Anabasis

But it seems to me we should form the companies in column and, by leaving spaces between them, cover enough ground so that the outermost companies should get beyond the enemy’s wings; in this way not only shall we outflank the enemy’s line, but advancing in column our best men will be in the van of the attack, and wherever it is good going, there each captain will lead forward his men.

And it will not be easy for the enemy to push into the space between the columns when there are companies on this side and that, and not any easier for him to cut through a company that is advancing in column. Again, if any one of the companies is hard pressed, its neighbour will come to its aid; and if one single company can somehow climb to the summit, not a man of the enemy will stand any longer.

This plan was decided upon, and they proceeded to form the companies in column. And as Xenophon was going back from the right wing to the left,[*](Cheirisophus was commander of the van, Xenophon of the rear. The van of an army on the march became the right wing of the line of battle and the rear the left wing. It was at Cheirisophus’ post, on the right, that the council was held.) he said to the troops: Soldiers, these men yonder whom you see are the only ones who still stand in the way of our being forthwith at the place we have long been striving to reach; if we possibly can, we must simply eat these fellows raw.[*](A phrase as old as Homer (Δ 35).)

When the officers had got to their several positions and had formed their companies in column, the result was about eighty companies of hoplites with each company numbering close upon one hundred;[*](A total of 8000 as compared with an original strength of 11,700.) the peltasts and the bowmen, on the other hand, they formed in three divisions, one beyond the left wing of the hoplites, the second beyond the right, and the third in the centre, each division numbering about six hundred men.[*](One thousand eight hundred as compared with an original 2300.)

After this the generals passed along the order to offer prayer, and when they had prayed and sung the paean they set forth. Now Cheirisophus and Xenophon[*](On the right and left wings respectively. See note on 14 above.) and the peltasts with them got beyond the wings of the enemy’s line in their advance;

and when the enemy saw this, they ran out, some to the right and others to the left, to confront them, with the result that their line was pulled apart and a large portion of it in the centre was left deserted.

Then the peltasts of the Arcadian division, who were commanded by Aeschines the Acarnanian, getting the idea that the enemy were in flight, set up a shout and began to run; and they were the first to reach the summit of the mountain, while following close after them came the Arcadian division of hoplites, under the command of Cleanor of Orchomenus.

As for the enemy, once the peltasts began to run they no longer stood their ground, but betook themselves hither and thither in flight.After accomplishing the ascent the Greeks took up quarters in numerous villages, which contained provisions in abundance.

Now for the most part there was nothing here which they really found strange; but the swarms of bees in the neighbourhood were numerous, and the soldiers who ate of the honey all went off their heads, and suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea, and not one of them could stand up, but those who had eaten a little were like people exceedingly drunk, while those who had eaten a great deal seemed like crazy, or even, in some cases, dying men.

So they lay there in great numbers as though the army had suffered a defeat, and great despondency prevailed. On the next day, however, no one had died, and at approximately the same hour as they had eaten the honey they began to come to their senses; and on the third or fourth day they got up, as if from a drugging.

From there they marched two stages, seven parasangs, and reached the sea at Trapezus, an inhabited Greek city on the Euxine Sea, a colony of the Sinopeans in the territory of Colchis. There they remained about thirty days in the villages of the Colchians, and from these as a base plundered Colchis.

And the Trapezuntians supplied a market for the army, received the Greeks kindly, and gave them oxen, barley-meal, and wine as gifts of hospitality.

They likewise took part in negotiations with the Greeks in behalf of the near-by Colchians, who dwelt for the most part on the plain, and from these people also the Greeks received hospitable gifts of oxen.

After this they made ready the sacrifice which they had vowed;[*](See Xen. Anab. 3.2.9.) and a sufficient number of oxen had come to them so that they could pay their thank-offerings to Zeus for deliverance, to Heracles for guidance, and to the other gods according as they had vowed. They instituted also athletic games on the mountain side, just where they were encamped; and they chose Dracontius, a Spartan, who had been exiled from home as a boy because he had accidentally killed another boy with the stroke of a dagger, to look out for a race-course and to act as manager of the games.

When, accordingly, the sacrifice had been completed, they turned over the hides[*](The hides of the sacrificial victims, which were to be offered as prizes in the games. Cp. Hom. Il. 10.159.) to Dracontius and bade him lead the way to the place he had fixed upon for his race-course. He pointed out the precise spot where they chanced to be standing, and said, This hill is superb for running, wherever you please. How, then, they said, can men wrestle on ground so hard and overgrown as this is? And he replied, The one that is thrown will get hurt a bit more.

The events were, a stadium race[*](The regular short race in the Greek games, corresponding closely to our 220 yards dash.) for boys, most of them belonging to the captives, a long race,[*](The δόλιχος seems to have varied from six to twenty-four stadia.) in which more than sixty Cretans took part, wrestling, boxing, and the pancratium;[*](A combination of boxing and wrestling.) and it made a fine spectacle; for there were a great many entries and, inasmuch as the comrades of the contestants were looking on, there was a great deal of rivalry.

There were horseraces also, and the riders had to drive their horses down the steep slope, turn them around on the shore, and bring them back again to the altar.[*](The altar on which the sacrifices had been offered served as a starting-point for the races.) And on the way down most of the horses rolled over and over, while on the way up, against the exceedingly steep incline, they found it hard to keep on at a walk; so there was much shouting and laughter and cheering.