Book 5
In the midst of their fighting and perplexity some god gave to the Greeks a means of salvation. For of a sudden one of the houses on the right, set on fire by somebody or other, broke into a blaze; and as it began to fall in, there began a general flight from the other houses on the right side of the road.
The moment Xenophon grasped this lesson which chance had given him, he gave orders to set fire to the houses on the left also, which were of wood and so fell to burning very quickly. The result was that the people in these houses likewise took to flight.
It was only the enemy in their front who were now left to trouble the Greeks and manifestly intended to attack them as they passed out and down the hill. At this stage Xenophon sent out orders that all who chanced to be out of range of the missiles should set about bringing up logs and put them in the open space between their own forces and the enemy. As soon as enough logs had been collected, they set fire to them; and meanwhile they set fire also to the houses which were close along the palisade, so that the enemy’s attention might be occupied with these.
It was in this way that they effected, with difficulty, their withdrawal from the stronghold, by putting fire between themselves and the enemy. And the whole city was burned down, houses, towers, palisades, and everything else except the citadel.
On the next day the Greeks were for returning to camp with their provisions. But inasmuch as they feared the descent to Trapezus (for the way was steep and narrow), they laid a sham ambuscade:
a man of Mysia, who likewise bore the name of Mysus,Which itself means Mysian—just as English might be the family name of an Englishman. took ten of the Cretans, stayed behind in a bit of undergrowth, and pretended to be trying to keep out of sight of the enemy; but their shields, which were of bronze, would now and then gleam through the bushes.
So the enemy, catching glimpses of these proceedings, were fearful that it was an ambuscade; and meanwhile the Greek army was making its descent. When it seemed that they had got down far enough, a signal was given to the Mysian to flee at the top of his speed, and he and his companions arose and took to flight.
The Cretans of the party (finding, as they said, that they were like to be overtaken in the running) plunged out of the road into the woods, and by tumbling down through the ravines made their escape,
but the Mysian held to the road in his flight and kept shouting for help; and they did go to his aid, and picked him up wounded. Then the rescuers in their turn proceeded to retreat, faces to the front, while the enemy kept throwing missiles at them and some of the Cretans replied with their arrows. In this way they all reached the camp safe and sound.
And now, seeing that Cheirisophus was not returnedSee Xen. Anab. 5.1.4. that they had not an adequate number of ships,Xen. Anab. 5.1.10-16. and that it was no longer possible to get provisions, they resolved to depart by land. On board the ships they embarked the sick, those who were more than forty years of age, the women and children, and all the baggage which they did not need to keep with them. They put aboard also Philesius and Sophaenetus, the eldest of the generals, and bade them take charge of the enterprise;
then the rest took up the march, the road having been already constructed.Xen. Anab. 5.1.13-14. And on the third day of their journey they reached Cerasus, a Greek city on the sea, being a colony planted by the Sinopeans in the territory of Colchis.
There they remained ten days; and the troops were reviewed under arms and numbered, and there proved to be eight thousand six hundred men.cp. Xen. Anab. 4.8.15 and notes thereon. So many were left alive. The rest had perished at the hands of the enemy or in the snow, a few also by disease.
There, also, they divided the money received from the sale of the booty. And the tithe, which they set apart for Apollo and for Artemis of the Ephesians, was distributed among the generals, each taking his portion to keep safely for the gods; and the portion that fell to Cheirisophus was given to Neon the Asinaean.
As for Xenophon, he caused a votive offering to be made out of Apollo’s share of his portion and dedicated it in the treasury of the Athenians at Delphi, inscribing upon it his own name and that of Proxenus, who was killed with Clearchus;Xen. Anab. 2.5. for Proxenus was his friend.Xen. Anab. 3.1.4-10.
The share which belonged to Artemis of the Ephesians he left behind, at the time when he was returning from Asia with Agesilaus to take part in the campaign against Boeotia,In 394 B.C., ending in the hard-fought battle of Coronea, at which Xenophon was present. cp. Xen. Hell. 4.2.1-8, Xen. Hell. 4.3.1-21. in charge of Megabyzus, the sacristan of Artemis, for the reason that his own journey seemed likely to be a dangerous one; and his instructions were that in case he should escape with his life, the money was to be returned to him, but in case any ill should befall him, Megabyzus was to cause to be made and dedicated to Artemis whatever offering he thought would please the goddess.
In the time of Xenophon’s exileWhich was probably due to his taking part in the expedition of Cyrus. cp. Xen. Anab. 3.1.5. and while he was living at Scillus, near Olympia, where he had been established as a colonist by the Lacedaemonians, Megabyzus came to Olympia to attend the games and returned to him his deposit. Upon receiving it Xenophon bought a plot of ground for the goddess in a place which Apollo’s oracle appointed.
As it chanced, there flowed through the plot a river named Selinus; and at Ephesus likewise a Selinus river flows past the temple of Artemis. In both streams, moreover, there are fish and mussels, while in the plot at Scillus there is hunting of all manner of beasts of the chase.
Here Xenophon built an altar and a temple with the sacred money, and from that time forth he would every year take the tithe of the products of the land in their season and offer sacrifice to the goddess, all the citizens and the men and women of the neighbourhood taking part in the festival. And the goddess would provide for the banqueters barley meal and loaves of bread, wine and sweetmeats, and a portion of the sacrificial victims from the sacred herd as well as of the victims taken in the chase.
For Xenophon’s sons and the sons of the other citizens used to have a hunting expedition at the time of the festival, and any grown men who so wished would join them; and they captured their game partly from the sacred precinct itself and partly from Mount Pholoe—boars and gazelles and stags.
The place is situated on the road which leads from Lacedaemon to Olympia, and is about twenty stadia from the temple of Zeus at Olympia. Within the sacred precinct there is meadowland and treecovered hills, suited for the rearing of swine, goats, cattle and horses, so that even the draught animals which bring people to the festival have their feast also.
Immediately surrounding the temple is a grove of cultivated trees, producing all sorts of dessert fruits in their season. The temple itself is like the one at Ephesus, although small as compared with great, and the image of the goddess, although cypress wood as compared with gold, is like the Ephesian image.
Beside the temple stands a tablet with this inscription:The place is sacred to Artemis. He who holds it and enjoys its fruits must offer the tithe every year in sacrifice, and from the remainder must keep the temple in repair. If any one leaves these things undone, the goddess will look to it.
Leaving Cerasus, the people who had thus far been conveyed by seaSee Xen. Anab. 5.3.1. went on as before, while the rest continued their journey by land.
When they reached the boundary of the Mossynoecians,Lit. dwellers in Mossyns, or wooden towers. See 26 below. they sent to them Timesitheus the Trapezuntian, who was official representative of the Mossynoecians at Trapezus, and asked whether in marching through their country they were to regard it as friendly or hostile. The Mossynoecians replied that they would not permit them to pass through;
for they trusted in their strongholds. Then Timesitheus told the Greeks that the Mossynoecians who dwelt farther on were hostile to these people, and it was decided to summon them and see whether they wanted to conclude an alliance; so Timesitheus was sent to them, and brought back with him their chiefs.
When they arrived, these chiefs of the Mossynoecians and the generals of the Greeks met together;
and Xenophon spoke as follows, Timesitheus acting as interpreter: Mossynoecians, we desire to make our way to Greece in safety by land, for we have no ships; but these people, who, as we hear, are your enemies, are trying to block our passage.
If you wish, therefore, it is within your power to secure us as allies, to exact vengeance for any wrong these people have ever done you, and to make them henceforth your subjects.
But if you dismiss us with a refusal, where, bethink you, could you ever again secure so large a force to help fight your battles?
To these words the chief of the Mossynoecians replied that they desired this arrangement and accepted the alliance.
Well, then, said Xenophon, what use will you want to make of us if we become your allies, and what assistance will you, in your turn, be able to render us in the matter of our passage through this territory?
They replied: We are able to invade this land of your enemies and ours from the opposite side, and to send to you here not only ships, but men who will aid you in the fighting and will guide you on your way.
After confirming this agreement by giving and receiving pledges they departed. The next day they returned, bringing with them three hundred canoes, each made out of a single log and each containing three men, two of whom disembarked and fell into line under arms, while the third remained in the canoe.
Then the second group took their canoes and sailed back again, and those who stayed behind marshalled themselves in the following way. They took position in lines of about a hundred each, like choral dancers ranged opposite one another, all of them with wicker shields covered with white, shaggy ox-hide and like an ivy leaf in shape, and each man holding in his right hand a lance about six cubits long, with a spearhead at one endcp. Xen. Anab. 4.7.16 and note thereon. and a round ball at the butt end of the shaft.
They wore short tunics which did not reach their knees and were as thick as a linen bag for bedclothes, and upon their heads leathern helmets just such as the Paphlagonian helmets, with a tuft in the middle very like a tiara in shape; and they had also iron battle-axes.
After they had formed their lines one of them led off, and the rest after him, every man of them, fell into a rhythmic march and song, and passing through the battalions and through the quarters of the Greeks they went straight on against the enemy, toward a stronghold which seemed to be especially assailable.
It was situated in front of the city which is called by them Metropolis and contains the chief citadel of the Mossynoecians. In fact, it was for the possession of this citadel that the war was going on; for those who at any time held it were deemed to be masters of all the other Mossynoecians, and they said that the present occupants did not hold it by right, but that it was common property and they had seized it in order to gain a selfish advantage.
The attacking party was followed by some of the Greeks, not under orders from their generals, but seeking plunder. As they approached, the enemy for a time kept quiet; but when they had got near the stronghold, they sallied forth and put them to flight, killing a considerable number of the barbarians and some of the Greeks who had gone up the hill with them, and pursuing the rest until they saw the Greeks coming to the rescue;
then they turned and fell back, and after cutting off the heads of the dead men displayed them to the Greeks and to their own enemies, at the same time dancing to a kind of strain which they sang.
And the Greeks were exceedingly angry, not only because the enemy had been made bolder, but because the Greeks who went to the attack with the barbarians had taken to flight, though in very considerable numbers—a thing which they had never done before in the course of the expedition.