Anabasis

Perseus Greek · Perseus Greek · 1,469 sections

2.4.23.1
After this the Greeks went to rest, yet they did, nevertheless, send a guard to the bridge; and no one attacked the army from any quarter, nor did anyone of the enemy, so the men on guard reported, come to the bridge.
2.4.24.1
When dawn came, they proceeded to cross the bridge, which was made of thirty-seven boats, as guardedly as possible; for they had reports from some of the Greeks who were with Tissaphernes that the enemy would attack them while they were crossing. But these reports were false. To be sure, in the course of their passage Glus did appear, with some others, watching to see if they were crossing the river, but once he had seen, he went riding off.
2.4.25.1
From the Tigris they marched four stages, twenty parasangs, to the Physcus river, which was a plethrum in width and had a bridge over it. There was situated a large city named Opis, near which the Greeks met the bastard brother of Cyrus and Artaxerxes, who was leading a large army from Susa and Ecbatana to the support, as he said, of the King; and he halted his own army and watched the Greeks as they passed by.
2.4.26.1
Clearchus led them two abreast, and halted now and then in his march; and whatever the length of time for which he halted the van of the army, just so long a time the halt would necessarily last through the entire army; the result was that even to the Greeks themselves their army seemed to be very large, and the Persian was astounded as he watched them.
2.4.27.1
From there they marched through Media, six desert stages, thirty parasangs, to the villages of Parysatis, the mother of Cyrus and the King. And Tissaphernes, by way of insulting Cyrus, gave over these villages—save only the slaves they contained—to the Greeks to plunder. In them there was grain in abundance and cattle and other property.
2.4.28.1
From there they marched four desert stages, twenty parasangs, keeping the Tigris river on the left. Across the river on the first stage was situated a large and prosperous city named Caenae, from which the barbarians brought over loaves, cheeses and wine, crossing upon rafts made of skins.
2.5.1.1
After this they reached the Zapatas river, which was four plethra in width. There they remained three days. During this time suspicions were rife, it is true, but no plot came openly to light.
2.5.2.1
Clearchus resolved, therefore, to have a meeting with Tissaphernes and put a stop to these suspicions, if he possibly could, before hostilities resulted from them; so he sent a messenger to say that he desired to meet him.
2.5.3.1
And Tissaphernes readily bade him come.When they had met, Clearchus spoke as follows: I know, to be sure, Tissaphernes, that both of us have taken oaths and given pledges not to injure one another; yet I see that you are on your guard against us as though we were enemies, and we, observing this, are keeping guard on our side.
2.5.4.1
But since, upon inquiry, I am unable to ascertain that you are trying to do us harm, and am perfectly sure that we, for our part, are not even thinking of any such thing against you, I resolved to have an interview with you, so that, if possible, we might dispel this mutual distrust.
2.5.5.1
For I know that there have been cases before now—some of them the result of slander, others of mere suspicion—where men who have become fearful of one another and wished to strike before they were struck, have done irreparable harm to people who were neither intending nor, for that matter, desiring to do anything of the sort to them.
2.5.6.1
In the belief, then, that such misunderstandings are best settled by conference, I have come here, and I wish to point out to you that you are mistaken in distrusting us.
2.5.7.1
For, first and chiefly, our oaths, sworn by the gods, stand in the way of our being enemies of one another; and the man who is conscious that he has disregarded such oaths, I for my part should never account happy. For in war with the gods I know not either by what swiftness of foot or to what place of refuge one could make his escape, or into what darkness he could steal away, or how he could withdraw himself to a secure fortress. For all things in all places are subject to the gods, and all alike the gods hold in their control.
2.5.8.1
Touching the gods, then, and our oaths I am thus minded, and to the keeping of the gods we consigned the friendship which we covenanted; but as for things human, I believe that at this time you are to us the greatest good we possess.
2.5.9.1
For, with you, every road is easy for us to traverse, every river is passable, supplies are not lacking; without you, all our road is through darkness—for none of it do we know—every river is hard to pass, every crowd excites our fears, and most fearful of all is solitude—for it is crowded full of want.
2.5.10.1
And if we should, in fact, be seized with madness and slay you, should we not certainly, after slaying our benefactor, be engaged in contest with the King, a fresh and most powerful opponent? Again, how great and bright are the hopes of which I should rob myself if I attempted to do you any harm, I will relate to you.
2.5.11.1
I set my heart upon having Cyrus for my friend because I thought that he was the best able of all the men of his time to benefit whom he pleased; but now I see that it is you who possess Cyrus’ power and territory, while retaining your own besides, and that the power of the King, which Cyrus found hostile, is for you a support.
2.5.12.1
Since this is so, who is so mad as not to desire to be your friend?And now for the other side,—for I will go on to tell you the grounds upon which I base the hope that you will likewise desire to be our friend.
2.5.13.1
I know that the Mysians are troublesome to you, and I believe that with the force I have I could make them your submissive servants; I know that the Pisidians also trouble you, and I hear that there are likewise many other tribes of the same sort; I could put a stop, I think, to their being a continual annoyance to your prosperity. As for the Egyptians, with whom I learn that you are especially angry, I do not see what force you could better employ to aid you in chastising them than the force which I now have.
2.5.14.1
Again, take those who dwell around you: if you chose to be a friend to any, you could be the greatest possible friend, while if any were to annoy you, you could play the part of master over them in case you had us for supporters, for we should serve you, not merely for the sake of pay, but also out of the gratitude that we should feel, and rightly feel, toward you, the man who had saved us.
2.5.15.1
For my part, as I consider all these things the idea of your distrusting us seems to me so astonishing that I should be very glad indeed to hear the name of the man who is so clever a talker that his talk could persuade you that we were cherishing designs against you. Thus much Clearchus said, and Tissaphernes replied as follows:
2.5.16.1
It is a pleasure to me, Clearchus, to hear your sensible words; for if, holding these views, you should devise any ill against me, you would at the same time, I think, be showing ill-will toward yourself also. And now, in order that you may learn that you likewise are mistaken in distrusting either the King or myself, take your turn in listening.
2.5.17.1
If we were, in fact, desirous of destroying you, does it seem to you that we have not cavalry in abundance and infantry and military equipment, whereby we should be able to harm you without being in any danger of suffering harm ourselves?
2.5.18.1
Or do you think that we should not have places suitable for attacking you? Do you not behold these vast plains, which even now, although they are friendly, it is costing you a deal of labour to traverse? and these great mountains you have to pass, which we can occupy in advance and render impassable for you? and have we not these great rivers, at which we can parcel out whatever number of you we may choose to fight with—some, in fact, which you could not cross at all unless we carried you over?
2.5.19.1
And if we were worsted at all these points, nevertheless it is certain that fire can worst crops; by burning them up we could bring famine into the field against you, and you could not fight against that, however brave you might be.
2.5.20.1
Since, then, we have so many ways of making war upon you, no one of them dangerous to us, why, in such a case, should we choose out of them all that one way which alone is impious in the sight of the gods and shameful in the sight of men?
2.5.21.1
For it is those who are utterly without ways and means, who are bound by necessity, and who are rascals in any case, that are willing to accomplish an object by perjury to the gods and unfaithfulness to men. As for us, Clearchus, we are not so unreasoning or foolish.
2.5.22.1
But why, one might ask, when it was possible for us to destroy you, did we not proceed to do so? The reason for this, be well assured, was my eager desire to prove myself trustworthy to the Greeks, so that with the same mercenary force which Cyrus led up from the coast in the faith of wages paid, I might go back to the coast in the security of benefits conferred.
2.5.23.1
And as for all the ways in which you are of use to me, you also have mentioned some of them, but it is I who know the most important: the King alone may wear upright the tiara that is upon the head, but another, too, with your help, might easily so wear the one that is upon the heart.
2.5.24.1
In these things that he said Tissaphernes seemed to Clearchus to be speaking the truth; and Clearchus said: Then do not those who are endeavouring by false charges to make us enemies, when we have such grounds for friendship, deserve to suffer the uttermost penalty?
2.5.25.1
Yes, said Tissaphernes, and for my part, if you generals and captains care to come to me, I will give you, publicly, the names of those who tell me that you are plotting against me and the army under my command.
2.5.26.1
And I, said Clearchus, will bring them all, and in my turn will make known to you whence come the reports that I hear about you.
2.5.27.1
After this conversation Tissaphernes showed all kindness, inviting Clearchus at that time to stay with him and making him his guest at dinner. On the following day, when Clearchus returned to the Greek camp, he not only made it clear that he imagined he was on very friendly terms with Tissaphernes and reported the words which he had used, but he said that those whom Tissaphernes had invited must go to him, and that whoever among the Greeks should be convicted of making false charges ought to be punished, as traitors and foes to the Greeks.
2.5.28.1
Now Clearchus suspected that the author of these slanders was Menon, for he was aware that Menon had not only had meetings with Tissaphernes, in company with Ariaeus, but was also organizing opposition to his own leadership and plotting against him, with the intention of winning over to himself the entire army and thereby securing the friendship of Tissaphernes.
2.5.29.1
Clearchus desired, however, to have the entire army devoted to him and to put the refractory out of the way. As for the soldiers, some of them made objections to Clearchus’ proposal, urging that the captains and generals should not all go and that they should not trust Tissaphernes.
2.5.30.1
But Clearchus vehemently insisted, until he secured an agreement that five generals should go and twenty captains; and about two hundred of the soldiers also followed along, with the intention of going to market.
2.5.31.1
When they reached Tissaphernes’ doors, the generals were invited in—Proxenus the Boeotian, Menon the Thessalian, Agias the Arcadian, Clearchus the Laconian, and Socrates the Achaean—while the captains waited at the doors.
2.5.32.1
Not long afterward, at the same signal, those within were seized and those outside were cut down. After this some of the barbarian horsemen rode about over the plain and killed every Greek they met, whether slave or freeman.
2.5.33.1
And the Greeks wondered at this riding about, as they saw it from their camp, and were puzzled to know what the horsemen were doing, until Nicarchus the Arcadian reached the camp in flight, wounded in his belly and holding his bowels in his hands, and told all that had happened.
2.5.34.1
Thereupon the Greeks, one and all, ran to their arms, panic-stricken and believing that the enemy would come at once against the camp.
2.5.35.1
Not all of them came, however, but Ariaeus, Artaozus, and Mithradates, who had been most faithful friends of Cyrus, did come; and the interpreter of the Greeks said that with them he also saw and recognized Tissaphernes’ brother; furthermore, they were followed by other Persians, armed with breastplates, to the number of three hundred.
2.5.36.1
As soon as this party had come near, they directed whatever Greek general or captain there might be to come forward, in order that they might deliver a message from the King.
2.5.37.1
After this two generals went forth from the Greek lines under guard, Cleanor the Orchomenian and Sophaenetus the Stymphalian, and with them Xenophon the Athenian, who wished to learn the fate of Proxenus; Cheirisophus, however, chanced to be away in a village in company with others who were getting provisions.
2.5.38.1
And when the Greeks got within hearing distance, Ariaeus said: Clearchus, men of Greece, inasmuch as he was shown to be perjuring himself and violating the truce, has received his deserts and is dead, but Proxenus and Menon, because they gave information about his plotting, are held in high honour. For yourselves, the King demands your arms; for he says that they belong to him, since they belonged to Cyrus, his slave.
2.5.39.1
To this the Greeks replied as follows, Cleanor the Orchomenian acting as spokesman: Ariaeus, you basest of men, and all you others who were friends of Cyrus, are you not ashamed, either before gods or men, that, after giving us your oaths to count the same people friends and foes as we did, you have betrayed us, joining hands with Tissaphernes, that most godless and villainous man, and that you have not only destroyed the very men to whom you were then making oath, but have betrayed the rest of us and are come with our enemies against us?
2.5.40.1
And Ariaeus said: But it was shown that long ago Clearchus was plotting against Tissaphernes and Orontas and all of us who are with them. Upon this Xenophon spoke as follows:
2.5.41.1
Well, then, if Clearchus was really transgressing the truce in violation of his oaths, he has his deserts, for it is right that perjurers should perish; but as for Proxenus and Menon, since they are your benefactors and our generals, send them hither, for it is clear that, being friends of both parties, they will endeavour to give both you and ourselves the best advice.
2.5.42.1
To this the barbarians made no answer, but, after talking for a long time with one another, they departed.
2.6.1.1
The generals, then, after being thus seized, were taken to the King and put to death by being beheaded. One of them, Clearchus, by common consent of all who were personally acquainted with him, seemed to have shown himself a man who was both fitted for war and fond of war to the last degree.
2.6.2.1
For, in the first place, as long as the Lacedaemonians were at war with the Athenians, he bore his part with them; then, as soon as peace had come, he persuaded his state that the Thracians were injuring the Greek, and, after gaining his point as best he could from the ephors, set sail with the intention of making war upon the Thracians who dwelt beyond the Chersonese and Perinthus.
2.6.3.1
When, however, the ephors changed their minds for some reason or other and, after he had already gone, tried to turn him back from the Isthmus of Corinth, at that point he declined to render further obedience, but went sailing off to the Hellespont.
2.6.4.1
As a result he was condemned to death by the authorities at Sparta on the ground of disobedience to orders. Being now an exile he came to Cyrus, and the arguments whereby he persuaded Cyrus as recorded elsewhere; at any rate, Cyrus gave him ten thousand darics,
2.6.5.1
and he, upon receiving this money, did not turn his thoughts to comfortable idleness, but used it to collect an army and proceeded to make war upon the Thracians. He defeated them in battle and from that time on plundered them in every way, and he kept up the war until Cyrus wanted his army; then he returned, still for the purpose of making war, this time in company with Cyrus.
2.6.6.1
Now such conduct as this, in my opinion, reveals a man fond of war. When he may enjoy peace without dishonour or harm, he chooses war; when he may live in idleness, he prefers toil, provided it be the toil of war; when he may keep his money without risk, he elects to diminish it by carrying on war. As for Clearchus, just as one spends upon a loved one or upon any other pleasure, so he wanted to spend upon war—
2.6.7.1
such a lover he was of war. On the other hand, he seemed to be fitted for war in that he was fond of danger, ready by day or night to lead his troops against the enemy, and self-possessed amid terrors, as all who were with him on all occasions agreed.
2.6.8.1
He was likewise said to be fitted for command, so far as that was possible for a man of such a disposition as his was. For example, he was competent, if ever a man was, in devising ways by which his army might get provisions and in procuring them, and he was competent also to impress it upon those who were with him that Clearchus must be obeyed.
2.6.9.1
This result he accomplished by being severe; for he was gloomy in appearance and harsh in voice, and he used to punish severely, sometimes in anger, so that on occasion he would be sorry afterwards.
2.6.10.1
Yet he also punished on principle, for he believed there was no good in an army that went without punishment; in fact, he used to say, it was reported, that a soldier must fear his commander more than the enemy if he were to perform guard duty or keep his hands from friends or without making excuses advance against the enemy.
2.6.11.1
In the midst of dangers, therefore, the troops were ready to obey him implicitly and would choose no other to command them; for they said that at such times his gloominess appeared to be brightness, and his severity seemed to be resolution against the enemy, so that it appeared to betoken safety and to be no longer severity.
2.6.12.1
But when they had got past the danger and could go off to serve under another commander, many would desert him; for there was no attractiveness about him, but he was always severe and rough, so that the soldiers had the same feeling toward him that boys have toward a schoolmaster.
2.6.13.1
For this reason, also, he never had men following him out of friendship and good-will, but such as were under him because they had been put in his hands by a government or by their own need or were under the compulsion of any other necessity, yielded him implicit obedience.
2.6.14.1
And as soon as they began in his service to overcome the enemy, from that moment there were weighty reasons which made his soldiers efficient; for they had the feeling of confidence in the face of the enemy, and their fear of punishment at his hands kept them in a fine state of discipline.
2.6.15.1
Such he was as a commander, but being commanded by others was not especially to his liking, so people said. He was about fifty years old at the time of his death.
2.6.16.1
Proxenus the Boeotian cherished from his earliest youth an eager desire to become a man capable of dealing with great affairs, and because of this desire he paid money to Gorgias of Leontini.
2.6.17.1
After having studied under him and reaching the conclusion that he had now become competent to rule and, through friendship with the foremost men of his day, to hold his own in conferring benefits, he embarked upon this enterprise with Cyrus, expecting to gain therefrom a famous name, great power, and abundant wealth;
2.6.18.1
but while vehemently desiring these great ends, he nevertheless made it evident also that he would not care to gain any one of them unjustly; rather, he thought that he must secure them justly and honourably, or not at all.
2.6.19.1
As a leader, he was qualified to command gentlemen, but he was not capable of inspiring his soldiers with either respect for himself or fear; on the contrary, he really stood in greater awe of his men than they, whom he commanded, did of him, and it was manifest that he was more afraid of incurring the hatred of his soldiers than they were of disobeying him.
2.6.20.1
His idea was that, for a man to be and to be thought fit to command, it was enough that he should praise the one who did right and withhold praise from the one who did wrong. Consequently all among his associates who were gentlemen were attached to him, but the unprincipled would plot against him in the thought that he was easy to deal with. At the time of his death he was about thirty years old.
2.6.21.1
Menon the Thessalian was manifestly eager for enormous wealth—eager for command in order to get more wealth and eager for honour in order to increase his gains; and he desired to be a friend to the men who possessed greatest power in order that he might commit unjust deeds without suffering the penalty.
2.6.22.1
Again, for the accomplishment of the objects upon which his heart was set, he imagined that the shortest route was by way of perjury and falsehood and deception, while he counted straightforwardness and truth the same thing as folly.
2.6.23.1
Affection he clearly felt for nobody, and if he said that he was a friend to anyone, it would become plain that this man was the one he was plotting against. He would never ridicule an enemy, but he always gave the impression in conversation of ridiculing all his associates.
2.6.24.1
Neither would he devise schemes against his enemies’ property, for he saw difficulty in getting hold of the possessions of people who were on their guard; but he thought he was the only one who knew that it was easiest to get hold of the property of friends—just because it was unguarded.
2.6.25.1
Again, all whom he found to be perjurers and wrongdoers he would fear, regarding them as well armed, while those who were pious and practised truth he would try to make use of, regarding them as weaklings.
2.6.26.1
And just as a man prides himself upon piety, truthfulness, and justice, so Menon prided himself upon ability to deceive, the fabrication of lies, and the mocking of friends; but the man who was not a rascal he always thought of as belonging to the uneducated. Again, if he were attempting to be first in the friendship of anybody, he thought that slandering those who were already first was the proper way of gaining this end.
2.6.27.1
As for making his soldiers obedient, he managed that by bearing a share in their wrongdoing. He expected, indeed, to gain honour and attention by showing that he had the ability and would have the readiness to do the most wrongs; and he set it down as a kindness, whenever anyone broke off with him, that he had not, while still on terms with such a one, destroyed him.
2.6.28.1
To be sure, in matters that are doubtful one may be mistaken about him, but the facts which everybody knows are the following. From Aristippus he secured, while still in the bloom of youth, an appointment as general of his mercenaries; with Ariaeus, who was a barbarian, he became extremely intimate for the reason that Ariaeus was fond of beautiful youths; and, lastly, he himself, while still beardless, had a bearded favourite named Tharypas.
2.6.29.1
Now when his fellow-generals were put to death for joining Cyrus in his expedition against the King, he, who had done the same thing, was not so treated, but it was after the execution of the other generals that the King visited the punishment of death upon him; and he was not, like Clearchus and the rest of the generals, beheaded—a manner of death which is counted speediest—but, report says, was tortured alive for a year and so met the death of a scoundrel.
2.6.30.1
Agias the Arcadian and Socrates the Achaean were the two others who were put to death. No one ever laughed at these men as weaklings in war or found fault with them in the matter of friendship. They were both about thirty-five years of age.
3.1.1.1
[The preceding narrative has described all that the Greeks did in the course of the upward march with Cyrus until the time of the battle, and all that took place after the death of Cyrus while the Greeks were on the way back with Tissaphernes during the period of the truce.]
3.1.2.1
After the generals had been seized and such of the captains and soldiers as accompanied them had been killed, the Greeks were naturally in great perplexity, reflecting that they were at the King’s gates, that round about them on every side were many hostile tribes and cities, that no one would provide them a market any longer, that they were distant from Greece not less than ten thousand stadia, that they had no guide to show them the way, that they were cut off by impassable rivers which flowed across the homeward route, that the barbarians who had made the upward march with Cyrus had also betrayed them, and that they were left alone, without even a single horseman to support them, so that it was quite clear that if they should be victorious, they could not kill anyone, while if they should be defeated, not one of them would be left alive.
3.1.3.1
Full of these reflections and despondent as they were, but few of them tasted food at evening, few kindled a fire, and many did not come that night to their quarters, but lay down wherever they each chanced to be, unable to sleep for grief and longing for their native states and parents, their wives and children, whom they thought they should never see again. Such was the state of mind in which they all lay down to rest.
3.1.4.1
There was a man in the army named Xenophon, an Athenian, who was neither general nor captain nor private, but had accompanied the expedition because Proxenus, an old friend of his, had sent him at his home an invitation to go with him; Proxenus had also promised him that, if he would go, he would make him a friend of Cyrus, whom he himself regarded, so he said, as worth more to him than was his native state.
3.1.5.1
After reading Proxenus’ letter Xenophon conferred with Socrates, the Athenian, about the proposed journey; and Socrates, suspecting that his becoming a friend of Cyrus might be a cause for accusation against Xenophon on the part of the Athenian government, for the reason that Cyrus was thought to have given the Lacedaemonians zealous aid in their war against Athens, advised Xenophon to go to Delphi and consult the god in regard to this journey.
3.1.6.1
So Xenophon went and asked Apollo to what one of the gods he should sacrifice and pray in order best and most successfully to perform the journey which he had in mind and, after meeting with good fortune, to return home in safety; and Apollo in his response told him to what gods he must sacrifice.
3.1.7.1
When Xenophon came back from Delphi, he reported the oracle to Socrates; and upon hearing about it Socrates found fault with him because he did not first put the question whether it were better for him to go or stay, but decided for himself that he was to go and then asked the god as to the best way of going. However, he added, since you did put the question in that way, you must do all that the god directed.
3.1.8.1
Xenophon, accordingly, after offering the sacrifices to the gods that Apollo’s oracle prescribed, set sail, overtook Proxenus and Cyrus at Sardis as they were on the point of beginning the upward march, and was introduced to Cyrus.
3.1.9.1
And not only did Proxenus urge him to stay with them, but Cyrus also joined in this request, adding that as soon as the campaign came to an end, he would send Xenophon home at once; and the report was that the campaign was against the Pisidians.
3.1.10.1
It was in this way, then, that Xenophon came to go on the expedition, quite deceived about its purpose—not, however, by Proxenus, for he did not know that the attack was directed against the King, nor did anyone else among the Greeks with the exception of Clearchus; but by the time they reached Cilicia, it seemed clear to everybody that the expedition was really against the King. Then, although the Greeks were fearful of the journey and unwilling to go on, most of them did, nevertheless, out of shame before one another and before Cyrus, continue the march. And Xenophon was one of this number.
3.1.11.1
Now when the time of perplexity came, he was distressed as well as everybody else and was unable to sleep; but, getting at length a little sleep, he had a dream. It seemed to him that there was a clap of thunder and a bolt fell on his father’s house, setting the whole house ablaze.
3.1.12.1
He awoke at once in great fear, and judged the dream in one way an auspicious one, because in the midst of hardships and perils he had seemed to behold a great light from Zeus; but looking at it in another way he was fearful, since the dream came, as he thought, from Zeus the King and the fire appeared to blaze all about, lest he might not be able to escape out of the King’s country, but might be shut in on all sides by various difficulties.
3.1.13.1
Now what it really means to have such a dream one may learn from the events which followed the dream—and they were these: Firstly, on the moment of his awakening the thought occurred to him: Why do I lie here? The night is wearing on, and at daybreak it is likely that the enemy will be upon us. And if we fall into the King’s hands, what is there to prevent our living to behold all the most grievous sights and to experience all the most dreadful sufferings, and then being put to death with insult?
3.1.14.1
As for defending ourselves, however, no one is making preparations or taking thought for that, but we lie here just as if it were possible for us to enjoy our ease. What about myself, then? From what state am I expecting the general to come who is to perform these duties? And what age must I myself wait to attain? For surely I shall never be any older, if this day I give myself up to the enemy.
3.1.15.1
Then he arose and, as a first step, called together the captains of Proxenus. When they had gathered, he said: Gentlemen, I am unable either to sleep, as I presume you are also, or to lie still any longer, when I see in what straits we now are.
3.1.16.1
For the enemy manifestly did not begin open war upon us until the moment when they believed that their own preparations had been adequately made; but on our side no one is planning any counter-measures at all to ensure our making the best possible fight.
3.1.17.1
And yet if we submit and fall into the King’s hands, what do we imagine our fate is to be? Even in the case of his own brother, and, yet more, when he was already dead, this man cut off his head and his hand and impaled them; as for ourselves, then, who have no one to intercede for us, and who took the field against him with the intention of making him a slave rather than a king and of killing him if we could, what fate may we expect to suffer?
3.1.18.1
Will he not do his utmost to inflict upon us the most outrageous tortures, and thus make all mankind afraid ever to undertake an expedition against him? We, then, must make every effort not to fall into his power.
3.1.19.1
For my part, so long as the truce lasted I never ceased commiserating ourselves and congratulating the King and his followers; for I saw plainly what a great amount of fine land they possessed, what an abundance of provisions, what quantities of servants, cattle, gold, and apparel;
3.1.20.1
but whenever I took thought of the situation of our own soldiers, I saw that we had no share in these good things, except we bought them, I knew there were but few of us who still had money wherewith to buy, and I knew that our oaths restrained us from getting provisions in any other way than by purchase. Hence, with these considerations in mind, I used sometimes to fear the truce more than I now fear war.
3.1.21.1
But seeing that their own act has put an end to the truce, the end has likewise come, in my opinion, both of their arrogance and of our embarrassment. For now all these good things are offered as prizes for whichever of the two parties shall prove to be the braver men; and the judges of the contest are the gods, who, in all likelihood, will be on our side.
3.1.22.1
For our enemies have sworn falsely by them, while we, with abundant possessions before our eyes, have steadfastly kept our hands therefrom because of our oaths by the gods; hence we, I think, can go into the contest with far greater confidence than can our enemies.

Perseus Greek. CTS URN tlg0032.tlg006.perseus-eng2. Via the Perseus Digital Library / Open Greek and Latin TEI corpora. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.