea!
The Sea!’ Then all the men in the rear began
running too, and the pack animals and the
horses broke into a gallop. When everyone
reached the mountaintop, they immediately
fell into one another’s arms, even the generals
and company commanders, with tears in their
eyes.” In the end, over eight thousand Greeks
survived this long and arduous trek.
Xenophon and the 10,000 hail the sea,
The story of the greatest nations, 1900

The trip along the shores of the Black Sea, including
how the mercenaries hired themselves out to various
rulers, and finally enlisting with the Spartans battling
the Persians, takes nearly half of Xenophon’s
Anabasis. But Xenophon chose to retire to Greece,
settling on an estate given to him by Sparta.

Thálatta!
Thálatta!
(Θάλαττα!
θάλαττα!,
"The Sea!
The Sea!").
Trebizond
was the first
Greek city
the Ten
Thousand
reached on
their retreat
from inland
Persia, by
Herman
Vogel,1884

Later, Alexander the Great would relive the resolute
tactics and impetuous bravery of Cyrus the Younger
on the battlefield, personally charging the bodyguard
of King Darius III, causing him to flee into defeat. But
Alexander the Great, unlike Cyrus the Younger, first
commanded forces in battles less momentous to gain
valuable battlefield experience.

Alexander the Great, victorious over Darius at the battle of Gaugamela, by Jacques Courtois, late 1600's

If you’re interested in reading this adventure story that
was popular in both the ancient world and medieval times,
I would read both Xenophon’s account and Robin
Waterfield’s commentary. You should also read
Xenophon’s fanciful biography of the founder of the
Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, with his description of the
warrior virtues he sees in Cyrus the Younger, with many
stoic sayings. Robin Waterfield has also written a book on
the life of Plato which we plan to cover in the future.

Xenophon wrote the History of My Times where he discusses the
ending years of the Peloponnesian Wars where Thucydides left
off, and how they transition into the series of wars between all
the Greek combatants in the succeeding years. The
Peloponnesian Wars permanently weakened Athens, though they
partially recovered, but the wars that followed permanently
weakened Sparta, with Thebes freeing their helot serf
population. This permanent weakening of both Athens and
Sparta likely made Greece easier to conquer by Philip of
Macedon, before his son Alexander the Great embarked on his
conquest of Persian Empire.

Also, there is a series of lectures by Professor John
Hale of the Great Courses on the Greco-Persian Wars
that we highly recommend. This is not available on
Wondrium, but there is a set of lectures on
Wondrium on the Persian Empire by John Lee.

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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Robin Waterfield Reflects on Xenophon’s Anabasis in Persia, and Other Greco-Persian Conflicts

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Robin Waterfield Reflects on Xenophon’s Anabasis in Persia, and Other Greco-Persian Conflicts