Diodorus Siculus, Library 8-40

§ 14.21.3 When he arrived at the Gates, as they are called, and found the place clear of guards, he was elated, for he was greatly concerned lest troops might have occupied them before his arrival. The place is narrow and precipitous in character, so that it can be easily guarded by few troops.

§ 14.21.4 For two mountains lie against everyone, the one jagged and with great crags, and the other beginning right at the road itself, and it is the largest in those regions, bearing the name Amanus and extending along Phoenicia; and the space between the mountains, some three stades in length, has walls running its while length and gates closed to make a narrow passage.

§ 14.21.5 Now, after passing through the Gates without a fight, Cyrus sent off that part of the fleet that was still with him to make the return voyage to Ephesus, since it was of no further use to him now that he would be travelling inland. After a march of twenty days he arrived at the city of Thapsacus, which lies on the Euphrates River.

§ 14.21.6 Here he remained five days, and after winning the army to himself both by abundant supplies and by booty from foraging, he summoned it to an assembly and disclosed the truth about his campaign. When the soldiers received his words unfavourably, he besought them, one and all, not to leave him in the lurch, promising, besides other great rewards, that, when they came to Babylon, he would give every man of them five minas of silver. The soldiers, accordingly, soaring in their expectations, were prevailed upon to follow him.

§ 14.21.7 When Cyrus crossed the Euphrates with his army, he pressed on the way without making any halt, and as soon as he reached the borders of Babylonia he rested his troops.

§ 14.22.1 King Artaxerxes had learned some time before from Pharnabazus that Cyrus was secretly collecting an army to lead against him, and when he now learned that he was on the march, he summoned his armaments from every place to Ecbatana in Media.

§ 14.22.2 When the contingents from the Indians and certain other peoples were delayed because of the remoteness of those regions, he set out to meet Cyrus with the army that had been assembled. He had in all not less than four hundred thousand soldiers, including cavalry, as Ephorus states.

§ 14.22.3 When he arrived on the plain of Babylonia, he pitched a camp beside the Euphrates, intending to leave his baggage in it; for he had learned that the enemy was not far distant and he was apprehensive of their reckless daring.

§ 14.22.4 Accordingly he dug a trench sixty feet wide and ten deep and encircled the camp with the baggage-waggons of his train like a wall. Having left behind in the camp the baggage and the attendants who were of no use in the battle, he appointed an adequate guard for it, and leading forward in person his army unencumbered, he advanced to meet the enemy which was near at hand.

§ 14.22.5 When Cyrus saw the King's army advancing, he at once drew up his own force in battle order. The right wing, which rested on the Euphrates, was held by infantry composed of Lacedemonians and some of the mercenaries, all under the command of Clearchus the Lacedemonian, and helping him in the fight were the cavalry brought from Paphlagonia, more than a thousand. The left wing was held by the troops from Phrygia and Lydia and about a thousand of the cavalry, under the command of Aridaeus.

§ 14.22.6 Cyrus himself had taken a station in the centre of the battle-line, together with the choicest troops gathered from the Persians and the other barbarians, about ten thousand strong; and leading the van before him were the finest-equipped cavalry, a thousand, armed with Greek breastplates and swords. Artaxerxes stationed before the length of his battle-line scythe-bearing chariots in no small number, and the wings he put under command of Persians, while he himself took his position in the centre with no less than fifty thousand elite troops.

§ 14.23.1 When the armies were about three stades apart, the Greeks struck up the paean and at first advanced at a slow pace, but as soon as they were within range of missiles they began to run at great speed. Clearchus the Lacedemonian had given orders for them to do this, for by not running from a great distance he had in mind to keep the fighters fresh in body for the fray, while if they advanced on the run when at close quarters, this, it was thought, would cause the missiles shot by bows and other means to fly over their heads.

§ 14.23.2 When the troops with Cyrus approached the King's army, such a multitude of missiles was hurled upon them as one could expect to be discharged from a host of four hundred thousand. Nevertheless, they fought but an altogether short time with javelin and then for the remainder of the battle closed hand to hand.

§ 14.23.3 The Lacedemonians and the rest of the mercenaries at the very first contact struck terror into the opposing barbarians both by the splendour of their arms and by the skill they displayed.

§ 14.23.4 For the barbarians were protected by small shields and their divisions were for the most part equipped with light arms; and, furthermore, they were without trial in the perils of war, whereas the Greeks had been in constant battle by reason of the length of the Peloponnesian War and were far superior in experience. Consequently they straightway put their opponents to flight, pushed after them in pursuit, and slew many of the barbarians.

§ 14.23.5 In the centre of the lines, it so happened, were stationed both the men who were contending for the kingship. Consequently, becoming aware of this fact, they made at each other, being eagerly desirous of deciding the issue of the battle by their own hands; for Fortune, it appears, brought the rivalry of the brothers over the throne to culmination in a duel as if in imitation of that ancient rash combat of Eteocles and Polyneices so celebrated in tragedy.

§ 14.23.6 Cyrus was the first to hurl his javelin from a distance, and striking the King, brought him to the ground; but the King's attendants speedily snatched him away and carried him out of the battle. Tissaphernes, a Persian noble, now succeeded to the supreme command held by the King, and not only rallied the troops but fought himself in splendid fashion; and retrieving the reverse involved in the wounding of the King and arriving on the scene everywhere his elite troops, he slew great numbers of the enemy, so that his presence was conspicuous from afar.7 Cyrus, being elated by the success of his forces, rushed boldly into the midst of the enemy and at first slew numbers of them as he set no bounds to his daring; but later, as he fought too imprudently, he was struck by a common Persian and fell mortally wounded. Upon his death the King's soldiers gained confidence for the battle and in the end, by virtue of numbers and daring, wore down their opponents.

§ 14.24.1 On the other wing Aridaeus, who was second in command to Cyrus, at first withstood stoutly the charge of the barbarians, but later, since he was being encircled by the far-extended line of the enemy and had learned of Cyrus' death, he turned in flight with the soldiers under his command to one of the stations where he had once stopped, which was not unsuited as a place for retreat.

§ 14.24.2 Clearchus, when he observed that both the centre of his allies and the other part as well had been routed, stopped his pursuit, and calling back the soldiers, set them in order; for he feared that if the entire army should turn on the Greeks, they would be surrounded and slain to a man.

§ 14.24.3 The King's troops, after they had put their opponents to flight, first plundered Cyrus' baggage-train and then, when night had come on, gathered in force and set upon the Greeks; but when the Greeks met the attack valiantly, the barbarians withstood them only a short while and after a little turned in flight, being overcome by their deeds of valour and skill.

§ 14.24.4 The troops of Clearchus, when they had slain great numbers of the barbarians, since it was already night, returned to the battlefield and set up a trophy, and about the second watch got safe to their camp.

§ 14.24.5 Such was the outcome of the battle, and of the army of the King more than fifteen thousand were slain, most of whom fell at the hands of the Lacedemonians and mercenaries under the command of Clearchus.

§ 14.24.6 On the other side some three thousand of Cyrus' soldiers fell, while of the Greeks, we are told, not a man was slain, though a few were wounded. When the night was past, Aridaeus, who had fled to the stopping-place, dispatched messengers to Clearchus, urging him to lead his soldiers to him and to join him in making a safe return to the regions not sea. For now that Cyrus had been slain and the King's armaments held the advantage, deep concern had seized those who had dared to take the field to unset Artaxerxes from the throne.

§ 14.25.1 Clearchus called together both the generals and commanders and took counsel with them on the situation. While they were discussing it, there came ambassadors from the King, the chief of whom was a man of Greece, Phalynus by name, who was a Zacynthian. They were introduced to the gathering and spoke as follows: “King Artaxerxes says: Since I have defeated and slain Cyrus, do you surrender your arms, come to my doors, and seek how you may appease me and gain some favour.”

§ 14.25.2 To these words each general gave a reply much like that which Leonides made when he was guarding the Pass of Thermopylae, and Xerxes sent messengers ordering him to lay down his arms.

§ 14.25.3 For Leonides at that time instructed the messengers to report to the King: “We believe that if we become friends of Xerxes, we shall be better allies if we keep our arms, and if we are forced to wage war against him, we shall fight the better if we keep them.”

§ 14.25.4 When Clearchus had made a somewhat similar reply to the message, Proxenus the Theban said, “As things now stand, we have lost practically everything else, and all that is left to us is our valour and our arms. It is my opinion, therefore, that if we guard our arms, our valour also will be useful to us, but if we give them up, then not even our valour will be of any help to us.” Consequently he gave them this message to the King: “If you are plotting some evil against us, with our arms we will fight against you for your own possessions.”

§ 14.25.5 We are told that also Sophilus, one of the commanders, said, “I am surprised at the words of the King; for if he believes that he is stronger than the Greeks, let him come with his army and take our arms away from us; but if he wishes to use persuasion, let him say what favour of equal worth he will grant us in exchange for them.”

§ 14.25.6 After these speakers Socrates the Achaean said, “The King is certainly acting toward us in a most astounding fashion; for what he wishes to take from us he requires at once, while what will be given us in return he commands us to request of him at a later time. In a word, if it is in ignorance of who are the victors that he orders us to obey his command as though we had been defeated, let him come with his numerous host and find out on whose side the victory lies; but if, knowing well enough that we are the victors, he uses lying words, how shall we trust his later promises?”

§ 14.25.7 After the messengers had received these replies, they departed; and Clearchus marched to the stopping-place whither the troops had retired who had escaped from the battle. When the entire force had gathered in the same place, they counselled together how they should make their way back to the sea and what route they should take.

§ 14.25.8 Now it was agreed that they should not return by the same way they had come, since much of it was waste country where they could not expect provisions to be available with a hostile army on their heels. They resolved, therefore, to make toward Paphlagonia, and set out in that direction with the army, proceeding at a leisurely pace, since they gathered provisions as they marched.

§ 14.26.1 The King was recovering from his wound, and when he learned that his opponents were withdrawing, he believed that they were in flight and set out in haste after them with his army.

§ 14.26.2 As soon as he had overtaken them because of their slow progress, for the moment, since it was night, he went into camp near them, and when day came and the Greeks were drawing up their army for battle, he sent messengers to them and for the time being agreed upon a truce of three days.

§ 14.26.3 During this period they reached the following agreement: The King would see that his territory was friendly to them; he would provide them guides for their journey to the sea and would supply them with provisions on the way; the mercenaries under Clearchus and all the troops under Aridaeus would pass through his territory without doing any injury.

§ 14.26.4 After this they started on their journey, and the King led his army off to Babylon. In that city he accorded fitting honours to everyone who had performed deeds of courage in the battle and judged Tissaphernes seem to have been the bravest of all. Consequently he honoured him with rich gifts, gave him his own daughter in marriage, and henceforth continued to hold him as his most trusted friend; and he also gave him the command which Cyrus had held over the satrapies on the sea.

§ 14.26.5 Tissaphernes, seeing that the King was angered at the Greeks, promised him that he would destroy them one and all, if the King would supply him with armaments and come to terms with Aridaeus, for he believed that Aridaeus would betray the Greeks to him in the course of the march. The King readily accepted this suggestion and allowed him to select from his entire army as many of the best troops as he chose.

§ 14.26.6 (When Tissaphernes caught up with the Greeks he sent word for Clearchus and the) rest of the commanders to come to him and hear what he had to say in person. Consequently, practically all the generals, together with Clearchus and some twenty captains, went to Tissaphernes, and of the common soldiers about two hundred, who wanted to go to market, accompanied them.

§ 14.26.7 Tissaphernes invited the generals into his tent and the captains waited at the entrance. And after a little, at the raising of a red flag from Tissaphernes' tent, he seized the generals within, certain appointed troops fell upon the captains and slew them, and others killed the soldiers who had come to the market. Of the last, one made his escape to the camp and disclosed the disaster that had befallen them.

§ 14.27.1 When the soldiers learned what had taken place, at the moment they were panic-stricken and all rushed to arms in great disorder, since there was no one to command; but after this, since no one disturbed them, they elected a number of generals and put the supreme command in the hands of one, Cheirisophus the Lacedemonian.

§ 14.27.2 The generals organized the army for the march on the route they thought best and proceeded toward Paphlagonia. Tissaphernes sent the generals in chains to Artaxerxes, who executed the others but spared Menon alone, since he alone, because of a quarrel with his allies, was thought to be ready to betray the Greeks.

§ 14.27.3 Tissaphernes, following with his army, clung to the Greeks, but he did not dare to meet them in battle face to face, fearing as he did the courage and recklessness of desperate men; and although he harassed them in places well suited for that purpose, he was unable to do them any great harm, but he followed them, causing slight difficulties, as far as the country of the people known as the Carduchi.

§ 14.27.4 Since Tissaphernes was unable to accomplish anything further, he set out with his army for Ionia; and the Greeks made their way for seven days through the mountains of the Carduchi, suffering greatly at the hands of the natives, who were a warlike people and well acquainted with the region.

§ 14.27.5 They were enemies of the King and a free people who practised the arts of war, and they especially trained themselves in hurling largest stones they could with slings and in the use of enormous arrows, with which missiles they inflicted wounds on the Greeks from advantageous positions, slaying many and seriously injuring not a few.

§ 14.27.6 For the arrows were more than two cubits long and pierced both the shields and breastplates, so that no armour could withstand their force; and these arrows they used were so large, we are told, that the Greeks wound thongs about those that had been shot and used them as javelins to hurl back.

§ 14.27.7 Now after they had traversed with difficulty the country we have mentioned, they arrived at the river Centrites, which they crossed, and entered Armenia. The satrap here was Tiribazus, with whom they made a truce and passed through his territory as friends.

§ 14.28.1 As they made their way through the mountains of Armenia they encountered a heavy snow and the entire army came near to perishing. What happened was this. At first, when the air was stirred, the snow began to fall in light quantities from the heavens, so that the marchers experienced no trouble in their advance; but after this a wind rose and it came down heavier and heavier and so covered the ground that not only the road but even any distinguishing landmarks could no longer be seen at all.

§ 14.28.2 Consequently despondency and fear seized the army, which was unwilling to turn back to certain destruction and unable to advance because of the heavy snow. As the storm increased in intensity, there came a great wind and heavy hail which beat in gusts on their faces and forced the entire army to come to a halt; for everyone, being unable to endure the hardship entailed in a further advance, was forced to remain wherever he happened to be.

§ 14.28.3 Although without supplies of any kind, they stuck it out under the open sky that day and the following night, beset by many hardships; for because of the heavy snow which kept continually falling, all their arms were covered and their bodies were completely chilled by the frost in the air. The hardships they endured were so great that they got no sleep the entire night. Some lighted fires and got some help from them, and some, whose bodies were invaded by the frost, gave up all hope of succour, since practically all their fingers and toes were mortifying.

§ 14.28.4 Accordingly, when the night was past, it was found that most of the baggage animals had perished, and of the soldiers many were dead and not a few, though still conscious, could not move their bodies because of the frost; and the eyes of some were blinded by reason of the cold and the glare from the snow.

§ 14.28.5 And every man would certainly have perished had they not gone on a little farther and found villages full of supplies. These villages had entrances for the beasts of burden which were tunnelled under the ground and others for the human inhabitants who descended into them by ladders... and in the houses the animals were supplied with hay, while the human inhabitants enjoyed a great abundance of all the necessities of life.

§ 14.29.1 After they had remained in the villages eight days, they went on to the river Phasis. Here they passed four days and then made their way through the territory of the Chaoi and the Phasians. When the natives attacked them, they defeated them in battle, slaying great numbers of them, seized their farms, which abounded in provisions, and spent fifteen days on them.

§ 14.29.2 Continuing their advance from here, they then traversed the territory of the Chaldaeans, as they are called, in seven days and arrived at the river named Harpagus, which was four plethra wide. From here their advance brought them through the territory of the Scytini by a road across a plain, on which they refreshed themselves for three days, enjoying all the necessities of life in plenty. After this they set out and on the fourth day arrived at a large city which bore the name of Gymnasia.

§ 14.29.3 Here the ruler of these regions concluded a truce with them and furnished them guides to lead them to the sea. Arriving in fifteen days at Mt. Chenium, when the men marching in the van caught sight of the sea, they were overjoyed and raised such a cry that the men in the rear, assuming that there was an attack by enemies, rushed to arms.

§ 14.29.4 But when they had all got up to the place from which the sea could be seen, they raised their hands to the gods and gave thanks, believing they had now come through to safety; and gathering together into one spot a great number of stones, they formed from them great cairns on which they set up as a dedication spoils taken from the barbarians, wishing to leave an eternal memorial of their expedition. To the guide they gave as presents a silver bowl and a suit of Persian raiment; and he, after pointing out to them the road to the Macronians, took his departure.

§ 14.29.5 The Greeks then entered the territory of the Macronians with whom they concluded a truce, receiving from them as a pledge of good faith a spear used by these barbarians and giving them in return a Greek one; for the barbarians declared that such an exchange had been handed down to them from their forefathers as the surest pledge of good faith. When they had crossed the boundaries of this people, they arrived at the territory of the Colchians.

§ 14.29.6 When the natives gathered here against them, the Greeks overcame them in battle and slew great numbers of them, and then, seizing a strong position on a hill, they pillaged the territory, gathered their booty not hill, and refreshed themselves plentifully.

§ 14.30.1 There were found in the regions great numbers of beehives which yielded valuable honey. But as many as partook of it succumbed to a strange affliction; for those who ate it lost consciousness, and falling on the ground were like dead men.

§ 14.30.2 Since many consumed the honey because of the pleasure its sweetness afforded, such a number had soon fallen to the ground as if they had suffered a rout in war. Now during that day the army was disheartened, terrified as it was at both the strange happening and the great number of the unfortunates; but on the next day at about the same hour all came to themselves, gradually recovered their senses, and rose up from the ground, and their physical state was like that of men recovered after a dose of a drug.

§ 14.30.3 When they had refreshed themselves for three days, they marched on to the Greek city of Trapezus, which is a colony of the Sinopians and lies in the territory of the Colchians. Here they spent thirty days, during which they were most magnificently entertained by the inhabitants; and they offered sacrifices to Heracles and to Zeus the Deliverer and held a gymnastic contest at the place at which, men say, the Argo put in with Jason and his men.

§ 14.30.4 From here they dispatched Cheirisophus their commander to Byzantium to get transports and triremes, since he claimed to be a friend of Anaxibius, the admiral of the Byzantines. The Greeks sent him off on a light boat, and then, receiving from the Trapezians two small boats equipped with oars, they plundered the neighbouring barbarians both by land and by sea.

§ 14.30.5 Now for thirty days they waited for the return of Cheirisophus, and when he still delayed and provisions for the troops were running low, they set out from Trapezus and arrived on the third day at the Greek city of Cerasus, a colony of the Sinopians. Here they spent some days and then came to the people of the Mosynoecians.

§ 14.30.6 When the barbarians assembled against them, the Greeks defeated them in battle, slaying great numbers of them. And when they fled for refuge to a stronghold where they had their dwelling and which they defended with wooden towers seven stories high, the Greeks launched successive assaults upon it and took it by storm. This stronghold was the capitol of all the other walled communities and in it, in the loftiest part, their king had his dwelling.

§ 14.30.7 A custom, handed down from their fathers, is followed that the king must remain for his entire life in the stronghold and from it issue his commands to the people. This was the most barbarous nation, the soldiers said, that they passed through: the men have intercourse with the women in the sight of all; the children of the wealthiest are nourished on boiled nuts; and they are all from their youth tattooed in various colours on both their back and breast. The territory they passed through in eight days and the next country, called Tibarene, in three.

§ 14.31.1 From there they arrived at Cotyora, a Greek city and a colony of the Sinopians. Here they spent fifty days, plundering both the neighbouring peoples of Paphlagonia and the other barbarians. And the citizens of Heracleia and Sinope sent them vessels on which both the soldiers and their pack-animals were conveyed across.

§ 14.31.2 Sinope was a colony founded by the Milesians, and situated as it was in Paphlagonia, it held first place among the cities of those regions; and it was in this city that in our day Mithridates, who went to war with the Romans, had his largest palace.

§ 14.31.3 And at that city also arrived Cheirisophus, who had been dispatched without success to get triremes. Nevertheless, the Sinopians entertained them in kindly fashion and sent them on their way by sea to Heracleia, a colony of the Megarians; and the entire fleet came to anchor at the peninsula of Acherusia, where, we are told, Heracles led up Cerberus from Hades.

§ 14.31.4 As they proceeded from there on foot through Bithynia they fell among perils, as the natives skirmished with them along their route. So they barely made their way to safety to Chrysopolis in Chalcedonia, eight thousand three hundred surviving of the original ten thousand.

§ 14.31.5 From there some of the Greeks got back in safety, without further trouble, to their native lands, and the rest banded together around the Chersonesus and laid waste the adjoining territory of the Thracians. Such, then, was the outcome of the campaign of Cyrus against Artaxerxes.

§ 14.32.1 In Athens the Thirty Tyrants, who were in supreme control, made no end out of daily exiling some citizens and putting to death others. When the Thebans were displeased at what was taking place and extended kindly hospitality to the exiles, Thrasybulus of the deme of Stiria, as he was called, who was an Athenian and had been exiled by the Thirty, with the secret aid of the Thebans seized a stronghold in Attica called Phyle. This was an outpost, which was not only very strong but was also only one hundred stades distant from Athens, so that it afforded them many advantages for attack.

§ 14.32.2 The Thirty Tyrants, on learning of this act, at first led forth their troops against the band with the intention of laying siege to the stronghold. But while they were encamped near Phyle there came a heavy snow,

§ 14.32.3 and when some set to work to shift their encampment, the majority of the soldiers assumed that they were taking to flight and that a hostile force was at hand; and the uproar which men call Panic struck the army and they removed their camp to another place.

§ 14.32.4 The Thirty, seeing that those citizens of Athens who enjoyed no political rights in the government of the three thousand were elated at the prospect of the overthrow of their control of the state, transferred them to Peiraeus and maintained their control of the city by means of mercenary troops; and accusing the Eleusinians and Salaminians of siding with the exiles, they put them all to death.

§ 14.32.5 While these things were being done, many of the exiles flocked to Thrasybulus; (and the Thirty dispatched ambassadors to Thrasybulus ) publicly to treat with him about some prisoners, but privately to advise him to dissolve the band of exiles and to associate himself with the Thirty in the rule of the city, taking the place of Theramenes; and they promised further that he could have licence to restore to their native land any ten exiles he chose.

§ 14.32.6 Thrasybulus replied that he preferred his own state of exile to the rule of the Thirty and that he would not end the war unless all the citizens returned from exile and the people got back the form of government they had received from their fathers. The Thirty, seeing many revolting from them because of hatred and the exiles growing ever more numerous, dispatched ambassadors to Sparta for aid, and meanwhile themselves gathered as many troops as they could and pitched a camp in the open country near Acharnae, as it is called.

§ 14.33.1 Thrasybulus, leaving behind an adequate guard at the stronghold, led forth the exiles, twelve hundred in number, and delivering an unexpected attack by night on the camp of his opponents, he slew a large number of them, struck terror into the rest by his unexpected move, and forced them to flee to Athens.

§ 14.33.2 After the battle Thrasybulus set out straightway for the Peiraeus and seized Munychia, which was an uninhabited and strong hill; and the Tyrants with all the troops at their disposal went down to the Peiraeus and attacked Munychia, under the command of Critias. In the sharp battle which continued for a long time the Thirty held the advantage in numbers and the exiles in the strength of their position.

§ 14.33.3 At last, however, when Critias fell, the troops of the Thirty were dismayed and fled for safety to more level ground, the exiles not daring to come down against them. When after this great numbers went over to the exiles, Thrasybulus made an unexpected attack upon his opponents, defeated them in battle, and became master of the Peiraeus.

§ 14.33.4 At once many of the inhabitants of the city who wished to be rid of the tyranny flocked to the Peiraeus and all the exiles who were scattered throughout the cities of Greece, on hearing of the successes of Thrasybulus, came to the Peiraeus, so that from now on the exiles were far superior in force. In consequence they began to lay siege to the city.

§ 14.33.5 The remaining citizens in Athens now removed the Thirty from office and sent them out of the city, and then they elected ten men with supreme power first and foremost to put an end to the war, in any way possible, on friendly terms. But these men, as soon as they had succeeded to office, paid no attention to these orders, but established themselves as tyrants and sent to Lacedemon for forty warships and a thousand soldiers, under the command of Lysander.

§ 14.33.6 But Pausanias, the king of the Lacedemonians, being jealous of Lysander and observing that Sparta was in ill repute among the Greeks, marched forth with a strong army and on his arrival in Athens brought about a reconciliation between the men in the city and the exiles. As a result the Athenians got back their country and henceforth conducted their government under laws of their own making; and the men who lived in fear of punishment for their unbroken series of past crimes they allowed to make their home in Eleusis.

§ 14.34.1 The Eleians, because they stood in fear of the superior strength of the Lacedemonians, brought the war with them to an end, agreeing that they would surrender their triremes to the Lacedemonians and let the neighbouring cities go free.

§ 14.34.2 And the Lacedemonians, now that they had brought their wars to an end and were no longer concerned with them, advanced with their army against the Messenians, of whom some were settled in an outpost on Cephallenia and others in Naupactus, which the Athenians had given them, among the western Locrians.

§ 14.34.3 Driving the Messenians from these regions, they returned the one outpost to the inhabitants of Cephallenia and the other to the Locrians. The Messenians, being now driven from every place because of their ancient hatred of the Spartans, departed with their arms from Greece, and some of them, sailing to Sicily, took service as mercenaries with Dionysius, while others, about three thousand in number, sailed to Cyrene and joined the forces of exiles there.

§ 14.34.4 For at that time disorder had broken out among the Cyrenaeans, since Ariston, together with certain others, had seized the city. Of the Cyrenaeans, five hundred of the most influential citizens had recently been put to death and the most respected among the survivors had been banished.

§ 14.34.5 The exiles now added the Messenians to their number and joined battle with the men who had seized the city, and many of the Cyrenaeans were slain on both sides, but the Messenians were killed almost to a man.

§ 14.34.6 After the battle the Cyrenaeans negotiated with each other and agreed to be reconciled, and they immediately swore oaths not to remember past injuries and lived together as one body in the city.

§ 14.34.7 At this same time the Romans increased the number of colonists in the city known as Velitrae.

§ 14.35.1 At the close of this year, in Athens Laches was archon and in Rome the consulship was administered by military tribunes, Manius Claudius, Marcus Quinctius, Lucius Julius, Marcus Furius, and Lucius Valerius; and the Ninety-fifth Olympiad was held, that in which Minos of Athens won the “stadion.”

§ 14.35.2 This year Artaxerxes, the King of Asia, after his defeat of Cyrus, had dispatched Tissaphernes to take over all the satrapies which bordered on the sea. Consequently the satraps and cities which had allied themselves with Cyrus were in great suspense, lest they should be punished for their offences against the King.

§ 14.35.3 Now all the other satraps, sending ambassadors to Tissaphernes, paid court to him and in every way possible arranged their affairs to suit him; but Tamos, the most powerful satrap, who commanded Ionia, put on triremes his possessions and all his sons except one whose name was Glos and who became later commander of the King's armaments.

§ 14.35.4 Tamos then, in fear of Tissaphernes, sailed off with his fleet to Egypt and sought safety with Psammetichus, the king of the Egyptians, who was a descendant of the famous Psammetichus. Because of a good turn he had done the king in the past, Tamos believed that he would find in him a haven, as it were, from the perils he faced from the King of Persia.

§ 14.35.5 But Psammetichus, completely ignoring both the good turn and the hallowed obligation due to suppliants, put to the sword the man who was his suppliant and friend, together with his children, in order to take for his own both Tamos' possessions and his fleet.

§ 14.35.6 When the Greek cities of Asia learned that Tissaphernes was on his way, they were deeply concerned for their future and dispatched ambassadors to the Lacedemonians, begging them not to allow the cities to be laid waste by the barbarians. The Lacedemonians promised to come to their aid and sent ambassadors to Tissaphernes to warn him not to commit any acts of aggression against the Greek cities.

§ 14.35.7 Tissaphernes, however, advancing with his army against the city of the Cymaeans first, both plundered its entire territory and got possession of many captives; after this he laid siege to the Cymaeans, but on the approach of winter, since he was unable to capture the city, he released the captives for a heavy ransom and raised the siege.

§ 14.36.1 The Lacedemonians appointed Thibron commander of the war against the King, gave him a thousand soldiers from their own citizens, and ordered him to enlist as many troops from their allies as he should think desirable.

§ 14.36.2 Thibron, after going to Corinth and summoning soldiers from the allies to that city, set sail for Ephesus with not more than five thousand troops. Here he enrolled some two thousand soldiers from his own and other cities and then marched forth with a total force of over seven thousand. Advancing some one hundred and twenty stades, he came to Magnesia which was under the government of Tissaphernes; taking this city at the first assault, he then advanced speedily to Tralles in Ionia and began to lay siege to the city, but when he was unable to achieve any success because of its strong position, he turned back to Magnesia.

§ 14.36.3 And since the city was unwalled and Thibron therefore feared that at his departure Tissaphernes would get control of it, he transferred it to a neighbouring hill which men call Thorax; then Thibron, invading the territory of the enemy, glutted his soldiers with booty of every kind. But when Tissaphernes arrived with strong cavalry forces, he withdrew for security to Ephesus.

§ 14.37.1 At this same time a group of the soldiers who had served in the campaign with Cyrus and had got back safe to Greece went off each to his own country, but the larger part of them, about five thousand in number, since they had become accustomed to the life of a soldier, chose Xenophon for their general.

§ 14.37.2 And Xenophon with this army set out to make war on the Thracians who dwell around Salmydessus. The territory of this city, which lies on the left side of the Pontus, stretches for a great distance and is the cause of many shipwrecks.

§ 14.37.3 Accordingly the Thracians made it their practice to lie in wait in those parts and seize the merchants who were cast ashore as prisoners. Xenophon with the troops he had gathered invaded their territory, defeated them in battle, and burned most of their villages.