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Anabasis
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General SummaryANTIQUITY has bequeathed to us few books more interesting than the Anabasis by the Athenian historian, Xenophon. It is the story of that memorable expedition in the course of which an army of ten thousand Greeks penetrated to the very heart of the Persian Empire, overcame their treacherous and watchful foes, and returned by a long and toilsome march to safety in Greek lands. This story is told by one who accompanied the army from beginning to end; at first as the friend and guest of the Greek generals, later as the moving spirit among the soldiers and the real leader of the retreat.
Historical SummaryAt Cunaxa, a little village about fifty miles northwest of Babylon, Cyrus and his army encountered the enormous host of the Persian king. The Greek soldiers made short work of the Orientals posted against them. But the battle was not yet won.
44. The Death of Cyrus1
. . . Cyrus, seeing the Greeks conquering . . . and in hot pursuit, was well content. But in spite of his joy and the salutations offered him at that moment by those about him, as though he was already king, he was not led away to join in the pursuit. Keeping his squadron of six hundred horsemen in close order, he waited and watched to see what the king himself would do. The king, he knew, held the center of the Persian army. Indeed, it is the fashion for the Asiatic monarch to occupy that position during action. For this there is a twofold reason: he holds the safest place, with his troops on either side of him, while, if he has occasion to dispatch any necessary order along the lines, his troops will receive the message in half the time. The king, accordingly, on this occasion held the center of his army, but for all that, he was outside Cyrus’ left wing. Seeing that no one offered him battle in front. . . the king wheeled as if to encircle the enemy. It was then that Cyrus, in apprehension lest the king might get round to the rear and cut to pieces the Greek soldiers, charged to meet him. Attacking with his six hundred, he mastered the line of troops in front of the king, and put to flight the six thousand, cutting down, with his own hand, their commander.
But as soon as the rout commenced, Cyrus’ own six hundred themselves, in the ardor of pursuit, were scattered, with the
exception of a handful who remained with Cyrus himself. Left alone with these, he caught sight of the king and the close throng about him. Unable longer to contain himself, with a cry, "I see the man," he rushed at the king and dealt a blow at his chest, wounding him through the corselet. This is according to the statement of Ctesias1 the surgeon, who further states that he himself healed the wound. As Cyrus delivered the blow, some one struck him under the eye with a javelin. . . . Cyrus fell, and eight of his bravest companions lay on the top of him. The story goes that Artapates, the trustiest squire among his wand-bearers, when he saw that Cyrus had fallen to the ground, leaped from his horse and threw his arms about him. Then, as one account says, the king bade one slay him as a worthy victim to his brother: others say that Artapates drew his scimitar and slew himself with his own hand. . . .
So died Cyrus; a man the kingliest and most worthy to rule of all the Persians who have lived since the elder Cyrus,2 according to the testimony of all who are reputed to have known him intimately. . . .
1 Xenophon, , i, 8–9.
1 A Greek who lived many years at the Persian court as the royal physician. He wrote a history of Persia to the year 399 B. C.
2 Cyrus the Great.
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Chicago: "The Death of Cyrus," Anabasis in Readings in Early European History, ed. Webster, Hutton (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1926), 112. Original Sources, accessed November 21, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=R6K46PMYJAW6JGH.
MLA: . "The Death of Cyrus." Anabasis, Vol. i, in Readings in Early European History, edited by Webster, Hutton, Boston, Ginn and Company, 1926, page 112. Original Sources. 21 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=R6K46PMYJAW6JGH.
Harvard: , 'The Death of Cyrus' in Anabasis. cited in 1926, Readings in Early European History, ed. , Ginn and Company, Boston, pp.112. Original Sources, retrieved 21 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=R6K46PMYJAW6JGH.
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