but when he had done him the service he wanted, he was so far from keeping his word, that he did not give them the pay agreed upon. Xenophon reproached him exceedingly with this breach of faith; imputing his perfidy to his minister Heraclides, who thought to make his court to his master, by saving him a sum of money at the expense of justice, faith, and honesty; qualities which ought to be dearer than all others to a prince, as they contribute the most to his reputation, as well as to the success of affairs, and the security of a state. But that treacherous minister, who looked upon honour, probity, and justice, as mere chimeras, and that there was nothing real but the possession of much money, had no thoughts, in consequence, but of enriching himself by any means whatsoever, and robbed his master first with impunity, and all his subjects along with him. "However," continued Xenophon, " every wise man, especially in authority and command, ought to regard justice, probity, and the faith of engagements, as the most precious treasure he can possess; and as an assured resource, and an infallible support in all the events that can happen." Heraclides was the more in the wrong for acting in this manner with regard to the troops, as he was a native of Greece, and not a Thracian; but avarice had extinguished all sense of honour in him.

Whilst the dispute between Seuthes and Xenophon was warmest, Charminus and Polynices arrived, as ambassadors from Lacedemon, and brought advice, that the republic had declared war against Tissaphernes and Pharnabasus; that Thimbron had already embarked with the troops, and promised a daric a

month to every soldier, two to each officer, and four to the colonels, who should engage in the service. Xenophon accepted the offer, and having obtained from Seuthes, by the mediation of the ambassadors, part of the

pay

due to him, he went by sea to Lampsacus with the army, which amounted at that time to almost six thousand men. From thence he advanced to Pergamus, a city in the province of Troas. Having met near Parthenia, where ended the expedition of the Greeks, a great nobleman returning into Persia, he took him, his wife, and children, with all his equipage, and by that means found himself in a condition to bestow great liberalities among the soldiers, and to make them a satisfactory amends for all the losses they had sustained. Thimbron at length arrived, who took upon him the command of the troops, and having joined them with his own, marched against Tissaphernes and Pharnabasus.

h Such was the event of Cyrus's expedition. Xenophon reckons from the first setting out of that prince's army from the city of Ephesus to their arrival, where the battle was fought, five hundred and thirty parasangas or leagues, and ninety three days march; and in their return from the place of battle to Cotyora, a city upon the coast of the Euxine or Black sea, six hundred and twenty parasangas or leagues, and one hundred and twenty days march; and adding both together, he says, the way, going and coming, was eleven hundred and fifty five parasangas or leagues; and two hundred

k

▲ Xenoph. de Exped. Cyr. 1. ii. p. 276.

i

¡ Ibid. 1. iii. p.

355.

I add five, which are left out in the text, to make the total agree

with the two parts.

1

Xenoph. de Exped. Gyr. 1. vï. p. 427.

VOL. 3.

73

and fifteen days march; and that the whole time the army took to perform that journey, including the days of rest, was fif een months.

It appears by this calculation, that the army of Cyrus marched daily, one day with another, almost six parasangas or leagues in going, and only five in their return. It was natural, that Cyrus, who desired to surprise his brother, should use all possible diligence for that purpose.

This retreat of the ten thousand Greeks has always passed amongst the judges in the art of war, as I have already observed, for a perfect model in its kind, and never had a parallel. Indeed no enterprise could be formed with more valor and bravery, nor conducted with more prudence, nor executed with more success: ten thousand men, five or six hundred leagues from their own country, who had lost their generals and best officers, and find themselves in the heart of the enemy's yast empire, undertake, in the sight of a victorious and numerous army, with the king at the head of them, to retire through the seat of his empire, and in a manner from the gates of his palace, and to traverse a vast

m The parasanga is a measure of the ways peculiar to the Persians, and consists of three stadia. The stadium is the same with the Greeks, and contains, according to the most received opinion, 125 geometrical paces; 20 of which in consequence are required to the common French league. And this has been my rule hitherto, according to which the parasanga is a league and a half.

I observe here a great difficulty. In this calculation we find the ordinary days marches of Cyrus, with an army of more than 100,000 men, would have been, one day with another, nine leagues, during so long a time; which, according to the judges in military affairs, is absolutely impossible. This is what has determined me to compute the parasanga at no more than a league. Several authors have remarked, and indeed it is not to be doubted, that the stadium, and all the other measures of ways of the ancients, have differed widely according to times and places, as they still do amongst us.

extent of unknown countries, almost all in arms against them, without being dismayed by the prospect of the innumerable obstacles and dangers, to which they were every moment exposed; passes of rivers, of mountains and defiles; open attacks; secret ambuscades from the people upon their route; famine, almost inevitable in vast and desert regions; and above all, the treachery they had to fear from the troops, who seemed to be employed in escorting them, but in reality had orders to destroy them. For Artaxerxes, who was sensible how much the return of those Greeks into their country would cover him with disgrace, and decry the majesty of the empire in the sense of all nations, had left nothing undone to prevent it; and he desired their destruction, says Plutarch, more passionately, than to conquer Cyrus himself, or to preserve the sovereignty of his estates. Those ten thousand men, however, notwithstanding so many obstacles, carried their point, and arrived, through a thousand dangers, victorious and triumphant in their own country. "Anthony long after, when pursued by the Parthians almost in the same country, finding himself in like danger, cried out in admiration of their invincible valor, "Oh the retreat of the ten thousand !"

And it was the good success of this famous retreat, which filled the people of Greece with contempt for Artaxerxes, by demonstrating to them, that gold, silver, luxury, voluptuousness, and a numerous seraglio of women, were the sole merit of the grand monarch; but that, as to the rest, his opulence, and all his boasted power were only pride and vain ostentation.

» Plut. in Anto. p. 937. propose

It was this prejudice, more universal than ever in Greece after this celebrated expedition, that gave birth to those bold enterprises of the Greeks, of which we shall soon treat, that made. Artaxerxes tremble upon his throne, and brought the Persian empire to the very brink of destruction.

SECTION VII.

CONSEQUENCES OF CYRUS'S DEATH. PARYSATIS'S CRUELTY. STA

TIRA POISONED.

I RETURN to what passed after the battle of Cunaxa in the court of Artaxerxes. As he believed that he killed Cyrus with his own hand, and looked upon that action as the most glorious of his life, he desired that all the world should think the same; and it was wounding him in the most tender part, to dispute that honour, or endeavour to divide it, with him. The Carian soldier, whom we mentioned before, not contented with the great presents the king had made him upon a different pretext, perpetually declared to all that would hear him, that none but himself had killed Cyrus, and that the king did him great injustice in depriving him of the glory due to him. The prince, upon being informed of that insolence, conceived a jealousy equally base and cruel, and had the weakness to cause him to be delivered to Parysatis, who had sworn the destruction of all those who had any share in the death of her son. Animated by her barbarous revenge, she commanded the executioners to take that unfortunate wretch, and to make him suffer the most exquisite

• Plut. in. Artax. p. 1018-1021.