The First Four Books of Xenophon's Anabasis

Excerpt

BOOK I.—CHAPTER I.

Parentage of Cyrus the Younger. After the death of his father he is accused of plotting against his brother Artaxerxes, who imprisons him, but releases him on the intercession of his mother, and sends him back to his province, where he secretly collects forces, of which a large proportion are from Greece, to make war on his brother.

1. Of Darius and Parysatis were born two sons, the elder Artaxerxes, and the younger Cyrus. After Darius had fallen sick, and suspected that the end of his life was approaching, he was desirous that both of his sons should attend him.

2. The elder then happened to be present; Cyrus he sent for from the province of which he had made him satrap. He had also appointed him commander of all the forces that muster in the plain of Castolus.

Cyrus accordingly went up, taking with him Tissaphernes as a friend, and having also with him three hundred heavy-armed Greeks, and Xenias of Parrhasia, their captain.

3. But when Darius was dead, and Artaxerxes was placed upon the throne, Tissaphernes brought an accusation against Cyrus before his brother, saying that he was plotting against him. Artaxerxes was induced to give credit to it, and had Cyrus arrested, with the intention of putting him to death; but his mother, having begged his life, sent him back to his province.

4. When Cyrus had departed, after being thus in danger and disgrace, he began to consider by what means he might cease to be subject to his brother, and make himself king, if he could, in his stead. Parysatis, their mother, was well disposed towards Cyrus, as she loved him better than Artaxerxes, who was on the throne. 5. Whatever messengers from the king came to visit him, he let none of them go till he had inclined them to be friends to himself, rather than the monarch. He also paid such attention to the Barbarians that were with him, that they were in a condition to take the field, and well inclined towards himself. 6. His Greek force he collected as secretly as he could, that he might surprise the king as little prepared as possible.

He collected troops in the following manner. Whatever garrisons he had in his towns, he sent orders to the commanders of them to procure respectively as many Peloponnesians as they could, of the best class of soldiers, on pretence that Tissaphernes was forming designs upon those towns. For the cities of Ionia had formerly been, under the government of Tissaphernes, having been assigned to him by the king, but had at this time all revolted to Cyrus except Miletus. 7. Tissaphernes, discovering that the people of Miletus were forming a similar design, [to go over to Cyrus,] put some of them to death, and sent others into banishment. Cyrus, receiving the exiles under his protection, and assembling an army, laid siege to Miletus by land and sea, and used every exertion to restore these exiles; and he had thus another pretext for augmenting the number of his forces. 8. He then sent to the king, and requested that, as he was his brother, these cities should be given to him rather than that Tissaphernes should govern them; and in this application his mother supported him....