Born c. 431 B.C.,
Athens, Greece
Died c. 352 B.C.,
Corinth, Greece
Xenophon led a Greek army on a harrowing retreat across Asia Minor, then wrote a vivid account of the event that is still being published and read today, almost 2,400 years later. Exiled from his native city of Athens for most of his life, Xenophon wrote prolifically on a variety of subjects. He is the most celebrated of the early Greek historians.
Born in the Greek city-state of Athens, Xenophon became a pupil and companion of the famous Greek philosopher Socrates. He was also trained in horsemanship, which may indicate that his father held considerable wealth and probably land. Following the death of King Darius II of Persia, Xenophon became involved in the struggle of Darius’s two sons over the succession to the Persian empire. The elder son, Artaxerxes, became king, but the younger son, called Cyrus the Younger, coveted the crown for himself. In 401 B.C. Cyrus attempted to overthrow his brother with the aid of a Greek mercenary army, known as the Ten Thousand. Xenophon was one of the soldiers who joined this force. Twenty years after the event he wrote an account of the campaign in the Anabasis, which means “March into the Interior.”
Xenophon tells how the Ten Thousand, led by Cyrus, marched into Persia and waged a great battle at Cunaxa, 45 miles from Babylon, in what is now Iraq. Cyrus was defeated and killed; 24 Greek generals were captured and put to death. Stranded in a foreign and hostile land without any leadership, the Greek soldiers elected their own generals. Xenophon was chosen to be second-in-command to the Spartan Cheirosophus.
Xenophon became the inspiring force for this refugee army on its torturous 1,500-mile trek back to Athens. Marching out of Persia, they were harassed by the Persian army, under the command of Tissaphernes, until they reached the mountains of Kurdistan. Then the Greeks had to fight against fierce Kurdish tribes through the mountains to the border of the Kingdom of Armenia at the Centrites River, a tributary of the Tigris, in eastern Turkey. In Armenia they were met by a force led by Tiribazus, the ruler of Armenia. In order to secure their safe passage, the Greeks had to promise Tiribazus that they would not live off of his land during their journey.
By now it was December, and the highlands of Armenia were covered with ice and snow. The Greeks had to follow a route through territory so rugged that it was little known until modern times. To make matters worse, because of their promise to Tiribazus, they had only meager resources. They suffered greatly from frostbite and snow blindness, in addition to hunger and exhaustion; many died during this part of the journey.
Xenophon and the surviving Ten Thousand marched northwestward toward the present-day city of Erzurum. Entering the territory of the warlike Chalybes they expected a hostile reception, but fortunately they encountered no difficulty. They arrived at the city of Gymnias, the center of a rich silver-mining district, where they learned they were not far from Trapezus, which is the modern-day city of Trabzon on the Black Sea in Turkey. Xenophon wrote a famous passage about this part of the trip:
When the men in front reached the summit and caught sight of the sea there was great shouting. Xenophon and the rearguard heard it and thought there were some more enemies attacking in front.… However, when the shouting got louder and drew nearer, and those who were constantly going forward started running towards the men in front who kept on shouting, and the more there were of them the more shouting there was, it looked then as there was something more serious. Xenophon galloped forward to the front with his cavalry. When he got near he heard what the cry was—The Sea! The Sea! Then they all began to run, the rearguard and all, and drove on the pack animals and horses at full speed; and when they had all got to the top, the soldiers, with tears in their eyes, embraced each other and their generals and captains.
Since Trapezus was a Greek colony, the soldiers were welcome even though the citizens were apprehensive about such a large, unruly band of men. At this point Xenophon thought of capturing a nearby native city and starting a new Greek colony. But the soldiers were not interested—they wanted only to get back home. The year was now 399 B.C., and they had been away from Greece for nearly two years. At this point Cheirosophus died, leaving Xenophon the sole leader of the Greek forces. In spite of the men’s restlessness and their tendency to divide into smaller bands according to their native cities, he was able to keep the army together.
Xenophon led the Ten Thousand, who by now numbered only about 6,000, by land and sea to Chalcedon, which is now the city of Kadiköy, on the Asian shore opposite Byzantium. Xenophon had some difficulty in restraining his men from sacking the palace at Byzantium, which is now the Turkish capital of Istanbul. Since the soldiers were mercenaries who fought for money rather than patriotism, Xenophon was able to hire them out to Seuthes, the prince of Thrace, who used the Greeks to put down rebellious tribes. When Seuthes cheated the soldiers out of their pay, they were enlisted by the Spartans in a war with the Persians along the coasts of Asia Minor. This time the soldiers had better luck: they pillaged and sacked Persian towns, obtaining large amounts of plunder. By this time Xenophon had had enough of their unruly behavior; he turned the command over to an associate and returned to Athens.
Upon arriving in Athens, Xenophon found that his old master Socrates had died. The mood of the people had also changed and he no longer felt at home in his native city. At about this time Athens became an ally of the Persians against Sparta. Since Xenophon had long admired the disciplined, aristocratic life of the Spartans, he joined the Spartan cause. Fighting under the command of Agesilaus II in the Corinthian War, he participated in the defeat of the Athenians and Thebans at Coronea in central Greece in 394 B.C.
When Xenophon was banished from Athens because of his treachery, he went into exile in Sparta, where he was given a country estate at the town of Scillus near Mount Olympus. He stayed there for more than 20 years. During his exile he wrote the Anabasis, which has been called the world’s first travelogue. He also wrote the Greek History, a continuation of the work by the historian Thucydides, which told the story of his native land from 411 B.C. to 362 B.C. It is the only surviving account of this important period in Greek history. Xenophon wrote extensively on the life of and teachings of Socrates as well as such subjects as horsemanship, hunting, military life, and the constitution of Sparta.
When Sparta suffered military reversals Xenophon lost his estate and retreated to the city of Corinth. In the meantime, Athens restored his citizenship, but it is thought he never returned. Xenophon died in Corinth sometime around the year 352 B.C. Although he was a brave and resourceful general, he is best remembered for his masterpiece, Anabasis.
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