Anabasis

It was now late afternoon, and they ordered the volunteers to take a snatch of food and set out. They also bound the guide and turned him over to the volunteers, and made an agreement with them that in case they should capture the height, they were to guard it through the night and give a signal at daybreak with the trumpet; then those on the height were to proceed against the Carduchians who were holding the visible way out,[*](See Xen. Anab. 4.1.20.) while the main army was to come to their support, pushing forward as fast as it could.

This agreement concluded, the volunteers, about two thousand in number, set out on their march; and there was a heavy downpour of rain; at the same time Xenophon with the rearguard began advancing toward the visible way out, in order that the enemy might be giving their attention to that road and that the party[*](i.e. the volunteers.) taking the roundabout route might, so far as possible, escape observation.

But as soon as the troops of the rearguard were at a gorge which they had to cross before marching up the steep hill, at that moment the barbarians began to roll down round stones large enough for a wagon-load, with larger and smaller ones also; they came down with a crash upon the rocks below and the fragments of them flew in all directions, so that it was quite impossible even to approach the ascending road.

Then some of the captains, unable to proceed by this route, would try another, and they kept this up until darkness came on. It was not until they imagined that their withdrawal would be unobserved that they went back to dinner—and it chanced that they had had no breakfast either. The enemy, however, never stopped rolling down their stones all through the night, as one could judge from the noise.

Meanwhile the party with the guide, proceeding by a roundabout route, found the guards[*](i. e., the guards whom they expected to find upon the height mentioned (Xen. Anab. 4.1.25, Xen. Anab. 4.2.l). See below.) sitting around a fire, and after killing some of them and chasing away the others they remained at the post themselves, supposing that they held the height.

In fact, they were not holding it, for it was a round hill above them and past it ran this narrow road upon which the guards had been sitting. Nevertheless, from the place they did hold there was a way of approach to the spot, upon the visible road,[*](i. e., the one mentioned in Xen. Anab. 4.1.20, 23, Xen. Anab. 4.2.1.) where the main body of the enemy were stationed.

At this place, then, they passed the night, and when day was beginning to break, they took up their march silently in battle array against the enemy; for there was a mist, and consequently they got close up to them without being observed. When they did catch sight of one another, the trumpet[*](The signal agreed upon ( 1 above).) sounded and the Greeks raised the battle cry and rushed upon the enemy. And the Carduchians did not meet their attack, but abandoned the road and took to flight; only a few of them, however, were killed, for they were agile fellows.

Meanwhile Cheirisophus and his command, hearing the trumpet, charged immediately up the visible road; and some of the other generals made their way without following any road from the points where they severally chanced to be and, clambering up as best they could, pulled one another up with their spears;