Complete Works of Xenophon (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) (20 page)

After this exchange of pledges the Macronians at once began to help the Greeks cut down the trees and to build the road in order to get them across, mingling freely with the Greeks; and they supplied as good a market as they could, and conducted the Greeks on their way for three days, until they brought them to the boundaries of the Colchians.
[9]
At this place was a great mountain, and upon this mountain the Colchians were drawn up in line of battle. At first the Greeks formed an opposing line of battle, with the intention of advancing in this way upon the mountain, but afterwards the generals decided to gather together and take counsel as to how they could best make the contest.
[10]

Xenophon accordingly said that in his opinion they should give up the line of battle and form the companies in column. “For the line,” he continued, “will be broken up at once; for we shall find the mountain hard to traverse at some points and easy at others; and the immediate result will be discouragement, when men who are formed in line of battle see the line broken up.
[11]
Furthermore, if we advance upon them formed in a line many ranks deep, the enemy will outflank us, and will use their outflanking wing for whatever purpose they please; on the other hand, if we are formed in a line a few ranks deep, it would be nothing surprising if our line should be cut through by a multitude both of missiles and men falling upon us in a mass; and if this happens at any point, it will be bad for the whole line.
[12]
But it seems to me we should form the companies in column and, by leaving spaces between them, cover enough ground so that the outermost companies should get beyond the enemy’s wings; in this way not only shall we outflank the enemy’s line, but advancing in column our best men will be in the van of the attack, and wherever it is good going, there each captain will lead forward his men.
[13]
And it will not be easy for the enemy to push into the space between the columns when there are companies on this side and that, and not any easier for him to cut through a company that is advancing in column. Again, if any one of the companies is hard pressed, its neighbour will come to its aid; and if one single company can somehow climb to the summit, not a man of the enemy will stand any longer.”
[14]

This plan was decided upon, and they proceeded to form the companies in column. And as Xenophon was going back from the right wing to the left, he said to the troops: “Soldiers, these men yonder whom you see are the only ones who still stand in the way of our being forthwith at the place we have long been striving to reach; if we possibly can, we must simply eat these fellows raw.”
[15]

When the officers had got to their several positions and had formed their companies in column, the result was about eighty companies of hoplites with each company numbering close upon one hundred; the peltasts and the bowmen, on the other hand, they formed in three divisions, one beyond the left wing of the hoplites, the second beyond the right, and the third in the centre, each division numbering about six hundred men.
[16]
After this the generals passed along the order to offer prayer, and when they had prayed and sung the paean they set forth. Now Cheirisophus and Xenophon and the peltasts with them got beyond the wings of the enemy’s line in their advance;
[17]
and when the enemy saw this, they ran out, some to the right and others to the left, to confront them, with the result that their line was pulled apart and a large portion of it in the centre was left deserted.
[18]
Then the peltasts of the Arcadian division, who were commanded by Aeschines the Acarnanian, getting the idea that the enemy were in flight, set up a shout and began to run; and they were the first to reach the summit of the mountain, while following close after them came the Arcadian division of hoplites, under the command of Cleanor of Orchomenus.
[19]
As for the enemy, once the peltasts began to run they no longer stood their ground, but betook themselves hither and thither in flight.

After accomplishing the ascent the Greeks took up quarters in numerous villages, which contained provisions in abundance.
[20]
Now for the most part there was nothing here which they really found strange; but the swarms of bees in the neighbourhood were numerous, and the soldiers who ate of the honey all went off their heads, and suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea, and not one of them could stand up, but those who had eaten a little were like people exceedingly drunk, while those who had eaten a great deal seemed like crazy, or even, in some cases, dying men.
[21]
So they lay there in great numbers as though the army had suffered a defeat, and great despondency prevailed. On the next day, however, no one had died, and at approximately the same hour as they had eaten the honey they began to come to their senses; and on the third or fourth day they got up, as if from a drugging.
[22]

From there they marched two stages, seven parasangs, and reached the sea at Trapezus, an inhabited Greek city on the Euxine Sea, a colony of the Sinopeans in the territory of Colchis. There they remained about thirty days in the villages of the Colchians, and from these as a base plundered Colchis.
[23]
And the Trapezuntians supplied a market for the army, received the Greeks kindly, and gave them oxen, barley-meal, and wine as gifts of hospitality.
[24]
They likewise took part in negotiations with the Greeks in behalf of the near-by Colchians, who dwelt for the most part on the plain, and from these people also the Greeks received hospitable gifts of oxen.
[25]

After this they made ready the sacrifice which they had vowed; and a sufficient number of oxen had come to them so that they could pay their thank-offerings to Zeus for deliverance, to Heracles for guidance, and to the other gods according as they had vowed. They instituted also athletic games on the mountain side, just where they were encamped; and they chose Dracontius, a Spartan, who had been exiled from home as a boy because he had accidentally killed another boy with the stroke of a dagger, to look out for a race-course and to act as manager of the games.
[26]
When, accordingly, the sacrifice had been completed, they turned over the hides to Dracontius and bade him lead the way to the place he had fixed upon for his race-course. He pointed out the precise spot where they chanced to be standing, and said, “This hill is superb for running, wherever you please.” “How, then,” they said, “can men wrestle on ground so hard and overgrown as this is?” And he replied, “The one that is thrown will get hurt a bit more.”
[27]
The events were, a stadium race for boys, most of them belonging to the captives, a long race, in which more than sixty Cretans took part, wrestling, boxing, and the pancratium; and it made a fine spectacle; for there were a great many entries and, inasmuch as the comrades of the contestants were looking on, there was a great deal of rivalry.
[28]
There were horseraces also, and the riders had to drive their horses down the steep slope, turn them around on the shore, and bring them back again to the altar. And on the way down most of the horses rolled over and over, while on the way up, against the exceedingly steep incline, they found it hard to keep on at a walk; so there was much shouting and laughter and cheering.

BOOK V.

1.
[The preceding narrative has described all that the Greeks did on their upward march with Cyrus and on their journey to the shore of the Euxine Sea, how they arrived at the Greek city of Trapezus, and how they paid the thankofferings for deliverance which they had vowed to sacrifice at the place where they should first reach a friendly land.]
[2]

After this they gathered together and proceeded to take counsel in regard to the remainder of their journey; and the first man to get up was Leon of Thurii, who spoke as follows: “Well, I, for my part, gentlemen,” he said, “am tired by this time of packing up and walking and running and carrying my arms and being in line and standing guard and fighting, and what I long for now is to be rid of these toils, since we have the sea, and to sail the rest of the way, and so reach Greece stretched out on my back, like Odysseus.”
[3]
Upon hearing these words the soldiers shouted out that he was quite right; and another man said the same thing, and in fact all who rose to speak. Then Cheirisophus got up and spoke as follows:
[4]
“I have a friend Anaxibius, gentlemen, and he happens also to be Admiral. So if you will send me to him, I presume I can bring back with me ships of war and merchant vessels to carry us; for yourselves, if you really wish to go by sea, wait until I return; and I shall return speedily.” When they heard this, the soldiers were delighted, and voted that Cheirisophus should set sail with all speed.
[5]

After him Xenophon rose and spoke as follows: “Cheirisophus, then, is setting off after ships, and we are to stay here; I am going to speak, therefore, of all the things that it seems to me proper for us to be doing while we wait.
[6]
In the first place, we must obtain provisions from hostile territory, for we neither have an adequate market, nor have we, with some few exceptions, the means wherewith to buy; but the territory is hostile, and hence there is danger that many of you will perish if you set out after provisions carelessly and unguardedly.
[7]
Rather, it seems to me that you ought to get your provisions in foraging parties and not roam about at random, in order that you may be kept safe, and that we generals ought to have charge of this matter.” This proposal was adopted.
[8]

“Listen, then, to this further point. Some of you are to journey forth after plunder. Now I think it is best for the man who is going out to inform us of the fact and to tell us also whither he is going, in order that we may know the number of men who are going out and the number who are staying behind; then we can help, if need be, in making preparations, and if there be occasion to go to any one’s assistance, we shall know whither we are to go with such assistance, and if a man who is without experience is making an attempt in any quarter, we can advise him by trying to ascertain the strength of those against whom he may be going.” This proposal also was adopted.
[9]

“Then,” he said, “consider this matter also. Our enemies have leisure for plundering and they are plotting against us — quite properly, seeing that we have appropriated what was theirs; and they are posted up above us. So it seems to me that we ought to have guards around our camp; supposing, then, that we take turns in standing guard and keeping watch, the enemy would be less able to harry us.
[10]

“Here is still another point to note. If we knew beyond doubt that Cheirisophus would bring back with him an adequate number of ships, there would be no need of what I am about to say; but since in fact that is uncertain, I think we should try to do our part by procuring ships here also. For if he does bring enough, then with those at hand here we shall have a more abundant supply to sail in, while if he does not, we shall use those which we have here.
[11]
Now I see ships sailing past frequently, and if we can get the Trapezuntians to give us men-of-war and so bring these ships into port and keep them under guard, unshipping their rudders meanwhile, until we get enough to carry us, perhaps we should not lack such means of transport as we need.” This proposal also was adopted.
[12]

“Again,” he said, “do you not think it reasonable that we should maintain from our common fund the sailors we thus bring into port for as long a time as they may be waiting for our sakes, and that we should agree upon a price for our passage, so that in conferring a benefit upon us they may also benefit themselves?” This proposal also was adopted.
[13]

“Now it seems to me,” he continued, “that if perchance this plan also shall fail to provide us with enough ships, we must turn to the roads, which we hear are difficult to travel, and direct the cities that are situated along the sea to repair them; for they will obey, not only from fear, but also from the desire to be rid of us.”
[14]

At this the soldiers set up a shout, saying that they did not want to go by land. And Xenophon, realizing their foolishness, did not put any proposal regarding this matter to vote, but persuaded the cities to repair the roads voluntarily, urging that they would be rid of the army the more quickly if the roads should be made easy to travel.
[15]
Furthermore, they got a fifty-oared warship from the Trapezuntians, and put it under the command of Dexippus, a Laconian perioecus. This fellow, however, paying no heed to the duty of collecting vessels, slipped away with his man-of-war and left the Euxine. He did indeed get his deserts afterwards; for while engaged in some intrigue at the court of Seuthes in Thrace he was killed by Nicander the Laconian.
[16]
They also got a thirty-oared galley, and put it under the command of Polycrates the Athenian, who brought in to the camp all the merchant vessels that he captured. And they would unload the cargoes, in case the ships had any, and put them under guard, in order to keep these safe and to use the vessels themselves for transport service.
[17]
While these things were going on, the Greeks were making forays in quest of booty, and while some parties would secure it, others did not. And in one case, when Cleaenetus led forth his own company and another against a difficult stronghold, the commander himself was killed and many of his men besides.

2.
The time came when it was no longer possible to obtain provisions and return to the camp on the same day. Then Xenophon took some Trapezuntians for guides and led forth half the army to the country of the Drilae, leaving the other half behind to guard the camp — because the Colchians, since they had been driven out of their houses, were now gathered together in one great body and had taken a position on the heights above the camp.
[2]
For the Trapezuntians would not lead the Greeks to districts from which provisions could be secured easily, because they were friendly to the people of those districts; but they were eager to lead them into the territory of the Drilae, at whose hands they were continually suffering losses, though their country was mountainous and difficult to traverse and its inhabitants the most warlike of all that dwell upon the Euxine.
[3]