Xenophon's Ten Thousand Author(s): Max Radin Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Nov., 1911), pp. 51-60 Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3287188 . Accessed: 15/08/2013 13:13 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . The Classical Association of the Middle West and Southis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Classical Journal. http://www.jstor.org
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7/27/2019 Classical Journal -'Xenophon's Ten Thousand' by Max Radin, 1911
Xenophon's Ten ThousandAuthor(s): Max RadinSource: The Classical Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Nov., 1911), pp. 51-60Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3287188 .
Accessed: 15/08/2013 13:13
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
The episode is trite enough and by dint of constant use is a
little threadbare,but that moment on the mountain-top,when theword ran down the line, and the very baggage-trainrolled and
tumbled forward n breathlesseagerness,has still all the shiverof adramatic climax. And when we read how captains and men fell
into each other's armsin unashamedemotion,we should be ungra-cious indeed if we begrudged hem any part of the great fame their
adventuresbrought them. It is desperatelyunfortunate that formost of us so fascinating and human a narrative is indissolublyassociated with the principal parts of MXXvit, nd the rules of
IndirectDiscourse. Thoseof us who returnto the story with otherends in view than the discovery of illustrations of syntactical
principles cannot fail to feel a personaland kindly interest in allthe actors of that most romantic of expeditions.
Who werethey, these"brave hearts" of Greece,whofoughttheir
way to the home they loved throughmanifoldperils? The intro-ductions to our texts and our manuals of history present all thesalient facts, with due emphasisupon the important and abidingresults of the expedition. And the chief figure, the modest Xeno-
phon with his '3v 't'
'di73 rpar-t, has received quite his due
measureof honor from his connectionwith it.PerhapsClearchus,also, and Proxenus and Meno have a personal existence for some
5'
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who know the story of theAnabasis. But what of the rest? What
mannerof menwerethey? Where did they come from? Whatdidthey seek there?
In the earlier part of his narrative, Xenophon mentions the
originof the troops quite casually and by no means fully. Levies
of Peloponnesianswere made by the captains of Cyrus in the
Ionian towns. Meno's peltasts were Dolopians, Aenianians, and
Olynthians. But, for the mostpart,it is the generalwhoseethnicon
we learn, and his alone. Verymuchlater, a division of peltasts is
spoken of as belongingto the Arcadiantroops (iv. 8. I8), and we
hear of the rb orrXrt ov 'Apia8to'v. Still later, when the splitoccurredin the ranks, the Arcadiansand Achaeansare expresslysaid to form over half of the remainingtroops (vi. 2. Io). There
were then four thousandof them. Xenophon does not otherwise,
exceptin connection with individuals,referto the nationalmake-upof his Ten Thousand. His references o Lacedaemoniansand the
privileged position he insists on accordingthem are meant quite
generally and have no special application to the circumstances
about him.ARCADIANS
Taking up the various nationalities separately, it is apparentthat the Arcadiansformedeasily the largest contingent. We are
not told expressly how large a proportionthey did form of the
'ApKd'&E4Kal'AXaioL,but the fact that there was a division explicitly
called To'ApKcaKtodvand the striking predominance of individual
Arcadiansamplywarrantthe statement above. Indeed the whole
group of 'Apcd&4eIcal 'AXatotis referred to briefly as 'Aplcd'E8
(vi. 3. 2).A relatively largenumberof Arcadiansare namedin the course
of the narrative. They are Xenias, Callimachus,and Arexio of
Parrhasia, Sophaenetus, Agasias, and Aeneas of Stymphalus,Cleanorof Orchomenus,Aristonymusof Methydrium,Eurylochusof Lusi, and, finally, Agias, Arystas, Basias, Nicarchus, Pyrrhias,
Smicres,and probablyHegesander, n the case of all of whom the
city or district is not mentioned. The Mantineans must have
been present in sufficientforce to be groupedtogether (vi. i. ii),
but no one of that city is named. Three Arcadiansare among
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the original generalsof the up-march,Xenias, Sophaenetus,and
Agias.'Xenias deserted early. Agias was entrappedand killed at the
Great Zab. Xenophon's brief ob;vd ab'Trb de/j~erTO (ii. 6. 30)
is at once his biography and his epitaph. Sophaenetus saw the
expeditionthroughto the end and survived to write an account of
the retreat--which may or may not have been in completeaccord-
ance with that of Xenophon. By way of Ephorus, his versionis
probably present to us in the pages of Diodorus.
The others are the generalsCleanor,Hegesander,and Smicres;the captains Aeneas, Agasias, Aristonymus, Callimachus, and
Nicarchus; the taxiarch Pyrrhias; the hoplites Arystas, Basias,and Eurylochus, and the soothsayer Arexio. If we except the
deserter Nicarchusand the glutton Arystas, these men may all be
said to be gazetted for conspicuous gallantry. In Xenophon's
story, Agasiasand Cleanoreasily rank first in ability and courage.While we cannot assiune in Xenophon a complete freedom from
eitherpersonalor nationalbias, we have no reason to supposethat
thesemenwereother thanhe describes hem. Hemay
havepassedover others who were their equals,but his roll of honor is generous
enoughto indicate that he possessedat least one quality of a good
commander, he ability to discern and rewardmerit. Indeed he is
charged with coddling his men: 7a pcv LXXaEL•e'
oib caicl,
tXloo-rpartd7~re', Heraclides tells the Spartan generals at Seuthes'
conference,and that Xenophon repeats this reportedutterance of
an unfriendlycritic shows that he considered t as a compliment.On the whole, in spite of the mutiny at Heraclea (vi. 2. 1o)
the Arcadiansproducea distinctly favorableimpression. And yetthey were undoubtedly the most thoroughly professional merce-
naries in the army. In Hellenistic times it was in the mountains
of Aetolia that the responseto the recruitingsergeantwas quickestand completest, and this fact contributed largely to the positionAetolia held in the history of that time. But in 400 B.C., it was
Arcadia that had for centuries been sending out its children to
fight other men's battles, without, however,any noticeableenrich-ment of the home country throughreturningbravos. It is surely
I
The correction f Sophaenetus i. 2.9) to Agias s generally ccepted.
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developed civic communitiesof Magna Graeciawhich were their
colonies,suchas Crotona,Sybaris,etc. We do not hear of Achaeanmercenariesto any especial extent, nor indeed does Achaea playmuch of a part in the annals of Hellasup to that time. Achaeawas
not involved in the Peloponnesianwar. Parts of it were occupied
by the Athenians under Pericles in 460 B.c. and were ceded to
Sparta,or at least evacuatedby Athens, later. But activepartici-
pation in the internecinewarsof Greecebegan for Achaeawith the
invasion by Epaminondas. And yet we find a considerablenum-
ber of trained Achaean soldiers and leaders of evident experience
and capacity, at the end of the fifth century. It is not at all
unlikelythat our sources are faulty and that Achaeanswere better
representedin the warfare of the entire century than is expressly
stated, since trainedarmiesdo not grow up out of nothing.It will be noticed that the Achaean Philesius takes the place
of Meno. While the nationalities of generaland troopsneed have
no relationto eachother, thereis a particularreason to believethat
the soldiers themselveswere largelyAchaeansand that these must
have formed,therefore,a large percentageof thetroops
which the
AleuadAristippuscollectedand kept in Thessaly.One of the Achaean generals,Philesius, appearsas Xenophon's
bitter opponent at Cotyora. Both he and Xanthicles were cen-
sured and fined there when the generals gave in their accounts.
All in all, Xenophonfindsmuchless occasionto commentfavorablyon the Achaeans than upon their fellow-Peloponnesians. This
fact, however,may be due to a personalanimus.
ATHENIANS
We do not think of the Ten Thousand as containing any notice-
able contingent of Athenians. Xenophon represents his own
presencethere as somethingquite exceptional. We hear from the
murmuringsof the Arcadiansat Heracleathat Athenianswerefew
in the army (vi. 2. io): ApXeweva
'AOrvaiov IHEXoWrovln-Alv Ical
Aaic•E8atuoviov krq.taV&, va/t.,LV raPeXd,'aEvoV El? rTv arpa'rtdv.
Nevertheless, a relatively large number of Athenians are markedfor special mention. Besides Xenophon himself, there are Theo-
pompus (unless,indeed,we adopt the rathergratuitoustheory that
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in ii. I. 12 Xenophonrefersto himselfundera pseudonym), Polyc-
rates, Aristo, Phrasias, Gnesippus, Cephisodorusson of Cephiso-phon,"Amphicratesson of Amphidemus,and Lycius son of Polys-tratus. The patronymics of only the last three are given-of
Lycius captain of the cavalry, and of two hopliteskilled in action
againstthe Carduchi.
In the case of Lycius, Xenophon may have desired by the
insertionof the patronymicto distinguishhim from the Syracusanof the same name. It can hardlybe that he intended it as a mark
of honor, for the captains Gnesippus,with his aristocratic-hippos,
Polycrates, and Phrasias, and the envoy Aristo, would seem tohave at least an equal claim to their full appellation.
It is evident that Xenophondid not let his Spartanpredilections
prejudicehim against his own countrymen.
LACEDAEMONIANS
There were Lacedaemoniansin considerablenumbers in the
army. The words of the Arcadians (supra) indicate that. We
know that Cyrus asked Sparta for troops and received 700 under
Chirisophus. But we should go too far if we assumedthat all, or
even many, of these were full Spartiates. Clearchusand Chiriso-
phus, of course, were. Dracontius is especially so designated.
But the latter'spresencethereis deemedworthyof specialexplana-
tion, and the choice of him to conduct the games at Trapezus
shows the respectin which he was held. The very resentment of
Agasias(vi. I. 30) is a proofof the generalfeeling that a full Spar-
tiate, as such, was a man of rankwhereGreekswereassembled.
Ofthe other
Lacedaemonians," Cleonymusis characterized
simplyaso AdacovndDexippusis expresslystated to be a Laconian
perioecus. It would not be a bold conjectureto supposethat the
mass of Chirisophus'700 and the great majority of the Lacedae-
rA Cephisophon son of Cephisodorus is mentioned in an Attic inscription of
426 B.c. (C.I.A., I, 129, 1. 3). He may have been the father of the man mentioned
or a member of the same family. Still the name cannot have been uncommon in Attica.
2Pythagoras, the admiral of the Spartan fleet, is mentioned (i. 2. 4), but obviously
did not accompany the expedition. The fleet was originally under the command of
Samius (Xenophon Hell. iii. I. i),who was evidently superseded. It is just possible
that the two names refer to the same man.
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monians scattered throughout the army were rather perioeci or
perhaps even Helot neodamodeis,as were so many of the troopswhich Spartasent to the aid of Syracuse (Thucydidesvii. 58. 3).
Neo of Asine is called a Laconian (vii. 2. 29), but the positionof Asine is not quite determinable. Kiepert puts it in Messene.
However,Adacovs not a term of very great definiteness.
No othercity or countryfurnishesmore than a smallnumberof
men who are individuallymentioned. From Elis came the heralds
Tolmidesand the young Silanusof Macestis, the soothsayerBasias
and the captain Hieronymus. Aeschines, captain of peltasts,hailed from Acarnania, and the grafting soothsayer, Silanus,from Ambracia across the gulf. Sicyon had a representative in
that Soteriadeswhose little escapadeis related by Xenophon with
such evidentrelish(iii.4.47-49). FromMegaracame the recreant
general Pasio; from Locri, the captain Theogenes. The captain
Archagorascame from Argos. Boeotia sent not only Proxenus,but Xenophon's adversary,Thorax,and that unfortunateApollo-nides whose thick Boeotian accent did not prevent him frombeing
ignominiously ejected from the council as an ear-boredLydian.FromThessalycameMeno,whose characterXenophonhasdepictedwith an enthusiasmof vituperation that can only have been due
to personal animosity, and the hard-fistedBoiscus who receives
scarcelya better letter to posterity. Nicomachusof Oeta,captainof peltasts, faresbetter, but in generalAthenianopinionof Thessalyand Thessalians was probablynot very high. (Cf.Plato Crito53D:eicet yap 8
7r"XEt'Trfl aTa5ta icac tcoXaota.)
From farther west came Antileon of Thurii. FromSyracusecame the hoplite Lycius and the general Sosis, who is mentioned
but once in the whole A nabasis. If the Themistogenesof Syracuse,who as Xenophon tells us (Hell. iii. I. 2) wrote an account of the
retreat, is a real personage,and not a mask for Xenophon himself,there was still anotherrepresentativefrom Syracuseof some note
in the army. The scout Democratesmay have come from Syra-cuse or Argolis or Aeolis.
The far north sent the two Episthenes,the onefromAmphipolis,
the other from Olynthus,both of them of a rather easy morality.
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It is surprising o note the curious ndulgenceXenophonmanifests
in their case to practiceswhich earned for Meno such severity ofanimadversion. OtherOlynthiansserved as peltasts under Meno.
The islands, too, furnishedmen. That most ancient mother
of mercenaries,Crete, gave Clearchustwo hundred of her famous
archers. Under their captain, Stratocles,they earnedXenophon'scommendation iv. 2. 28). Slingers romRhodes werealsopresent,but as Xenophon only accidentallylearns of the fact (iii. 3. 16),
they cannot have been many. It is an unnamed Rhodian who
proposes to march the troops across the Tigris on an ingenious
pontoon of skins. The captain Aristeas came from Chios; theexile Gaulitesfrom Samos. From Dardanus in Asia Minor came
the general, Timasio, who succeeded no less a personagethan
Agias. The Achaean Socrates is succeeded by the Achaean
Xanthicles, and instead of Meno, anotherAchaean,Philesius, isselected. This would give the Achaeansa representationamong
general officers more in proportion to their numbers. But we
notice among the captains of Proxenus the Theban, the Arcadian
Agasias and the Elean Hieronymus. In general, there was prob-
ably no relation whatever between the nationalities of the various
officers.
In discussing the Lacedaemoniancontingent, it has been sug-
gested that most of them were probably perioeci or enfranchised
helots. That they were not Spartiates of full rank is furtherevidencedby the fact that they did not put themselvesunder the
ordersof the duly accreditedSpartan generals,when they finallymet them,but had,longbeforethe death of theirleaderChirisophus,been lost in the mass of the troops. Were the others relatively in
the same position?
The end of the Peloponnesianwar must have thrown out of
employment a numberof men who had fought all their lives and
were fit for little else. It is generallytaken forgrantedthat manyof the Ten Thousand were exiles from their native states, havingbecome so after one or another of the many political revolutions
which werepart of the incidentsof that war. But, as a matter of
fact, the fact of suchexile is often specificallymentioned,andwould
seem to confer a certain superiority of rank. Relatively few
came fromstates actuallyengaged n the war.
The Arcadiansand possibly the Achaeanshad been mercenaries
for generations. For the body of the troops Xenophonmakes one
or two casual allusions thatmay
have considerablesignificance.In the country of the Macronians he retreatis materiallyassisted
by one of the peltasts (iv. 8. 4): 'v•vp'A0rvro-'t do'cow,eovXev-ce'vat,who recognized n the people of the countryhis compatriots.This Macronian, who makes no attempt to conceal his servile
origin, is thereforeserving as a full-fledgedsoldier even if in the
light infantry-a sign of poverty, and without bearing upon his
claim to be considereda Greek. The statement is made by Xeno-
phon without a word of comment. But surelyit was not all in the
day's work for Greeks to march and bivouac side by side with
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