Xenophon

Xenophon of Athens (c. 430 – 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At age 30, he was chosen as one of the commanders of the Ten Thousand, a group of Greek mercenaries retreating after joining Cyrus the Younger’s failed bid for the Achaemenid throne. Military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge remarked that no later age has surpassed the warrior’s genius. For over two thousand years, people have argued whether Xenophon was primarily a general, historian, or philosopher. For most of that time, he was regarded as a philosopher. Quintilian, in *The Orator’s Education*, lists prominent historians, orators, and philosophers as models of eloquence; he acknowledges Xenophon’s historical work but ultimately ranks him alongside Plato as a philosopher. Today, Xenophon is considered one of antiquity’s greatest writers. His works span many genres, written in plain Attic Greek, which has made them common translation exercises for students of Ancient Greek. Diogenes Laërtius, in *Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers*, notes that Xenophon was called the “Attic Muse” for the sweetness of his style. Though born an Athenian citizen, Xenophon became linked with Sparta, Athens’ traditional rival. Much of what is known about Spartan society comes from his royal biography of King Agesilaus and his *Constitution of the Lacedaemonians*. The sub-satrap Mania is known mainly through his writings. His *Anabasis* recounts his adventures with the Ten Thousand in Cyrus the Younger’s service, Cyrus’s failed campaign to take the Persian throne from Artaxerxes II, and the Greek mercenaries’ return after Cyrus died at the Battle of Cunaxa. Xenophon wrote the *Cyropaedia*, which outlines the military and political methods Cyrus the Great used to conquer the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. Both the *Anabasis* and *Cyropaedia* inspired Alexander the Great and other Greeks to conquer Babylon and the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BC. His *Hellenica* picks up directly from the last sentence of Thucydides’ *History of the Peloponnesian War*, covering the war’s final seven years (431–404 BC) and the following forty-two years (404–362 BC), ending with the Second Battle of Mantinea. His writings on military strategy remain influential and are thought to be among the first to describe and use flanking maneuvers and feints. **Life**

**Early years.** Xenophon was born in the deme of Erchia in Athens; his father was Gryllus, from an aristocratic family. The Peloponnesian War spanned his childhood and youth. A contemporary of Plato, he associated with Socrates, as was common for wealthy young men then, and likely served in the Athenian cavalry. He seems to have stayed in Athens during the Thirty Tyrants’ overthrow of democracy and fought democratic insurgents in the civil war of 404–403. Accounts in the *Hellenica* suggest he personally witnessed events like Alcibiades’ return in 407 BC, the generals’ trial in 406 BC, and the Thirty Tyrants’ overthrow in 403 BC. Invited personally by Proxenus of Boeotia (a captain in Cyrus’s mercenary army), Xenophon sailed to Ephesus to meet Cyrus the Younger and join his campaign against Tissaphernes, the Persian satrap of Ionia. He describes his life in 401 and 400 BC in the memoir *Anabasis*. **Anabasis.** Written years after the events, Xenophon’s *Anabasis* (Greek for “going up”) records Cyrus’s expedition and the Greek mercenaries’ journey home. Xenophon writes that he asked Socrates for advice on whether to go with Cyrus, and Socrates referred him to the Pythia. However, his query to the oracle was not whether to accept the invitation, but “to which of the gods he must pray and do sacrifice, so that he might best accomplish his intended journey and return in safety, with good fortune.” The oracle answered, naming the gods. When Xenophon returned to Athens and told Socrates, Socrates scolded him for asking such a disingenuous question (*Anabasis* 3.1.5–7). Under the pretext of fighting Tissaphernes, Cyrus gathered a large army of native Persians and Greeks. Before warring against Artaxerxes, Cyrus claimed the enemy was the Pisidians, so the Greeks did not know they would face King Artaxerxes II’s larger army (*Anabasis* 1.1.8–11). At Tarsus, the soldiers realized Cyrus’s plan to depose the king and refused to continue (*Anabasis* 1.3.1). But Clearchus, a Spartan general, persuaded them to proceed. Cyrus’s army met Artaxerxes II’s at the Battle of Cunaxa, where Cyrus was killed (*Anabasis* 1.8.27–1.9.1). Soon after, Tissaphernes invited Clearchus to a feast, where he, four other generals, and many captains—including Xenophon’s friend Proxenus—were captured and executed (*Anabasis* 2.5.31–32). **Return.** The mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, were left leaderless near Mesopotamia. They elected new leaders, including Xenophon.