Hellenica

After Dercylidas had accomplished these things and gained possession of nine cities in eight days, he set about planning how he might avoid being a burden to his allies, as Thibron had been, by wintering in a friendly country, and how, on the other[*](399 B.C.) hand, Pharnabazus might not, despising the Lacedaemonian army because of his superiority in cavalry, harm the Greek cities. So he sent to Pharnabazus and asked him whether he preferred to have peace or war. And Pharnabazus, thinking that Aeolis had been made a strong base of attack upon his own dwelling-place, Phrygia, chose a truce.

When these things had taken place, Dercylidas went to Bithynian Thrace and there passed the winter, by no means to the displeasure of Pharnabazus, for the Bithynians were often at war with him. And during most of the time Dercylidas was plundering Bithynia in safety and had provisions in abundance; when, however, a force of Odrysians, about two hundred horsemen and about three hundred peltasts, came to him as allies from Seuthes[*](King of the Odrysians, who dwelt across the strait (i.e., the Bosporus) in Thrace.) across the strait, these troops, after making a camp about twenty stadia from the Greek army and enclosing it with a palisade, asked Dercylidas for some of his hoplites as a guard for their camp and then sallied forth for booty, and seized many slaves and much property.

When their camp was already full of a great deal of plunder, the Bithynians, learning how many went out on the raids and how many Greeks they had left behind as a guard, gathered together in great numbers, peltasts and horsemen, and at daybreak made an attack upon the Greek hoplites, who numbered about two hundred. When the attacking party came near, some of them hurled spears and others threw javelins at the Greeks. And the latter, wounded and slain one after another, and unable to do the enemy any harm because of being[*](399 B.C.) shut up in the palisade, which was about the height of a man, finally broke through their own fortification and charged upon them.

Then the Bithynians, while they gave way at whatever point the Greeks rushed forth, and easily made their escape, since they were peltasts fleeing from hoplites, kept throwing javelins upon them from the one side and the other and struck down many of them at every sally; and in the end the Greeks were shot down like cattle shut up in a pen. About fifteen of them, however, made their escape to the main Greek camp, and these fifteen only because, as soon as they perceived the situation, they had slipped away in the course of the battle unheeded by the Bithynians.

As for the latter, when they had accomplished this speedy victory, had slain the Odrysian Thracians who guarded the tents, and recovered all the booty, they departed; so that the Greeks, on coming to the rescue when they learned of the affair, found nothing in the camp except dead bodies stripped bare. But when the Odrysians returned, they first buried their dead, drank a great deal of wine in their honour, and held a horse-race; and then, from that time on making common camp with the Greeks, they continued to plunder Bithynia and lay it waste with fire.

At the opening of the spring Dercylidas departed[*](398 B.C.) from Bithynia and came to Lampsacus. While he was there, Aracus, Naubates, and Antisthenes arrived under commission of the authorities at home. They came to observe how matters stood in general in Asia, and to tell Dercylidas to remain there and continue in command for the ensuing year; also to tell him that the ephors had given them instructions[*](398 B.C.) to call together the soldiers and say that while the ephors censured them for what they had done in former days, they commended them because now they were doing no wrong; they were also to say in regard to the future that if the soldiers were guilty of wrong-doing the ephors would not tolerate it, but if they dealt justly by the allies they would commend them.

When, however, they called together the soldiers and told them these things, the leader[*](Probably Xenophon himself.) of Cyrus’ former troops replied: But, men of Lacedaemon, we are the same men now as we were last year; but our commander now is one man, and in the past was another. Therefore you are at once able to judge for yourselves the reason why we are not at fault now, although we were then.

While the ambassadors from home and Dercylidas were quartered together, one of Aracus’ party mentioned the fact that they had left ambassadors from the Chersonesians at Lacedaemon. And they said that these ambassadors stated that now they were unable to till their land in the Chersonese, for it was being continually pillaged by the Thracians; but if it were protected by a wall extending from sea to sea, they and likewise all of the Lacedaemonians who so desired would have an abundance of good, tillable land. Consequently, they said, they would not be surprised if some Lacedaemonian were in fact sent out by the state with an army to perform this task.