Book 4
Xenophon, however, becoming apprehensive lest, if he should leave unoccupied the hill he had just captured, the enemy might take possession of it again and attack the baggage train as it passed (and the train stretched out a long way because of the narrowness of the road it was following), left three captains upon the hill, Cephisodorus, son of Cephisophon, an Athenian, Amphicrates, son of Amphidemus, also an Athenian, and Archagoras, an Argive exile; while he himself with the rest of the troops proceeded against the second hill, which they captured in the same fashion as the first.
There still remained a third round hill,The one originally mentioned by the Carduchian guide. See Xen. Anab. 4.1.25, Xen. Anab. 4.2.6. far the steepest of them all, the one that rose above the guard post, by the fire, which had been captured during the night by the volunteers.
But when the Greeks got near this hill, the barbarians abandoned it without striking a blow, so that everybody was filled with surprise and imagined that they had quit the place out of fear that they might be surrounded and blockaded. As it proved, however, they had seen, looking down from their height, what was going on farther back, and were all setting out to attack the Greek rearguard.i. e. the three companies left upon the first hill, which the main body of Xenophon’s troops had now passed by. See below.
Meanwhile Xenophon proceeded to climb the abandoned height with his youngest troops, ordering the rest to move on slowly in order that the hindmost companies might catch up; then they were to advance along the road and halt under arms on the plateauInto which the ἔκβασις, or way out, ultimately led. at the top of the pass.
At this time Archagoras the Argive came up in flight and reported that the Greeks had been dislodged from the first hill, that Cephisodorus and Amphicrates had been killed, and likewise all the rest except such as had leaped down the rocks and reached the rearguard.In this case the reference is manifestly to the division behind the baggage train (sec. 9).
After accomplishing this achievement the barbarians came to a hill opposite the round hill,See sec. 14 above. and Xenophon, through an interpreter, held a colloquy with them in regard to a truce and asked them to give back the bodies of the Greek dead.
They replied that they would give them back on condition that the Greeks should not burn their houses. To this Xenophon agreed. But while the rest of the army was passing by and they were engaged in this conference, all the enemy from that neighbourhood had streamed together to the spot;
and as soon as Xenophon and his men began to descend from the round hill, in order to join the rest of the Greeks at the place where they were halted under arms, the enemy took this opportunity to rush upon them in great force and with a great deal of uproar. When they had reached the crest of the hill from which Xenophon was descending, they proceeded to roll down stones. They broke one man’s leg, and Xenophon found himself deserted by the servant who was carrying his shield;
but Eurylochus of Lusi, a hoplite, ran up to him and, keeping his shield held out in front of them both, fell back with him; and the rest also made good their retreat to the main array.
Then the entire Greek army united, and the troops took up quarters there in many fine houses and in the midst of abundant supplies; for the inhabitants had wine in such quantities that they kept it in cemented cisterns.
Meanwhile Xenophon and Cheirisophus effected an arrangement by which they recovered the bodies of their dead and gave back the guide; and they rendered to the dead, so far as their means permitted, all the usual honours that are paid to brave men.
On the next day they continued their march without a guide, while the enemy, by fighting and by seizing positions in advance wherever the road was narrow, tried to prevent their passage.
Accordingly, whenever they blocked the march of the van, Xenophon would push forward from the rear to the mountains and break the blockade of the road for the van by trying to get higher than those who were halting it,
and whenever they attacked the rear, Cheirisophus would sally forth and, by trying to get higher than the obstructing force, would break the blockade of the passage-way for the rear; in this way they continually aided one another and took zealous care for one another.
There were times, indeed, when the barbarians caused a great deal of trouble even to the troops who had climbed to a higher position, when they were coming down again; for their men were so agile that even if they took to flight from close at hand, they could escape; for they had nothing to carry except bows and slings.
As bowmen they were most excellent; they had bows nearly three cubits long and their arrows were more than two cubits, and when they shot, they would draw their strings by pressing with the left foot against the lower end of the bow; and their arrows would go straight through shields and breastplates.See Xen. Anab. 4.1.18. Whenever they got hold of them, the Greeks would use these arrows as javelins, fitting them with thongs. In these regions the Cretans made themselves exceedingly useful. They were commanded by a Cretan named Stratocles.
For that day againOn the preceding night also they had been quartered in villages (Xen. Anab. 4.2.22). they found quarters in the villages that lie above the plain bordering the Centrites river, which is about two plethra in width and separates Armenia and the country of the Carduchians. There the Greeks took breath, glad to behold a plain; for the river was distant six or seven stadia from the mountains of the Carduchians.
At the time, then, they went into their quarters very happily, for they had provisions and likewise many recollections of the hardships that were now past. For during all the seven days of their march through the land of the Carduchians they were continually fighting, and they suffered more evils than all which they had suffered taken together at the hands of the King and Tissaphernes. In the feeling, therefore, that they were rid of these troubles they lay down happily to rest.
At daybreak, however, they caught sight of horsemen at a place across the river, fully armed and ready to dispute their passage, and likewise foot-soldiers drawn up in line of battle upon the bluffs above the horsemen, to prevent their pushing up into Armenia.
All these were the troops of OrontasSatrap of Armenia. cp. Xen. Anab. 2.4.8-9; Xen. Anab. 3.4.13, Xen. Anab. 3.5.17. and Artuchas,A Persian general. and consisted of Armenians, Mardians, and Chaldaean mercenaries. The Chaldaeans were said to be an independent and valiant people; they had as weapons long wicker shields and lances.
Now the bluffs just mentioned, upon which these troops were drawn up, were distant three or four plethra from the river, and there was only one road to be seen that led up them, apparently an artificial road; so at this pointi.e. opposite this road, where they naturally expected to find a practicable ford. the Greeks undertook to cross the river.
When they made the attempt, however, the water proved to be more than breast deep and the river bed was rough with large, slippery stones; furthermore, they could not carry their shields in the water, for if they tried that, the current would snatch them away, while if a man carried them on his head, his body was left unprotected against arrows and other missiles; so they turned back and went into camp there by the side of the river.
Meanwhile, at the point where they had themselves spent the previous night, on the mountain side, they could see the Carduchians gathered together under arms in great numbers. Then it was that deep despondency fell upon the Greeks, as they saw before them a river difficult to cross, beyond it troops that would obstruct their crossing, and behind them the Carduchians, ready to fall upon their rear when they tried to cross.
That day and night, accordingly, they remained there, in great perplexity. But Xenophon had a dream; he thought that he was bound in fetters, but that the fetters fell off from him of their own accord, so that he was released and could take as long stepsδιαβαίνειν, which also means to cross a river (see above). Here lay the good omen of the dream. as he pleased. When dawn came, he went to Cheirisophus, told him he had hopes that all would be well, and related to him his dream.
Cheirisophus was pleased, and as soon as day began to break, all the generals were at hand and proceeded to offer sacrifices. And with the very first victim the omens were favourable. Then the generals and captains withdrew from the sacrifice and gave orders to the troops to get their breakfasts.
While Xenophon was breakfasting, two young men came running up to him; for all knew that they might go to him whether he was breakfasting or dining, and that if he were asleep, they might awaken him and tell him whatever they might have to tell that concerned the war.
In the present case the young men reported that they had happened to be gathering dry sticks for the purpose of making a fire, and that while so occupied they had descried across the river, among some rocks that reached down to the very edge of the river, an old man and a woman and some little girls putting away what looked like bags of clothes in a cavernous rock.
When they saw this proceeding, they said, they made up their minds that it was safe for them to cross, for this was a place that was not accesible to the enemy’s cavalry. They accordingly stripped, keeping only their daggers, and started across naked, supposing that they would have to swim; but they went on and got across without wetting themselves up to the middle; once on the other side, they took the clothes and came back again.
Upon hearing this report Xenopohon immediately proceeded to pour a libation himself, and directed his attendants to fill a cup for the young men and to pray to the gods who had revealed the dream and the ford, to bring to fulfilment the other blessings also.Especially a safe crossing and a safe return to Greece. The libation accomplished, he at once led the young men to Cheirisophus, and they repeated their story to him.
And upon hearing it Cheirisophus also made libation. Thereafter they gave orders to the troops to pack up their baggage, while they themselves called together the generals and took counsel as to how they might best effect a crossing so as to defeat the enemy in front without suffering any harm from those in their rear.
The decision was, that Cheirisophus should take the lead with half the army and attempt a crossing, that the other half with Xenophon should stay behind for a while, and that the baggage animals and camp followers should cross between the two divisions.
When these arrangements had been satisfactorily made, they set out, the young men leading the way and keeping the river on the left; and the distance to the ford was about four stadia.
As they proceeded, the squadrons of the enemy’s cavalry kept along opposite to them. When they reached the ford, they halted under arms, and Cheirisophus put a wreath upon his head,As the Spartans were accustomed to do when going into battle. cp. Xen. Anab. 1.4.2-3. threw off his cloak, and took up his arms, giving orders to all the others to do the same; he also directed the captains to lead their companies in column, part of them upon his left and the rest upon his right. Meanwhile the soothsayers were offering sacrifice to the river,
and the enemy were shooting arrows and discharging slings,
but not yet reaching their mark; and when the sacrifices proved favourable, all the soldiers struck up the paean and raised the war shout, while the women, everyone of them, joined their cries with the shouting of the men—for there were a large number of women in the camp.
Then Cheirisophus and his division proceeded into the river; but Xenophon took the nimblest troops of the rearguard and began running back at full speed to the fordi.e. the original ford, which had proved impracticable ( 5-6). that was opposite the road which led out into the Armenian mountains, pretending that he meant to cross at that point and thus cut offi.e. by attacking them on the flank. the horsemen who were by the side of the river.
The enemy thereupon, when they saw Cheirisophus and his division crossing the river without difficulty and likewise saw Xenophon and his men running back, were seized with fear that they might be cut off, and they fled at full speed to reach the road which led up from the river. This road once gained, they hastened on upward in the direction of the mountain.
Then Lycius, who commanded the squadron of Greek cavalry, and Aeschines, commander of the battalion of peltasts that was with Cheirisophus, upon seeing the enemy in full flight set off in pursuit, while the rest of the Greek troops shouted to them not to fall behind, but to follow the fugitives right up to the mountain.
As for Cheirisophus, after getting across he chose not to pursue the hostile cavalry, but immediately pushed up over the bluffs that reached down to the river against the infantry on top of them.See 3 above. And these troops, seeing their own cavalry in flight and hoplites advancing upon them, abandoned the heights above the river.
Xenophon no sooner saw that all was going well on the other side than he started back with all speed to join the troops that were crossing, for by this time the Carduchians could be seen descending into the plain with the manifest intention of attacking the hindmost.