Complete Works of Xenophon (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) (5 page)

Clearchus was also invited into the tent as a counsellor, for both Cyrus and the other Persians regarded him as the man who was honoured above the rest of the Greeks. And when he came out, he reported to his friends how Orontas’ trial was conducted — for it was no secret.
[6]
He said that Cyrus began the conference in this way: “My friends, I have invited you here in order that I may consult with you and then take such action in the case of Orontas here as is right in the sight of gods and men. This man was given me at first by my father, to be my subject; then, at the bidding, as he himself said, of my brother, this man levied war upon me, holding the citadel of Sardis, and I, by the war I waged against him, made him count it best to cease from warring upon me, and I received and gave the hand-clasp of friendship. Since that,” he said, “Orontas, have I done you any wrong?”
[7]
“No,” Orontas answered. Cyrus went on questioning him: “Did you not afterwards, although, as you yourself admit, you had suffered no wrong at my hands, desert me for the Mysians, and do all the harm you could to my territory?” “Yes,” said Orontas. “Did you not,” Cyrus said, “when once more you had learned the slightness of your own power, go to the altar of Artemis and say you were sorry, and did you not, after prevailing upon me to pardon you, again give me pledges and receive pledges from me?” This also Orontas admitted.
[8]
“What wrong, then,” said Cyrus, “have you suffered at my hands, that you now for the third time have been found plotting against me?” When Orontas replied, “None,” Cyrus asked him: “Do you admit, then, that you have proved yourself a doer of wrong toward me?” “I cannot choose but do so,” said Orontas. Thereupon Cyrus asked again: “Then could you henceforth prove yourself a foe to my brother and a faithful friend to me?” “Even if I should do so Cyrus,” he replied, “you could never after this believe it of me.”
[9]
Then Cyrus said to those who were present: “Such have been this man’s deeds, such are now his words; and now, Clearchus, do you be the first of my counsellors to express the opinion you hold.” And Clearchus said: “My advice is to put this man out of the way as speedily as possible, so that we may no longer have to be on our guard against the fellow, but may be left free, so far as concerns him, to requite with benefits these willing servants.”
[10]
In this opinion Clearchus said that the others also concurred.

After this, he said, at the bidding of Cyrus, every man of them arose, even Orontas’ kinsmen, and took him by the girdle, as a sign that he was condemned to death; and then those to whom the duty was assigned led him out. And when the men who in former days were wont to do him homage saw him, they made their obeisance even then, although they knew that he was being led forth to death.
[11]
Now after he had been conducted into the tent of Artapates, the most faithful of Cyrus’ chamberlains, from that moment no man ever saw Orontas living or dead, nor could anyone say from actual knowledge how he was put to death, — it was all conjectures, of one sort and another; and no grave of his was ever seen.

7.
From there Cyrus marched through Babylonia three stages, twelve parasangs. On the third stage he held a review of the Greeks and the barbarians on the plain at about midnight; for he thought that at the next dawn the King would come with his army to do battle; and he ordered Clearchus to act as commander of the right wing and Menon of the left, while he himself marshalled his own troops.
[2]
On the morning following the review, at daybreak, there came deserters from the great King and brought reports to Cyrus about his army.

At this time Cyrus called together the generals and captains of the Greeks, and not only took counsel with them as to how he should fight the battle, but, for his own part, exhorted and encouraged them as follows:
[3]
“Men of Greece, it is not because I have not barbarians enough that I have brought you hither to fight for me; but because I believe that you are braver and stronger than many barbarians, for this reason I took you also. Be sure, therefore, to be men worthy of the freedom you possess, upon the possession of which I congratulate you. For you may be certain that freedom is the thing I should choose in preference to all that I have and many times more.
[4]
And now, in order that you may know what sort of a contest it is into which you are going, I who do know will tell you. Our enemies have great numbers and they will come on with a great outcry; for the rest, however, if you can hold out against these things, I am ashamed, I assure you, to think what sorry fellows you will find the people of our country to be. But if you be men and if my undertaking turn out well, I shall make anyone among you who wishes to return home an object of envy to his friends at home upon his return, while I shall cause many of you, I imagine, to choose life with me in preference to life at home.”
[5]

Hereupon Gaulites, a Samian exile who was there and was in the confidence of Cyrus, said: “And yet, Cyrus, there are those who say that your promises are big now because you are in such a critical situation — for the danger is upon you — but that if any good fortune befall, you will fail to remember them; and some say that even if you should remember and have the will, you would not have the means to make good all your promises.”
[6]
Upon hearing these words Cyrus said: “Well, gentlemen, my father’s realm extends toward the south to a region where men cannot dwell by reason of the heat, and to the north to a region where they cannot dwell by reason of the cold; and all that lies between these limits my brother’s friends rule as satraps.
[7]
Now if we win the victory, we must put our friends in control of these provinces. I fear, therefore, not that I shall not have enough to give to each of my friends, if success attends us, but that I shall not have enough friends to give to. And as for you men of Greece, I shall give each one of you a wreath of gold besides.”
[8]
When they heard these words, the officers were far more eager themselves and carried the news away with them to the other Greeks. Then some of the others also sought Cyrus’ presence, demanding to know what they should have, in case of victory; and he satisfied the expectations of every one of them before dismissing them.
[9]
Now all alike who conversed with him urged him not to take part in the fighting, but to station himself in their rear. Taking this opportunity Clearchus asked Cyrus a question like this: “But do you think, Cyrus, that your brother will fight with you?” “Yes, by Zeus,” said Cyrus, “if he is really a son of Darius and Parysatis and a brother of mine, I shall not win this realm without fighting for it.”
[10]

At this time, when the troops were marshalled under arms, the number of the Greeks was found to be ten thousand four hundred hoplites, and two thousand five hundred peltasts, while the number of the barbarians under Cyrus was one hundred thousand and there were about twenty scythe-bearing chariots.
[11]
The enemy, it was reported, numbered one million two hundred thousand and had two hundred scythe-bearing chariots; besides, there was a troop of six thousand horsemen, under the command of Artagerses, which was stationed in front of the King himself.
[12]
And the King’s army had four commanders, each at the head of three hundred thousand men, namely, Abrocomas, Tissaphernes, Gobryas, and Arbaces. But of the forces just enumerated only nine hundred thousand, with one hundred and fifty scythe-bearing chariots, were present at the battle; for Abrocomas, marching from Phoenicia, arrived five days too late for the engagement.
[13]
Such were the reports brought to Cyrus by those who deserted from the Great King before the battle, and after the battle identical reports were made by the prisoners taken thereafter.
[14]

From there Cyrus marched one stage, three parasangs, with his whole army, Greek and barbarian alike, drawn up in line of battle; for he supposed that on that day the King would come to an engagement; for about midway of this day’s march there was a deep trench, five fathoms in width and three fathoms in depth.
[15]
This trench extended up through the plain for a distance of twelve parasangs, reaching to the wall of Media, [Here also are the canals, which flow from the Tigris river; they are four in number, each a plethrum wide and exceedingly deep, and grain-carrying ships ply in them; they empty into the Euphrates and are a parsang apart, and there are bridges over them.] and alongside the Euphrates there was a narrow passage, not more than about twenty feet in width, between the river and the trench;
[16]
and the trench had been constructed by the Great King as a means of defence when he learned that Cyrus was marching against him. Accordingly Cyrus and his army went through by the passage just mentioned, and so found themselves on the inner side of the trench.
[17]
Now on that day the King did not offer battle, but tracks of both horses and men in retreat were to be seen in great numbers.
[18]
Then Cyrus summoned Silanus, his Ambraciot soothsayer, and gave him three thousand darics; for on the eleventh day before this, while sacrificing, he had told Cyrus that the King would not fight within ten days, and Cyrus had said: “Then he will not fight at all, if he will not fight within ten days; however, if your prediction proves true, I promise you ten talents.” So it was this money that he then paid over, the ten days having passed.
[19]
But since the King did not appear at the trench and try to prevent the passage of Cyrus’ army, both Cyrus and the rest concluded that he had given up the idea of fighting. Hence on the following day Cyrus proceeded more carelessly;
[20]
and on the third day he was making the march seated in his chariot and with only a small body of troops drawn up in line in front of him, while the greater part of the army was proceeding in disorder and many of the soldiers’ arms and accoutrements were being carried in wagons and on pack-animals.

8.
It was now about full-market time and the stopping-place where Cyrus was intending to halt had been almost reached, when Pategyas, a trusty Persian of Cyrus’ staff, came into sight, riding at full speed, with his horse in a sweat, and at once shouted out to everyone he met, in the barbarian tongue and in Greek, that the King was approaching with a large army, all ready for battle.
[2]
Then ensued great confusion; for the thought of the Greeks, and of all the rest in fact, was that he would fall upon them immediately, while they were in disorder;
[3]
and Cyrus leaped down from his chariot, put on his breastplate, and then, mounting his horse, took his spears in his hands and passed the word to all the others to arm themselves and get into their places, every man of them.
[4]
Thereupon they proceeded in great haste to take their places, Clearchus occupying the right end of the Greek wing, close to the Euphrates river, Proxenus next to him, and the others beyond Proxenus, while Menon and his army took the left end of the Greek wing.
[5]
As for the barbarians, Paphlagonian horsemen to the number of a thousand took station beside Clearchus on the right wing, as did the Greek peltasts, on the left was Ariaeus, Cyrus’ lieutenant, with the rest of the barbarian army,
[6]
and in the centre Cyrus and his horsemen, about six hundred in number. These troopers were armed with breastplates and thigh-pieces and, all of them except Cyrus, with helmets — Cyrus, however, went into the battle with his head unprotected. [In fact, it is said of the Persians in general that they venture all the perils of war with their heads unprotected.]
[7]
And all their horses [with Cyrus] had frontlets and breast-pieces; and the men carried, besides their other weapons, Greek sabres.
[8]

And now it was midday, and the enemy were not yet in sight; but when afternoon was coming on, there was seen a rising dust, which appeared at first like a white cloud, but some time later like a kind of blackness in the plain, extending over a great distance. As the enemy came nearer and nearer, there were presently flashes of bronze here and there, and spears and the hostile ranks began to come into sight.
[9]
There were horsemen in white cuirasses on the left wing of the enemy, under the command, it was reported, of Tissaphernes; next to them were troops with wicker shields and, farther on, hoplites with wooden shields which reached to their feet, these latter being Egyptians, people said; and then more horsemen and more bowmen. All these troops were marching in national divisions, each nation in a solid square.
[10]
In front of them were the so-called scythe-bearing chariots, at some distance from one another; and the scythes they carried reached out sideways from the axles and were also set under the chariot bodies, pointing towards the ground, so as to cut to pieces whatever they met; the intention, then, was that they should drive into the ranks of the Greeks and cut the troops to pieces.
[11]
As for the statement, however, which Cyrus made when he called the Greeks together and urged them to hold out against the shouting of the barbarians, he proved to be mistaken in this point; for they came on, not with shouting, but in the utmost silence and quietness, with equal step and slowly.
[12]

At this moment Cyrus rode along the line, attended only by Pigres, his interpreter, and three or four others, and shouted to Clearchus to lead his army against the enemy’s centre, for the reason that the King was stationed there; “and if,” he said, “we are victorious there, our whole task is accomplished.”
[13]
Clearchus, however, since he saw the compact body at the enemy’s centre and heard from Cyrus that the King was beyond his left wing (for the King was so superior in numbers that, although occupying the centre of his own line, he was beyond Cyrus’ left wing), was unwilling to draw the right wing away from the river, for fear that he might be turned on both flanks; and he told Cyrus, in reply, that he was taking care to make everything go well.
[14]