Anabasis, The: Revolt of Cyrus (401 B.C.E.) PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Cyrus, the Younger (backed by Greek mercenaries) vs.

Artaxerxes II PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Cunaxa (near Babylon), Persia MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: Cyrus the Younger sought to seize the Persian throne from his brother, Artaxerxes II. OUTCOME: Thanks to the Greek mercenaries, Artaxerxeswas defeated. However, Cyrus was killed in battle. APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:Cyruss army, 50,000, including 13,000 Greek mercenaries; Artaxerxes forces, 100,000 CASUALTIES: In battle, Greek casualties were reported as one wounded; other casualties unknown. TREATIES: None The Anabasis or, in full, the Anabasis Kyrou, in Greek,Upcountry march, was a narrative written by Xenophon (c. 430353 B.C.E.), the scion of a wealthy Athenian family, author, and philosopher. One of the upper-class youths and soldiers who made up the Socratic circle, Xenophon, on the dare of a friend, joined the 13,000 or so Greek mercenaries who fought for Cyrus the Younger (424 401B.C.E.) in his attempt to usurp the Persian throne from his brother Artaxerxes II (d. 359 B.C.E.). Xenophon wrote the first part of the Anabasis, relating the revolt of Cyrus at Scillus, in the Greek Pelopponese, shortly after 386 B.C.E.The second part he composed about 377 B.C.E. With the typical disregard of the ancient historians for statistical precision, Xenophon calls the Greek mercenaries, most of them veterans of the Second (Great) PELOPONNESIAN WAR, The Ten Thousand. Whatever their number,they continued to serve under their Spartan general Clearchus (d. 401 B.C.E.) even as they marched with Cyruss 50,000-man army. The great battle of the revolt of Cyrus took place near Babylon, at Cunaxa. The Greeks, deployed on Cyruss right and vastly outnumbered, defeated the left flank of Artaxerxes army. However, on the Persian right the fight between Artaxerxes army and Cyrus was far more difficult and protracted. Cyrus was killed, which sent the panicstricken rebels into retreat. Only the Greek mercenaries stood firm. With supple brilliance, Clearchus advanced against the much larger right wing of Artaxerxes army and dealt it a decisive defeat. According to Xenophon, only a single Greek hoplite became a casualty, and he was only wounded. However, after the victory the Greek senior officers foolishly accepted the invitation of defeated Persian commander Tissaphernes to a feast. There they were made prisoner. Clearchus was executed on the spot, while the others were transported to Artaxerxes, who ordered them beheaded. Further reading: J. K. Anderson, Military Theory and Practice in the Age of Xenophon (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970); Christopher Nadon, Xenophons Prince: Republic and Empire in the Cyropaedia (Berkeley:University of California Press, 2001).

Anabasis, The: March of the Ten Thousand (400 B.C.E.) PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Greek mercenaries vs. Armenian hill tribes PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): The route between Babylon and the Greek Black Sea colony of Trapezus, about 1,000 miles DECLARATION: None MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: Return from the campaignof Cyrus the Younger against his brother, Artaxerxes II, for control of the Persian throne OUTCOME: After an epic five-month journey, some 6,000 mercenaries returned to safety. APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS: Greek mercenaries, 12,000 to 13,000 CASUALTIES: About half (6,000) died on the trek. TREATIES: None Xenophons Anabasis includes an account of the march of the Greek mercenaries, known as The Ten Thousand, although most historians believe the army consisted of 13,000, from a location near Babylon following the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 B.C.E. (see ANABASIS, THE: REVOLT OF CYRUS) to the Euxine (the Black Sea). The Greek mercenaries had supported Cyrus the Younger (424401 B.C.E) in his attempt to seize the Persian throne from his brother Artaxerxes II (d. 359 B.C.E.). The march took place after the Persians had treacherously murdered the Greek general Clearchus (d. 401 B.C.E.) and all the senior mercenary officers. The surviving junior officers, mostly Spartans and Athenians, assumed leadership of the mercenaries and undertook a 1,000-mile march to the nearest friendly territory, Trapezus, a Greek colony on the Euxine. The epic journey traversed the forbidding mountains of Armenia and required foraging for survival and fighting off assaults by wild hill people.Xenophon, who traveled with the mercenaries in a private capacity, was one of the principal leaders of the trek.By the time the mercenaries reached Trapezus, they had been fighting their way through the mountains for five months. A total of 6,000 survived the journey. Further reading: J. K. Anderson, Military Theory andPractice in the Age of Xenophon (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970); Christopher Nadon, Xenophons Prince: Republic and Empire in the Cyropaedia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001).