The March of the Ten Thousand (Anabasis)
In 401 BCE the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger hired 10,000 Greek mercenaries under the Spartan general Clearchus, supplementing his Persian army for a bid to overthrow his brother Artaxerxes II. Xenophon, a young Athenian, joined as a volunteer observer. The army marched from Sardis across Anatolia and down into Mesopotamia without significant resistance, as Cyrus concealed his ultimate purpose. Near Babylon at Cunaxa the armies met. The Greek mercenaries routed the Persian forces opposite them — but Cyrus charged his brother personally and was killed. The Greek army had won its battle but lost the war. The Greeks found themselves 1,500 miles from home in the heart of the Persian Empire, without a paymaster and surrounded by enemies. When Persian satraps invited the Greek generals to parley and then murdered them treacherously, the army faced leaderless annihilation. The soldiers elected new generals by vote — including Xenophon, who had never commanded before. The 'March of the Ten Thousand' began north through Kurdistan and Armenia in winter, fighting mountain tribes, foraging for food, crossing frozen passes. The moment the sea came into view at Trebizond, the soldiers wept and embraced, crying 'Thalatta! Thalatta!' — 'The sea! The sea!' — one of antiquity's most celebrated moments. Xenophon's account, the Anabasis, became a Greek classic and military manual. Its key lesson — that 10,000 Greeks could march virtually unopposed through the heart of the Persian Empire — was not lost on Philip II and Alexander, who studied it carefully.
- Year: 401 BCE
- Category: Military
