Book 5 · Chapter 1

After that, they gathered and talked about what to do for the rest of the trip. First up was Antileon from Thurii.

He stood and said, "Honestly, guys, I'm totally done with all this packing and getting ready, walking, running, lugging around heavy weapons, and marching in formation or standing guard, fighting."

All I want now is to just chill and, since we're near the sea, sail away, like Odysseus, and find myself back in Greece. When the soldiers heard him, they cheered, shouting Spot on! Then another guy spoke up, and then another, and pretty much everyone agreed.

"Next, Cheirisophus got to his feet and said, "I know a friend, you know, my buddy, who’s currently the big boss of the navy - Anaxibius. If you send me to him, I’m pretty sure I can get some warships and other boats to take us.

"All you gotta do, if you really want to head home by sea, is wait here until I get back. I’ll be back before you know it." The soldiers were stoked by these words and decided Cheirisophus should set sail right away.

After him, Xenophon spoke up: "Cheirisophus is heading out to find some ships, and we're going to wait for him. Let me tell you what I think we should do while we’re waiting."

First, we need to get supplies from the nearby territory, because there isn’t a good market here, and most of us don’t have any money to buy anything anyway. Now, the area is hostile, so if we just wander around looking for food, a lot of us could get hurt.

To avoid that, I suggest we organize groups to grab what we need, and not just roam around randomly. Let us handle the organization." (They agreed.) "Listen to another idea," he continued: "Some of you will probably go out to loot.

It’s best if whoever does that tells us beforehand what they’re planning and which direction they’re heading. That way, we’ll know exactly how many people are out and how many are staying behind.

"We can then help prepare for the expedition if needed, and if anyone needs help or reinforcements, we’ll know where to go. Plus, if people aren’t experienced fighters, we can share our knowledge and give advice on who they’re planning to attack. This was also agreed upon.

"Here’s another thing to think about," he continued: "Our enemies won’t be sitting around doing nothing; they’re probably plotting against us, and it's understandable, since we took what was theirs, and they’re watching us closely. So, I suggest we set up regular outposts around the camp."

If we take turns doing lookout duty, it’s harder for them to sneak up on us. And one more thing: if we knew for sure that Cheirisophus would return with enough ships, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but since that’s still uncertain, I propose we try to find some ships nearby too.

If he shows up and finds us already set up, we’ll have more ships than we need, which isn’t a bad thing; but if he doesn’t bring any, we’ll have the local supply to rely on.

"I see ships passing by all the time, so we just need to ask the people of Trapezus to lend us a few warships, and we can bring them into port and secure them until we have enough to carry us. I think this is the best way to make sure we find a way to get around. That was also agreed to.

"Now," he said, "shouldn’t we use a common fund to support the ship crews while they wait here to help us? And shouldn’t we agree on a fair price for their services, like repaying kindness with kindness?" That too was approved.

"Alright," he said, "if, after all this, we still don’t have enough ships, I suggest we order the coastal towns to fix the roads, which we hear are terrible. They’ll probably be happy to do it, out of fear and to get rid of us."

The idea of traveling by land was met with shouts and a ton of pushback. Seeing they were totally against it, he didn't even put it to a vote. Instead, he convinced the cities to build roads, saying, "If we get these roads sorted, we’ll be out of here way faster."

They also snagged a fifty-oared galley from the people of Trapezunt, and gave the command to Dexippus, a guy from Laconia, one of the perioeci. This dude totally blew off gathering any other ships nearby, and just bailed, taking the ship and disappearing from Pontus.

Later, though, he got what he deserved. He got mixed up in some shady stuff in Thrace at the court of Seuthes, and the Laconian Nicander ended him. They also got a thirty-oared galley, putting the command with Polycrates, an Athenian.

That officer brought every ship he could find into the harbor near the camp. If the ships were carrying cargo, they unloaded it and put guards in place to protect it, while using the ships themselves to move people and supplies along the coast.

Things were at this point when the Hellenes started raids, with mixed results - sometimes they scored big, sometimes they came up empty. One time, Cleanetus led a group against a heavily defended spot, and got killed, along with a bunch of his people.