increase of pay, they marched onward five days farther to Issos, where, as above stated, the army was joined by Cheirisophos, sent thither with the Spartan fleet. And here Xenias the Arkadian, and Pasion of Megara, took ship and deserted, through resentment at the defection of many of their men to Klearchos, during the last halt; but it does not appear that any, beyond their personal attendants, if even these, joined them in their disaffection. From this point they marched quietly to the rich city of Thapsakos, twelve days farther-no one positively aware, even yet, what was the object of the expedition, says Xenophon;* yet it is scarcely possible to doubt, especially when we perceive how immediately all their scruples vanished before the exhibition of increased pay, that not only the generals, but the soldiers of all ranks, must have been absolutely certain, if only from the secresy with which it was conducted, what was the real object of their march. At Thapsakos, however, all their doubts, if they entertained any, must have terminated; for here Kyros himself explained all his purpose to the leaders, and they, calling an assembly of the army, to the soldiers. But these affected great indignation at their own officers, as if they had been deceived by them; but on receiving the promise of a bonus of five silver minæ--equal to about twenty pounds sterling, or a hundred dollars, to speak in round numbers-to every man, in addition to his full pay, from their departure until their return into Ionia, so soon as they should arrive at Babylon, they relented as usual, and proceeded without further hesitation, across the Euphrates, and along its eastern bank, to the city of Karmanda. There they fell in with the first signs of the enemy, in the trail of about two thousand horse, preceding them and devastating the country; there, too, Orontes, one of Kyros's most trusty chiefs, was convicted of manifest treason, in endeavoring to carry the cavalry over to the king, and was led away as if to execution; from Xen. Anab. I. iii. 16. DISAPPEARANCE OF ORONTES. 185 which time, alive or dead, he was never seen of men, nor the place of his sepulture. Thence entering Babylonia, they marched yet three days, when at midnight Kyros reviewed his whole force on the plain, and arranged his order of battle; for he expected his brother to deliver battle on the morrow; and to Klearchos he gave the leading of the right wing; to Menon that of the Greek left, and to himself he reserved the command of his Orientals, one hundred thousand strong, with all his cavalry, which appears to have been unusually feeble, and twenty scythed chariots. But while the review was yet in process, deserters from the king arrived, announcing the approach of the royal army, rated at one million and two hundred thousand combatants, besides six thousand cuirassiers of the Immortals, led by Artagerses, and two hundred scythe-armed chariots. Of these, however, but nine hundred thousand were present under arms, being three out of the four equal divisions, each three hundred thousand strong, commanded by Tissaphernes, Gobryas, Arbakes, and Abrokomas-the last of whom did not come up until the fifth day after the decision of the campaign by the battle of Kynaka.* All that day the army marched in battle order, until they arrived at a vast recent trench, five fathoms wide and three deep, running twelve parasangs, or nearly fifty English miles up the country, till it reached the Median wall, where it met all the canals, four in number, about four miles apart, and a hundred feet in width, well bridged, which were constructed for the passage of the corn-ships from the Tigris into the Euphrates. The trench could be passed at one point only, on a causeway, twenty feet wide, along the bank of the Euphrates; and it was so evident that the king had originally intended to fight here, but that his heart had failed him, that, having thus far advanced in array of battle, no sooner had they entered this formidable line of defences, than the army relaxed its discipline; Kyros himself riding in his * Xen. Anab. 1., vii. 11, 12. chariot, and the Greek hoplitai advancing in loose order, with their shields borne for the most part in the baggage wagons, or on the backs of the beasts of burthen. Thus they continued all the next day; but on the third, Pateguas, a Persian, confidant of Kyros, came panting in from the van, announcing the royal army close at hand. This was about the hour of full market, or from nine to eleven o'clock, A.M.; and then all was bustle. Kyros leaped from his car, and armed himself, with his javelins in his hand, and mounting his charger ordered his people hastily. To the Greeks he gave the right wing of the whole army; to Ariaios, with the Lydians and Phrygians, and a thousand horse, the left; and to himself, as before, he reserved the centre with ten thousand Persian infantry, and six hundred chosen horsemen, armed cap-a-piè with corslets, casques and thigh-pieces and Grecian sabres, and riding horses accoutred with chafrons on their heads and poitrels on their chests, whom he led in person, armed like the rest, but wearing on his head a tiara only, as seems to have been the usage with the Persian kings. Of the Greek right wing, which he rightly esteemed the flower of his whole force, and to which he looked for the best service, Klearchos had the extreme right, along the river bank, which he occupied with all the targeteers, and a thousand Paphlagonian cavalry attached to his command by Kyros. Next to Klearchos, fought Proxenos the Boiotian, with whom served. Xenophon as a volunteer; then the rest of the Hellenic infantry, and on the left, next to the barbaric centre, Menon the Thessalian, with his men.* And it was now mid-day, but no enemy were yet in sight. It is remarkable that, up to this time, Xenophon, the able narrator of this expedition, and afterward its main stay, has not IX. * Xen. Anab. I. viii. 1-6. Diod. Sic. XIX. 21–22. Plut. Vit. Artox. CONDUCT OF KYROS. 187 made his appearance on the scene; and it is only by one casual expression of his own that we learn whether he bore any part at all in the action, in which he seems to have acted as a sort of aid-de-camp to his friend Proxenos, serving on horseback. It was already afternoon, when "there appeared dust like a white cloud, and not long afterward black shadowy masses covering the whole plain. But when they were come nigher the flashes of the polished bronze were visible; and then the lines of spears and the ranks came into sight. And there were, on the enemy's left horse, with white corslets, said to be Tissaphernes' men; and next to these Persians with wicker targets; and next to these, again, heavy foot with wooden shields covering them to the feet—and it was said that these were Ægyptians; and beyond these other horse again, and again other archers, and in front of all a continuous line of war-chariots with scythes projecting from the naves and underneath the axles. Kyros, indeed, when he had previously harangued the Greeks, told them that they must endure the shouts and wild war cries of the barbarians, but he erred in this, for they came not on with a shout, but as silently and quietly as possible, at a slow pace, and with an even front. But now Kyros gallopped along the front with Pigres the interpreter, and three or four others, and shouted to Klearchos that he should oblique to the left, and charge, with his whole force of Greeks, full on the enemy's centre, for that the king fought there; and if,' he cried, 'we may conquer there, we shall have conquered everywhere,'" But when Klearchos observed the density of the Persian centre, and learned that the left wing of the royal army overflanked the whole Greek power, while the extreme left of Kyros' entire army was still to the right of the king's centre, he did not deem it advisable to leave a gap between his own right and the river, through which the masses of the enemy's left could have broken in force and gained his rear. Wherefore he contented himself by replying that he would arrange all for the best. And, at this time, the army was advancing orderly and evenly, when, Kyros careering along the front surveyed both hosts, of his friends and enemies, whereupon, Xenophon, the Athenian, gallopped out and inquired if he had any orders; and he reining up desired him to inform all men that the sacrifices were favorable and the omens propitious. While he was yet speaking, a great clamor ran along the Hellenic ranks, that he inquired what meant the clamor, when Klearchos replied that the watchword was passing now the second time; and he, surprised at this, asked again what was the watchword, and Klearchos answered, "Zeus the Savior and Victory." Thereupon, Kyros replied, 'I accept the omen and so may it be,' and gallopped away to his own station. At this time the armies were about three stadia apart, when the Greeks raised the Pæon, and levelling their pikes to the charge, rushed forward. Then, as part of the Phalanx hurried its step with overboiling ardor, so that the front was a little shaken, those who were left behind charged on at double quick time to equalize their advance, and catching ardor each from other, and influenced by their own rapid motion, all shouted at once the battle cry of Enyalios, and bore down with a fiery rush, clashing their spears against their brazen shields to terrify the cavalry. And, long before they were within bowshot, the Persians broke and fled in confusion, the Greeks pursuing them as rapidly as they could, without breaking their own ranks, and in fact chasing them too far off the field before wheeling on the rear of the royal centre. The charge of the scythed chariots, as usual, proved fruitless, for many were driven back on their own masses, many rushed through the Greek ranks, which opened to give them passage, empty and overset, without harming any one; and in fact thus far the victory was bloodless, for of all the Greeks, one man fell only, shot with an arrow in the left wing. Of the Persians, Tissaphernes alone did not fly, but charged through the targeteers and |