Book 2 · Chapter 5

After that, they reached the river Zapatas, which is four hundred feet wide, and they stopped there for three days. During those days, everyone was super suspicious, but nothing bad actually happened. Clearchus decided to put an end to all that mistrust before it turned into a war.

So, he sent a messenger to the Persian, saying he wanted to meet up; the other guy agreed right away. When they finally met, Clearchus spoke like this: Tissaphernes, he said, I haven't forgotten that we swore oaths and shook hands, promising not to hurt each other.

But I can see you're watching us like we’re enemies, and we’re watching you back. But after looking into things, I cann't see you trying to do us any harm - and I’m sure we’ve never even thought about hurting you.

So, I thought it would be best to come talk things over and try to clear up all this doubt on both sides.

I’ve seen people before, sometimes victims of lies or just plain suspicion, who were scared of each other and ready to strike first, and ended up doing something they really regretted against people who had no bad intentions toward them.

I came to you because I believe misunderstandings are best solved by talking face-to-face, and I want to make it clear that you’re wrong to mistrust us. The main reason is the oaths we swore before the gods - they’ll stop us from fighting. I wouldn't wish that kind of conscience on anyone!

If you go against the gods, how can you escape? Where can you hide? Where can you run and be safe? Everything is under their control, right? So, when it comes to the gods and our promises, that’s where I’m coming from. We entrusted our friendship to their protection, that’s a sacred agreement.

But looking at things from a human perspective, I see you as our biggest help right now. With you, every path is clear, every river is easy to cross, and we’ll never run out of food.

But without you, everything is dark and unknown; every river will be a roadblock, every crowd will be scary, and the wilderness itself will be the scariest thing of all, so confusing and endless. Seriously, what if we just snapped and hurt you?

"We’d be challenging the king himself to come after us - and that’s a fight we couldn't win. I’m telling you, I’d be losing so much if I tried to do you harm."

"I really wanted to be friends with Cyrus; I thought he was the best person around, able to help whoever he wanted. But today, I see you’re in his place now. All the power Cyrus had, and his whole territory, it’s yours now. You’ve got it all, plus your own region, safe and sound."

And the king’s power, which was a real pain for Cyrus, is now supporting you. So, it would be crazy not to want to be your friend. But I’m going to tell you why I’m so confident, so you’ll want to be friends too.

I know the Mysians are giving you trouble, and I’m pretty sure my army could make them totally submit to you. The Pisidians too; I’m hearing there are tons of other tribes like that. I think I can handle them all; they’ll stop being a constant headache to your peace and success.

Then there are the Egyptians... I know you’re really angry with them right now. And honestly, I cann't think of a better force to punish them than the one marching behind me today.

Plus, if you want to make friends with any of your neighbors, there won’t be a better friend than you’ll have with us; if anyone messes with you, with us as your loyal crew, you’ll totally own them. And we’ll serve you not just for money, but out of gratitude for saving our lives.

"Thinking about all this, the idea that you might not trust us is just mind-blowing. I'd give anything to know who's been talking you into thinking we're plotting against you."

Clearchus finished, and Tissaphernes replied - "I appreciate your words, Clearchus; because if you were to try something against me, it would only be because you’re mad at yourself."

But if you think you have a better reason to not trust the king and me, listen to me for a sec, and I’ll set you straight. Do you think we’ll lack the ability, if we wanted to, to take you down?

Don’t we have enough cavalry or infantry, or whatever you want, that we could hurt you without getting hurt ourselves? Or do you think we’re missing the right places to attack you? Can’t you see all these huge plains, that are hard enough to cross even when they’re friendly?

And all those massive mountain ranges you have to climb, that we can occupy ahead of time and make impossible to pass? And all those rivers, where we can play it smart, slowing you down, controlling you, picking and choosing who we want to fight!

Some you won’t even be able to cross without us transporting you. "And even if we were failing at all of that, ‘fire,’ as they say, ‘is stronger than crops’: we can burn it all down and starve you out; something you, for all your bravery, will never be able to beat."

So, with all these ways to attack, all this war equipment open to us, none of which can be used against us, why would we choose the only method that’s against God and everyone else? That's what desperate people do, who are stuck and trying to get what they want by lying and betraying everyone.

"We’re not that clueless, Clearchus, or that dumb."

"Seriously, why didn’t we just wipe you out when we had the chance? It’s because I wanted to prove I was loyal to the Hellenes. Just like Cyrus, who relied on hired help, I wanted to show I could be strong through service."

"You’re useful to me in lots of ways, you’ve already said so, but there’s one even bigger. Only the great king gets to wear the tiara straight on his head, but in your presence, another person can wear it straight...right here, on their heart."

Throughout the speech, it seemed to Clearchus that Tissaphernes was telling the truth. He replied, "Then aren’t those who try to turn us against each other, even though we’re friends, deserving of the worst punishment? "Exactly," said Tissaphernes.

"If your generals and captains want to come forward publicly, I’ll tell you who’s been telling me you’re plotting against me and my army. "Sounds good," replied Clearchus. "I’ll bring them all, and I’ll show you where I get my information about you."

After that, Tissaphernes, being super friendly, invited Clearchus to stay and had him over for dinner. The next day, Clearchus went back to the camp and made it clear that he was definitely in Tissaphernes’ good graces.

He reported what he’d said, insisting that everyone should go to Tissaphernes, and that anyone caught spreading lies should be punished, not just as traitors, but as people who were bad for their own people. Menon was the one spreading the rumors, at least that’s what he thought.

He knew Menon had been meeting with Tissaphernes while he was with Ariaeus, and was trying to stir up trouble against him, plotting to win over the whole army to his side to get on Tissaphernes’ good side.

But Clearchus wanted the entire army to focus on no one else, and he wanted to get rid of anyone causing problems. Some of the soldiers protested: "Not all the captains and generals should go; we shouldn’t trust Tissaphernes so much."

But Clearchus pushed so hard that they finally agreed to send five generals and twenty captains. About two hundred other soldiers came along too, using the opportunity to sell their goods.

When the generals arrived at Tissaphernes’s quarters, they were called inside. There was Proxenus from Boeotia, Menon from Thessaly, Agias from Arcadia, Clearchus from Lacedaemon, and Socrates from Achaea - the captains waited outside.

Not long after, at the same signal, those inside were grabbed, and those outside were cut down. Then, some Persian horsemen charged across the plain, killing every Greek they saw, slave or free.

From the camp, the Greeks watched this strange cavalry with shock, unable to understand what was happening until Nicarchus the Arcadian came tearing along, wounded in the belly, clutching his insides in his hands. He told them everything that had happened.

Immediately, the Greeks rushed to grab their weapons, completely panicked, expecting the enemy to attack the camp any minute. But they didn't all come - only Ariaeus, Artaozus, and Mithridates, who were Cyrus’s closest friends, showed up.

The Greek interpreter said he also recognized Tissaphernes’s brother with them. They had about three hundred other Persians behind them, wearing armor. Once they were close, they told any Greek general or captain who was there to come forward and hear a message from the king.

Afterward, two Greek generals went out cautiously. They were Cleanor from Orchomenus and Sophaenetus from Stymphalion, with Xenophon the Athenian, who went to find out what happened to Proxenus. Cheirisophus was away in a village with a group gathering supplies.

As soon as they stopped within earshot, Ariaeus said: "Greeks, Clearchus has been shown to have lied and broken the truce, so he’s been punished - he’s dead. But Proxenus and Menon, for giving information about his betrayal, are highly respected. As for you, the king wants your weapons."

"He claims they’re his, since they belonged to Cyrus, who was his slave."

To this, the Greeks responded through Cleanor of Orchomenus, their spokesman, who said to Ariaeus: "You villain, Ariaeus, and you others who were friends of Cyrus, don’t you have any shame before God or anyone, first promising you shared our friends and enemies, and then betraying us, teaming up with Tissaphernes, that most dishonest and awful man?"

"You’ve murdered the very people you gave your word and oath to, and turned traitors to the rest of us; and now you’re joining forces with our enemies to attack us."

Ariaeus replied: "There’s no doubt that Clearchus has long been planning against Tissaphernes and Orontas, and all of us who side with them. Taking up this point, Xenophon said: "Okay, so if Clearchus broke the truce against our oaths, he deserves what he got - perjurers should pay."

"But where are Proxenus and Menon, our generals and your good friends and benefactors, as you say? Send them back to us. Surely, just because they’re friends to both sides, they’ll try to give you and us the best advice."

At this, the Asians talked amongst themselves for a long time, then left without saying a word.