Book 2 · Chapter 3

And now, here’s the proof of what I said - that the king was totally shocked by the sudden appearance of the army. Just the day before, he’s sent messengers demanding they surrender their weapons - and now, with the sun coming up, messengers arrived from him, trying to arrange a truce.

They reached the front lines and asked for the generals. The guard reported they were there, and Clearchus, who was busy checking out the troops, sent word back to the messengers that they’d have to wait for him.

After carefully lining up the soldiers so they looked like a solid wall of fighters, with no one unarmed, he called the ambassadors and went to meet them with his soldiers - the best of his force, decked out and looking sharp, just like he’s asked all the other generals to do.

"Now, face to face with the ambassadors, he asked them what they wanted. They said they came to arrange a truce, and they were the right people to carry messages between the king and the Hellenes. He replied: "Tell your boss we need a battle first, because we haven’t had breakfast yet.

And he’s going to be pretty brave if he mentions the word ‘truce’ to the Hellenes without providing them with breakfast. The messengers rode off with that message, but they were back in no time, which proved the king, or someone he appointed, was close by."

They reported that "the message seemed fair to the king; they’d come now with guides who, if a truce was arranged, would lead them to where they could get food. Clearchus asked "whether the truce was just for the people going and coming, or for everyone."

"For everyone," they replied, "until the king gets your final answer. After they said that, Clearchus sent the ambassadors away and held a meeting; they decided to agree to a truce and then quietly go get food. Clearchus said: "I agree with that, but I don’t plan to announce it just yet."

"I want to stall a bit until the ambassadors start to worry that we’ve decided against the truce - though I suspect our soldiers will be feeling that way too. As soon as he thought the time was right, he gave his answer in favor of the truce and told the ambassadors to lead them to the food.

So they led the way, and Clearchus, still cautious despite the truce, marched after them with his army in formation, himself in command of the rear guard. They kept running into ditches and canals filled with water that were impossible to cross without bridges.

But they managed to get across using fallen or cut-down palm tree trunks. And here, Clearchus’s leadership was something to see - he stood with a spear in one hand and a stick in the other. When he noticed anyone slacking off, he’s pick out the right person and whack them with the stick.

He even jumped into the mud and helped out himself, so everyone else felt ashamed and worked just as hard. The guys doing the work were around thirty years old, but even the older men couldn’t resist helping out when they saw Clearchus’s energy.

What pushed Clearchus to hurry was the feeling that these ditches weren’t usually this full of water, since it wasn’t irrigation season. He thought the king might have let the water on just to show the Hellenes how many dangers they’d face from the very start.

They kept going until they reached a bunch of villages, where their guides told them they could find food. The villages were packed with corn, and wine made from palm dates, and a sour drink made by boiling the same fruit.

As for the palm nuts or dates themselves, it was clear that the ones we're used to seeing in Greece were for the servants; the ones set aside for the bosses were amazing - seriously beautiful and huge, like big chunks of golden amber. Some of them were dried and kept as candy.

They were sweet enough to eat with wine, but could definitely give you a headache. Here, for the first time in their lives, the men tasted the center of the palm.

Everyone was struck by how beautiful it was, and how unique the flavor was, but like the dried fruit, it was really likely to give you a headache. When this center is removed from the palm, the whole tree dies from top to bottom.

They stayed in those villages for three days, and then a group arrived from the great king - Tissaphernes, the king’s brother-in-law, and three other Persians - along with a bunch of slaves.

"As soon as the Greek generals showed up, Tissaphernes started talking, using an interpreter: "People of Greece, I’m your neighbor in Greece.

So, when I saw you were in a total mess, I thought it would be awesome if I could convince the king to let me safely bring you all back home - and that would earn me your gratitude, and the gratitude of all of Greece.

That's what I asked the king; I figured I deserved it, since I was the one who first warned him about Cyrus’s attack, and I helped prove it, and I was the only officer facing the Greeks who didn’t run, but charged right into battle and joined my troops with the king inside your camp, where he’s now, having killed Cyrus.

"And finally, I was the one who chased Cyrus’s troops, with the help of the people here with me - who are also some of the king’s most trusted soldiers. Now, I suggest you give a reasonable answer, so it’s easier for me to do what I’m planning, and maybe get something good for you from the king."

Then the Greeks went off to talk things over. Finally, they gave their answer, and Clearchus spoke for them: "We didn’t start a war against the king, and we didn’t march here to do so. But it was Cyrus who came up with a bunch of excuses to trick us and bring us here."

But after a while, when we saw he was in serious trouble, we felt bad for betraying him, after he’d helped us for so long. But now that Cyrus is dead, we’re not trying to take his kingdom from the king.

There’s nothing we want to harm in the king’s country, and we wouldn’t even want to hurt him if we could. We just want to go home, if nobody messes with us. But, with God’s help, we’ll get revenge on anyone who does.

"On the other hand, if anyone helps us, we definitely want to return the favor as much as we can."

So he spoke, and Tissaphernes listened and replied, "I’m gonna take that answer back to the king and get back to you. Until I do, let's keep this truce going, and we’ll set up a market for you."

He didn’t show up the next day, and the Greeks were seriously stressed, but on the third day he arrived with news that he’s gotten what they wanted from the king - they could go free, even though a lot of people thought it was a bad look for the king to let those who’d fought against him leave in peace.

Finally, he said, "You guys can now, if you want, give us your word that you’ll make the lands you pass through friendly to us and lead us back to Greece without any sneaky moves, and provide a market. If you can’t buy anything, we’ll let you take what you need from the area."

"You, on your side, have to swear that you’ll march through like it’s a friendly place, without causing any damage - just grabbing food and drinks if we don’t have a market set up for you. If we do have a market, you’ll only pay for what you get."

"They agreed to that, and exchanged promises - Tissaphernes and the king’s brother-in-law on one side, and the Greek generals and officers on the other. After that, Tissaphernes said, "And now I’m heading back to the king.

"As soon as I’ve taken care of what I need to, I’ll come back, all set, to lead you into Greece, and then head back to my own territory."