Book 1 · Chapter 1

Darius and Parysatis had two sons: Artaxerxes was the older, and Cyrus the younger. When Darius got really sick and knew his time was ending, he wanted both his sons with him. Artaxerxes was already there, but Cyrus was ruling a province far away, so Darius had to send for him.

He also made Cyrus the general of all the troops gathering in the Castolus plain. So Cyrus headed up there, bringing Tissaphernes as a friend, and also a group of three hundred heavily armed Greek soldiers, led by Xenias from Parrhasia.

When Darius died and Artaxerxes became king, Tissaphernes accused Cyrus of plotting against him. Artaxerxes listened to Tissaphernes and tried to have Cyrus killed, but Cyrus’s mom stepped in and got him sent back safely to his province.

After escaping that dangerous situation and the public shame, Cyrus started thinking about how to avoid getting caught in his brother’s power again, and if possible, how to become king himself. Parysatis, his mom, was his first move - she loved Cyrus way more than she did Artaxerxes on the throne.

Plus, everyone who visited Cyrus from Artaxerxes’s court left being friends with Cyrus, not with the king. He also made sure the local people he worked with were both good fighters and loyal to him. Finally, he started secretly gathering Greek soldiers. Here’s how he got the troops together

: First, he sent orders to the commanders in the cities he controlled, telling them to gather as many picked soldiers from the Peloponnese as they could, claiming that Tissaphernes was plotting against their cities.

Those cities in Ionia originally belonged to Tissaphernes, given to him by the king, but now, except for Miletus, they’d all switched sides to support Cyrus. In Miletus, Tissaphernes figured out what was happening and arrested some of the conspirators and exiled others.

Cyrus welcomed those who escaped and built up an army. Then, he laid siege to Miletus by land and sea, trying to help the exiles get their homes back - another reason to gather troops.

He also sent a message to the king, claiming that, as the king’s brother, those cities should belong to him, not Tissaphernes. His mom, the queen, helped him out, so the king not only missed the real plan but also thought Cyrus was spending his money to fight Tissaphernes.

It didn’t really bother the king, especially because Cyrus kept sending the tribute money due to the king from the cities that Tissaphernes used to control.

A third army was being gathered for him in the Chersonese, across from Abydos. Here's how it started: There was a Lacedaemonian exile named Clearchus, and he’s become friends with Cyrus. Cyrus really liked Clearchus and gave him ten thousand darics - a ton of gold!

Clearchus took the money and raised an army. He used the Chersonese as his base and started fighting the Thracians north of the Hellespont, helping out the Greeks. He was so successful that cities along the Hellespont wanted to chip in and support his troops.

So, again, an army was being quietly built for Cyrus. Then there was Aristippus, a friend from Thessaly. He came to Cyrus, feeling the heat from his political rivals back home, and asked for money to pay two thousand mercenaries for three months. He said it would help him take down his enemies.

Cyrus didn’t hesitate - he gave him six months’ pay for four thousand mercenaries! But there was one catch: Aristippus had to check with Cyrus before making any deals with his rivals. This way, Cyrus kept a fourth army under wraps.

Plus, he told Proxenus, a guy from Boeotia and another friend, to gather as many soldiers as he could and join him in an attack planned against the Pisidians, who were causing problems for Cyrus’s land.

Similarly, two other friends, Sophaenetus from Stymphalian and Socrates from Achaea, got orders to round up troops and come to him, because Cyrus was about to launch a campaign against Tissaphernes, with the help of exiled Milesians. Everyone followed through on their assignments.