Anabasis

Consequently he made public proclamation that on the morrow any one who so chose might be present at the sacrifice, and if a man were a soothsayer, he sent him word to be at hand to participate in the inspection of the victims; so he made the offering in the immediate presence of many witnesses.

But though he sacrificed a second and a third time with a view to departure, the victims would not prove favourable. At that the soldiers were angry, for the provisions they brought with them had given out and there was not yet any market at hand.

Therefore they held a meeting and Xenophon addressed them again. Soldiers, he said, as for setting out upon our journey, the sacrifices, as you see, do not yet prove favourable for that; but I am aware that you are in need of provisions; hence it seems to me that we must sacrifice in regard to this latter point alone. Then some one rose and said:

There appears to be good reason why our sacrifices are not favourable; for as I heard from a man who chanced to arrive here yesterday on a ship, Cleander, the Lacedaemonian governor at Byzantium, is to come here with merchant vessels and men-of-war.

At that news all deemed it best to stay, but it was still necessary to go out after provisions. With this object in view Xenophon again sacrificed, going as far as three offerings, and the victims continued unfavourable. By this time people were even coming to Xenophon’s tent and declaring that they had no provisions, but he said that he would not lead forth unless the sacrifices turned out favourable.

On the next day he undertook to sacrifice again, and pretty nearly the entire army—for it was a matter of concern to every man—gathered about the place of sacrifice; but the victims had given out. Then the generals, while refusing to lead the men forth, called them together in assembly;

and Xenophon said: It may be that the enemy are gathered together and that we must fight; if, then, we should leave our baggage in the strong place[*](i.e. the headland described in 3 ff. above.) and set out prepared for battle, perhaps our sacrifices would be successful.

Upon hearing this, however, the soldiers cried out that it was not at all necessary to enter the place, but, rather, to offer sacrifice with all speed. Now they no longer had any sheep, but they bought a bullock that was yoked to a wagon and proceeded to sacrifice; and Xenophon requested Cleanor[*](One of the generals.) the Arcadian to give special attention to see if there was anything auspicious in this offering. But not even so did the omens prove favourable.

Now Neon was general in place of Cheirisophus, and when he saw in what a terrible condition the soldiers were from want, he was desirous of doing them a kindness; so having found a certain Heracleot who claimed to know of villages near at hand from which it was possible to get provisions, he made proclamation that all who so wished were to go after provisions and that he would be their leader. There set out accordingly, with poles,[*](i.e. for carrying the booty.) wine-skins, bags, and other vessels, about two thousand men.

But when they had reached the villages and were scattering here and there for the purpose of securing plunder, they were attacked first of all by the horsemen of Pharnabazus;[*](See note on Xen. Anab. 5.6.24.) for they had come to the aid of the Bithynians, desiring in company with the Bithynians to prevent the Greeks, if they could, from entering Phrygia; these horsemen killed no fewer than five hundred of the soldiers, the rest fleeing for refuge to the heights.

After this one of the men who escaped brought back word to the camp of what had happened. And Xenophon, inasmuch as the sacrifices had not proved favourable on that day, took a bullock that was yoked to a wagon,—for there were no other sacrificial animals,—offered it up, and set out to the rescue, as did all the rest who were under thirty years of age, to the last man.

And they picked up the survivors and returned to the camp. By this time it was about sunset, and the Greeks were making preparations for dinner in a state of great despondency when suddenly through the thickets some of the Bithynians burst upon the outposts, killing some of them and pursuing the rest up to the camp.

An outcry was raised, and all the Greeks ran to their arms; still, it did not seem safe to undertake a pursuit or to move the camp during the night, seeing that the region was thickly overgrown; so they spent the night under arms, keeping plenty of sentinels on watch.

In this way they got through the night, but at daybreak the generals led the way to the strong place and the men followed, taking up their arms and baggage. Before breakfast time came, they proceeded to dig a trench across the way of approach[*](i.e. the isthmus mentioned in Xen. Anab. 6.4.3.) to the place, and they backed it along its entire length with a palisade, leaving three gates. And now a vessel arrived from Heracleia, bringing barley meal, sacrificial victims, and wine.

Xenophon arose early and sacrificed with a view to an expedition, and with the first offering the omens turned out favourable. Furthermore, just as the rites were nearing the end, the soothsayer, Arexion the Parrhasian, caught sight of an eagle in an auspicious quarter, and bade Xenophon lead on.

So they crossed the trench and grounded arms; then they made proclamation that after taking breakfast the troops were to march out under arms, while the camp-followers and captives were to be left behind where they were.

All the rest, then, proceeded to set forth, save only Neon; for it seemed best to leave him behind to keep guard over what was in the camp. But when his captains and soldiers began to abandon him, being ashamed not to follow along when the others were setting out, the generals left behind at the camp everybody who was over forty-five years of age.[*](The original plan was to leave Neon and his division to guard the camp. But since Neon’s men insisted upon going with the rest, the generals decided to leave, not one of the regular divisions of the army, but the older men from the entire army.) So these remained and the rest took up the march.

Before they had gone fifteen stadia they began to meet with dead bodies; and marching on until they had brought the rear of their column to a point opposite the first bodies which appeared, they proceeded to bury all that the column covered.

As soon as they had buried this first group, they marched forward and again brought the rear of the column into line with the first of the bodies which lay farther on, and then in the same way they buried all that the army covered. When, however, they had reached the road leading out of the villages, where the dead lay thick, they gathered them all together for burial.

It was now past midday, and, still leading the army forward, they were engaged in getting provisions outside the villages—anything there was to be seen within the limits of their line—when suddenly they caught sight of the enemy passing over some hills which lay opposite them, his force consisting of horsemen in large numbers and foot soldiers, all in battle formation; in fact, it was Spithridates and Rhathines, who had been sent out with their army by Pharnabazus.