Darius and Parysatis had two sons born to them, of whom the elder was Artaxerxes and the younger Cyrus.In regard to the persons mentioned and the events sketched in sections 1-4, see Introduction, pp. 231 sqq. Now when Darius lay sick and suspected that the end of his life was near, he wished to have both his sons with him.

The elder, as it chanced, was with him already; but Cyrus he summoned from the province over which he had made him satrap, and he had also appointed him commander of all the forces that muster in the plain of Castolus.Castolus was the mustering place for all the Persian forces of western Asia Minor. See Introd. p. 232. Cyrus accordingly went upSee Introd. p. vii, note 1. to his father, taking with him Tissaphernes as a friend and accompanied by three hundred Greek hoplites,i.e. heavy-armed infantrymen, the regular troops of the line in Greek warfare. In this instance, of course, they are serving Cyrus as a bodyguard. under the command of Xenias of Parrhasia.

When Darius had died and Artaxerxes had become established as king, Tissaphernes falsely accused Cyrus to his brother of plotting against him. And Artaxerxes, believing the accusation, arrested Cyrus, with the intention of putting him to death; his mother, however, made intercession for him, and sent him back again to his province.

Now when Cyrus had thus returned, after his danger and disgrace, he set about planning that he might never again be in the power of his brother, but, if possible, might be king in his stead. He had, in the first place, the support of Parysatis, his mother, for she loved him better than the son who was king, Artaxerxes.

Again, when any of the King’s court came to visit him, he treated them all in such a way that when he sent them back they were more devoted to him than to the King. He also took care that the barbariansBarbarians is a convenient, but not an accurate, translation for βάρβαροι, which was simply the name the Greeks gave, without implying reproach, to all peoples who were not Greeks. In general, then, it meant foreigners; in most cases in the (as here) it could be translated Persians. of his own province should be capable soldiers and should feel kindly toward him.

Lastly, as regards his Greek force, he proceeded to collect it with the utmost secrecy, so that he might take the King as completely unprepared as possible.It was in the following way, then, that he gathered this force: In the first place, he sent orders to the commanders of all the garrisons he had in the cities to enlist as many Peloponnesian soldiers of the best sort as they severally could, on the plea that Tissaphernes had designs upon their cities. For, in fact, the Ionian cities had originally belonged to Tissaphernes, by gift of the King,See Introd. p. viii. but at that time all of them except Miletus had revolted and gone over to Cyrus.

The people of Miletus also were planning to do the very same thing, namely, to go over to Cyrus, but Tissaphernes, finding out about it in time, put some of them to death and banished others. Cyrus thereupon took the exiles under his protection, collected an army, and laid siege to Miletus both by land and by sea, and endeavoured to restore the exiles to their city; and this, again, made him another pretext for gathering an army.

Meanwhile he sent to the King and urged, on the ground that he was his brother, that these Ionian cities should be given to him instead of remaining under the rule of Tissaphernes, and his mother co-operated with him in this. The result was that the King failed to perceive the plot against himself, but believed that Cyrus was spending money on his troops because he was at war with Tissaphernes. Consequently he was not at all displeased at their being at war, the less so because Cyrus regularly remitted to the King the tribute which came in from the cities he chanced to have that belonged to Tissaphernes.

Still another army was being collected for him in the Chersonese which is opposite Abydus, in the following manner: ClearchusFor the reason for his banishment see Xen. Anab. 2.6.2-4. was a Lacedaemonian exile; Cyrus, making his acquaintance, came to admire him, and gave him ten thousand darics.The daric was a Persian gold coin, equivalent in weight of gold to 1 2s. 2 1/2d. or $5.40, but in purchasing power to a much larger sum. And Clearchus, taking the gold, collected an army by means of this money, and using the Chersonese as a base of operations, proceeded to make war upon the Thracians who dwell beyond the Hellespont, thereby aiding the Greeks.i.e. the Greeks on the European side of the Hellespont, who suffered from the incursions of their Thracian neighbours. Consequently, the Hellespontine cities of their own free will sent Clearchus contributions of money for the support of his troops. So it was that this army also was being secretly maintained for Cyrus.

Again, Aristippus the Thessalian chanced to be a friend of Cyrus, and since he was hard pressed by his political opponents at home, he came to Cyrus and asked him for three months’ pay for two thousand mercenaries, urging that in this way he should get the better of his opponents. And Cyrus gave him six months’ pay for four thousand, and requested him not to come to terms with his opponents until he had consulted with him. Thus the army in Thessaly, again, was being secretly maintained for him.

Furthermore, Cyrus directed Proxenus the Boeotian, who was a friend of his, to come to him with as many men as he could get, saying that he wished to undertake a campaign against the Pisidians, because, as he said, they were causing trouble to his province. He also directed Sophaenetus the Stymphalian and Socrates the Achaean, who were likewise friends of his, to come with as many men as they could get, saying that he intended to make war upon Tissaphernes with the aid of the Milesian exiles; and they proceeded to carry out his directions.

When he thought the time had come to begin his upwardSee Introd. p. vii, note 1. march, the pretext he offered was that he wished to drive the Pisidians out of his land entirely, and it was avowedly against them that he set about collecting both his barbarian and his Greek troops. At that time he also sent word to Clearchus to come to him with the entire army which he had, and to Aristippus to effect a reconciliation with his adversaries at home and send him the army which he had; and he sent word to Xenias the Arcadian, who commanded for him the mercenary force in the cities,See Xen. Anab. 1.1.6. to come with his troops, leaving behind only so many as were necessary to garrison the citadels.

He likewise summoned the troops which were besieging Miletus, and urged the Milesian exiles to take the field with him, promising them that, if he should successfully accomplish the object for which he was taking the field, he would not stop until he had restored them to their homes. And they gladly obeyed—for they trusted him—and presented themselves, under arms, at Sardis.

Xenias, then, arrived at Sardis with the troops from the cities, who were hoplites to the number of four thousand; Proxenus was there with hoplites to the number of fifteen hundred, and five hundred light-armed troops; Sophaenetus the Stymphalian with a thousand hoplites; Socrates the Achaean with about five hundred hoplites; and Pasion the Megarian arrived with three hundred hoplites and three hundred peltasts.Peltasts differed from ordinary light-armed troops (cp. γυμνῆτας above) only in the fact that they carried a small, light shield, the πέλπη—whence their name. The last-named, and Socrates also, belonged to the force that had been engaged in besieging Miletus. All these came to Cyrus at Sardis.

Meanwhile Tissaphernes had taken note of these proceedings and come to the conclusion that Cyrus’ preparations were too extensive to be against the Pisidians; he accordingly made his way to the King as quickly as he could, with about five hundred horsemen.

And when the King heard from Tissaphernes about Cyrus’ array, he set about making counter-preparations.Cyrus was now setting forth from Sardis with the troops I have mentioned; and he marched through Lydia three stages,σταθμός = lit. a stopping-place, hence a day’s journey. a distance of twenty-two parasangs,A Persian measure of distance, equivalent to 30 Greek stadia, or about 3.3 English miles. to the Maeander river. The width of this river was two plethra,The plethrum = about 97 English feet. and there was a bridge over it made of seven boats.

After crossing the Maeander he marched through Phrygia one stage, a distance of eight parasangs, to Colossae, an inhabitedMany of the cities of Asia were then, as now, deserted. city, prosperous and large. There he remained seven days; and MenonWho had been sent by Aristippus (see 1 above). the Thessalian arrived, with a thousand hoplites and five hundred peltasts, consisting of Dolopians, Aenianians, and Olynthians.

Thence he marched three stages, twenty parasangs, to Celaenae, an inhabited city of Phrygia, large and prosperous. There Cyrus had a palace and a large park full of wild animals, which he used to hunt on horseback whenever he wished to give himself and his horses exercise. Through the middle of this park flows the Maeander river; its sources are beneath the palace, and it flows through the city of Celaenae also.