The Portable Greek Historians: The Essence of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius (Portable Library)

by M. I. Finley

  15. In the meantime Clearchus returned, and asked whether they had yet given their answer. Phalinus, in reply, said, “Your companions, O Clearchus, give each a different answer; and now tell us what you have to say.” 16. Clearchus then said, “I was glad to see you, O Phalinus, and so, I dare say, were all the rest of us; for you are a Greek, as we also are; and, being so many in number as you see, and placed in such circumstances, we would advise with you how we should act with regard to the message that you bring. 17. Give us then, I entreat you by the gods, such advice as seems to you most honourable and advantageous, and such as will bring you honour in time to come, when it is related that Phalinus, being once sent from the king to require the Greeks to deliver up their arms, gave them, when they consulted him, such-and-such counsel; for you know that whatever counsel you do give will necessarily be reported in Greece.”

  18. Clearchus craftily threw out this suggestion with the desire that the very person who came as an envoy from the king should advise them not to deliver up their arms, in order that the Greeks might be led to conceive better hopes. But Phalinus, adroitly evading the appeal, spoke, contrary to his expectation, as follows: 19. “If, out of ten thousand hopeful chances, you have any single one of saving yourselves by continuing in arms against the king, I advise you not to deliver up your arms; but if you have not a single hope of safety in opposing the king’s pleasure, I advise you to save yourselves in the only way in which it is possible.” 20. Clearchus rejoined, “Such, then, is your advice; but on our part return this answer, that we are of opinion that, if we are to be friends with the king, we shall be more valuable friends if we retain our arms than if we surrender them to another; but that if we must make war against him, we should make war better if we retain our arms than if we give them up to another.” 21. Phalinus said, “This answer, then, we will report; but the king desired us also to inform you that while you remain in this place a truce is to be considered as existing between him and you; but, if you advance or retreat, there is to be war. Give us, therefore, your answer on this point also, whether you will remain here, and a truce is to exist, or whether I shall announce from you that there is war.” 22. Clearchus replied, “Report, therefore, on this point also, that our resolution is the same as that of the king.” “And what is that?” said Phalinus. Clearchus replied, “If we stay here, a truce; but if we retreat or advance, war.” 23. Phalinus again asked him, “Is it a truce or war that I shall report?” Clearchus again made the same answer: “A truce, if we stay; and if we retreat or advance, war.” But of what he intended to do he gave no intimation.

  2. 1. Phalinus and his companions departed; and there now returned, from their interview with Ariaeus, Procles and Cheirisophus; Menon had remained there with Ariaeus. They reported that Ariaeus said that there were many Persians, of superior rank to himself, who would not endure that he should be king. “‘But,’ he adds, ‘if you wish to return with him, he desires you to come to him this very night; if you do not, he says that he will set out by himself early in the morning.’ 2. Clearchus rejoined, ”And we must certainly do as you say, if we determine to go to him; but if not, adopt for yourselves such measures as you may think most for your advantage”; for not even to them did he disclose what he intended to do.

  3. But afterwards, when the sun was setting, having assembled the generals and captains, he spoke as follows: “My friends, when I offered a sacrifice with reference to marching against the,king, the signs of the victims were not favourable, and indeed it was with good cause that they were not so; for, as I now learn, there is between us and the king the river Tigris, a navigable river, which we could not cross without vessels; and vessels we have none. Yet it is not possible to remain here, for we have no means of procuring provisions. But for going to the friends of Cyrus, the sacrifices were extremely favourable. 4. We must accordingly proceed thus: when we separate, we must sup, each of us on what he has; when the signal is given with the horn as if for going to rest, proceed to pack up your baggage; when it sounds the second time, place it on your baggage-cattle; and, at the third signal, follow him who leads the way, keeping your baggage-cattle next the river, and the heavy-armed troops on the outside.” 5. The generals and captains, after listening to this address, went away, and did as he directed; and thenceforth he commanded, and the others obeyed, not indeed having elected him commander, but perceiving that he alone possessed such qualifications as a leader ought to have, and that the rest of them were comparatively inexperienced....

  7. Here, as soon as it was dark, Miltocythes the Thracian deserted to the king, with about forty horse that he commanded, and nearly three hundred of the Thracian infantry. 8. Clearchus led the way for the rest, in the prescribed order; and they followed, and arrived at the first halting place, to join Ariaeus and his troops about midnight; and the generals and captains of the Greeks, having drawn up their men under arms, went in a body to Ariaeus; when the Greeks on the one hand, and Ariaeus and his principal officers on the other, took an oath not to betray each other, and to be true allies; and the barbarians took another oath, that they would lead the way without treachery. 9. These oaths they took after sacrificing a bull, a boar, and a ram over a shield, the Greeks dipping a sword, and the barbarians a lance, into the blood.

  10. When these pledges of mutual fidelity were given, Clearchus said, “Since then, Ariaeus, our route and yours is now the same, tell us what is your opinion with respect to our course—whether we shall return the way we came or whether you consider that you have thought of a better way.” 11. Ariaeus replied, “If we were to return the way we came, we should all perish of hunger, for we have now no supply of provisions; and for the last seventeen days’ march, even when we were coming hither, we could procure nothing from the country through which we passed; or, if anything was to be found there, we consumed it ourselves in our passage. But now we propose to take a longer road, but one in which we shall not want for provisions. 12. We must make the first days’ marches as long as we can, that we may remove ourselves to the greatest possible distance from the king’s army; for if we once escape two or three days’ journey from him, the king will no longer be able to overtake us; since he will not dare to pursue us with a small force; and, with a numerous army, he will not be able to march fast enough, and will probably experience a scarcity of provisions. Such is my opinion.”

  13. This scheme for conducting the army was calculated for nothing else than to effect an escape, clandestinely or openly, by flight. But fortune proved a better leader, for as soon as it was day they began their march, with the sun on their right, expecting to arrive about sunset at some villages in the Babylonian territory; and in this expectation they were not disappointed. 14. But, in the afternoon, they thought that they perceived some of the enemy’s cavalry; and those of the Greeks who happened not to be in their ranks ran to their places in the ranks; and Ariaeus (for he was riding in a wagon because he had been wounded) came down and put on his armour, as did those who were with him. 15. But while they were arming themselves, the scouts that had been sent forward returned, and reported that they were not cavalry, but baggage-cattle grazing; and everyone immediately concluded that the king was encamped somewhere near. Smoke also was seen rising from some villages not far distant. 16. Clearchus however did not lead his troops against the enemy (for he was aware that his soldiers were tired and in want of food, and besides it was now late); yet he did not turn out of his way, taking care not to appear to flee, but continued his march in a direct line, and took up his quarters with his vanguard, just at sunset, in the nearest villages, from which even the woodwork of the houses had been carried off by the king’s troops. 17. These, therefore, who were in advance, encamped with some degree of regularity; but those who followed, coming up in the dark, took up with such quarters as they chanced to find, and made so much noise in calling to each other that even the enemy heard them; and those of the enemy who were stationed the nearest fled from their encampments. 18. That this had been the case became
apparent on the following day, for there was no longer a single beast of burden to be seen, nor any camp, nor smoke anywhere near. The king had been alarmed, as it seemed, by the sudden approach of the Grecian army; and of this he gave proof by what he did on the following day.

  19. However, in the course of this night a panic fell upon the Greeks themselves, and there arose such noise and commotion in their camp as usually ensues on the occurrence of sudden terror. 20. Upon this, Clearchus ordered Tolmides, an Eleian, whom he happened to have with him, the best herald of his time, to command silence and proclaim, “The generals give notice that whoever will give information of the person who turned the ass among the arms, shall receive a reward of a talent of silver.” 21. On this proclamation being made, the soldiers were convinced that their alarm was groundless, and their generals were safe. At break of day, Clearchus issued orders for the Greeks to form themselves under arms, in the same order in which they had been when the battle took place.

  3.1. What I just now stated, that the king was alarmed at the approach of the Greeks, became evident by what followed; for though, when he sent to them on the preceding day, he desired them to deliver up their arms, he now, at sunrise, sent heralds to negotiate a truce. 2. These heralds, upon arriving at the outposts, requested to speak with the commanders. Their request being reported by the guards, Clearchus, who happened then to be inspecting the several divisions, told the guards to desire the heralds to wait till he should be at leisure. 3. When he had arranged the army in such a manner as to present on every side the fair appearance of a compact phalanx, and so that none of the unarmed were to be seen, he called for the heralds and came forward himself, having about him the best-armed and best-looking of his soldiers, and told the other leaders to do the same. 4. When he drew near the messengers, he asked them what they wanted. They replied that they came to negotiate a truce, with full powers to communicate with the Greeks on behalf of the king, and with the king on behalf of the Greeks. 5. Clearchus answered, “Tell the king, then, that we must come to battle first, for we have no breakfast; and there is no one who. will dare to talk to the Greeks of a truce without first supplying them with breakfast.”

  6. On hearing this answer, the messengers departed, but soon returned, from whence it was apparent that the king, or some other person to whom a commission had been given to conduct the negotiation, was somewhere near. They brought word that the king thought what they said was reasonable, and that they now came with guides, who, in case the truce should be settled, would conduct the Greeks to a place where they might procure provisions. 7. Clearchus then inquired whether the king would grant the benefit of the truce to those only who went to him, on their way thither and back, or whether the truce would be with the rest as well. The messengers replied, “With all; until what you have to say is communicated to the king.” 8. When they had said this, Clearchus, directing them to withdraw, deliberated with the other officers, and they proposed to conclude the truce at once, and to go after the provisions at their ease, and supply themselves. 9. And Clearchus said, “I too am of that opinion. I will not, however, announce our determination immediately, but will wait till the messengers begin to be uneasy lest we should determine not to conclude the truce. And yet,” said he, “I suspect that a similar apprehension will arise among our own soldiers.” When he thought therefore that the proper time had arrived, he announced to the messengers that he agreed to the truce, and desired them to conduct him forthwith to the place where the provisions were.

  10. They accordingly led the way, and Clearchus proceeded to conclude the truce, keeping his army however in battle array; the rear he brought up himself. They met with ditches and canals so full of water that they could not cross without bridges; but they made crossings of the palm trees which had fallen, and others which they cut down. 11. Here it might be seen how Clearchus performed the duties of a commander, holding his spear in his right hand, and a staff in his left; and if any of those ordered to the work seemed to him to loiter at it, he would select a fit object for punishment, and give him a beating, and would lend his assistance himself, leaping into the midst, so that all were ashamed not to share his industry. 12. The men of thirty and under only had been appointed by him to the work, but the older men, when they saw Clearchus thus busily employed, gave their assistance likewise. 13. Clearchus made so much the more haste, as he suspected that the ditches were not always so full of water (for it was not the season for irrigating the ground); but thought that the king had let out the water upon the plain, in order that even now there might appear to the Greeks to be many difficulties in the march.

  14. Proceeding on their way, they arrived at some villages, from which the guides signified that they might procure provisions. In these villages there was great plenty of grain, and wine made from date palms, and an acidulous drink obtained from them by boiling. 15. As to the dates themselves, such as those we see in Greece were here put aside for the use of the servants; but those which were laid by for their masters were choice fruit, remarkable for beauty and size; their colour was not unlike that of amber; and some of these they dried and preserved as sweetmeats. These were a pleasant accompaniment to drink, but apt to cause headache. 16. Here too the soldiers for the first time tasted the cabbage from the top of the palm tree, and most of them were agreeably struck both with its external appearance and the peculiarity of its sweetness. But this also was exceedingly apt to give headache. The palm tree out of which the cabbage had been taken soon withered throughout.

  17. In this place they remained three days, when Tissaphemes arrived from the Great King, and with him the brother of the king’s wife, and three other Persians; and many slaves attended them. The generals of the Greeks having met them on their arrival, Tissaphernes first spoke by an interpreter, to the following effect: 18. “I myself dwell, O Greeks, in the neighbourhood of your country; and when I perceived you fallen into many troubles and difficulties, I thought it a piece of good fortune if I could in any way press a request upon the king to allow me to conduct you in safety back to Greece. For I think that such a service.would be attended with no want of gratitude either from yourselves or from Greece in general. 19. With these considerations, I made my request to the king, representing to him that he might reasonably grant me this favour, because I had been the first to give him intelligence that Cyrus was marching against him, and at the same time that I brought him the intelligence had come to him with an auxiliary force; because I alone, of all those opposed to the Greeks, did not flee, but, on the contrary, charged through the midst of them, and joined the king in your camp, whither he, came after he had slain Cyrus; and because, together with these who are now present with me, and who are his most faithful servants, I engaged in pursuit of the barbarian part of Cyrus’s army. 20. The king promised to consider my request; and in the meantime desired me to come and ask you on what account it was that you took the field against him, and I advise you to answer with moderation, in order that it may be easier for me to secure you whatever advantage I can from the king.”

  21. The Greeks then withdrew, and, after some deliberation, gave their answer, Clearchus speaking for them: “We neither formed ourselves into a body with the view of making war upon the king, nor, when we set out, was our march directed against him; but Cyrus, as you yourself are well aware, devised many pretences for his proceedings, that he might both take you by surprise and lead us up hither. 22. But when we afterwards saw him in danger, we were ashamed, in the face of gods and men, to desert him, as we had before allowed him to bestow favours upon us. 23. As Cyrus, however, is now dead, we neither dispute the sovereignty with the king, nor is there any reason why we should desire to do harm to the king’s territory; nor would we wish to kill him, but would proceed homeward, if no one molest us; but we will endeavour, with the aid of the gods, to avenge ourselves on anyone that may do us an injury; while, if anyone does us good, we shall not be behind-hand in requiting him to the utmost of our power.” 24. Thus spoke Clearchus. Tissaphernes
, having heard him, said, “I will report your answer to the king, and bring back to you his reply; and till I return, let the truce remain in force; and we will provide a market for you.”

  25. On the following day he did not return, so that the Greeks began to be anxious; but on the third day he came, and said that he returned after having obtained the king’s permission to be allowed to save the Greeks; although many spoke against it, saying that it did not become the king to suffer men to escape who had engaged in war against him. 26. In conclusion he said, “You may now receive from us solemn promises that we will render the country through which you will pass friendly to you; and will, without treachery, conduct you back to Greece, affording you opportunities of purchasing provisions; and wheresoever we do not afford you an opportunity of purchasing, we will allow you to take for yourselves necessaries from the adjacent country. 27. On the other hand, it will be incumbent upon you to swear to us that you will march as through a friendly territory, without doing harm, only taking a supply of meat and drink, whenever we do not give you an opportunity of purchasing, but that if we give you such opportunity, you will procure your supplies by purchase.” 28. These conditions were assented to, and they took the oaths, and Tissaphernes and the brother of the king’s wife gave their right hands to the generals and captains of the Greeks, and received from the Greeks theirs in return. 29. After this, Tissaphernes said, “And now I shall go back to the king; and as soon as I have accomplished what I wish, I will come again, after making the necessary preparations, for the purpose of conducting you back to Greece, and returning myself to my province.”