Book 5 · Chapter 3

When Cheirisophus didn't show up, and we didn't have enough ships, plus getting food was impossible, we decided to head out. We loaded the sick and anyone over forty, along with the kids and women, and all the gear the soldiers really didn't need onto the boats.

The two oldest generals, Philesius and Sophaenetus, were in charge, and the rest of us kept marching - the road was finally finished. We marched for two days, and on the third, we reached Cerasus, a Greek city on the coast, a colony of Sinope, in Colchis territory.

We stopped there for ten days, and there was a headcount of all the soldiers. We figured around eight thousand six hundred of us made it. Everyone else... well, they were either killed by the enemy, froze to death in the snow, or got sick.

While we were there, we split up the money we got from selling prisoners, and a tenth of that - a special offering for Apollo and Artemis of Ephesus - was divided between the generals. Neon, from Asinaea, held onto Cheirisophus’s share.

Xenophon took his portion and dedicated an offering to Apollo, putting it among the treasures of the Athenians at Delphi. He had it inscribed with his name and the name of Proxenus, his friend, who was killed with Clearchus.

He’d left the offering for Artemis of Ephesus behind earlier, when he left with Agesilaus on the march into Boeotia. He left it with Megabyzus, the priest of the goddess, because he thought the trip he was starting was super risky. If he made it back alive, he told Megabyzus to give it back to him.

But if something bad happened, Megabyzus was supposed to make and dedicate something to Artemis that he thought would please her. Years later, when Xenophon was living in Scillus - a town the Spartans gave him - right on the road to Olympia, Megabyzus showed up on his way to the games.

He gave Xenophon the offering back. Xenophon took the money and bought a piece of land for the goddess, a spot that the oracle showed him. It had a river called Selinus running through it, just like in Ephesus, where the Selinus river flows past the temple of Artemis.

Both rivers had fish and mussels. On the land in Scillus, you could hunt all sorts of animals. Using that money, he built an altar and a temple. Every year, he gave a tenth of the harvest as an offering and sacrificed to the goddess.

Everyone in town and the neighbors - men and women - celebrated the festival. The goddess even provided food - meat, bread, wine, and sweets - plus portions from the animals sacrificed and those hunted.

Xenophon’s sons and the sons of the other citizens always went hunting before the festival, and anyone who wanted could join. They caught game from the sacred area and from Pholoe - pigs, gazelles, and deer.

It was right on the road from Sparta to Olympia, about twenty furlongs from the temple of Zeus, and it had meadows and wooded hills perfect for raising pigs, goats, cattle, and horses - even the pack animals for pilgrims feasted well. The shrine was surrounded by fruit trees.

"The temple looked like a smaller version of the one in Ephesus, and the statue of the goddess was similar to the golden one in Ephesus, except it was made of cypress wood. Next to the temple was a column with this inscription: "This place is sacred to Artemis.

"Whoever holds it and enjoys its fruits must sacrifice a tenth of the produce yearly, and maintain the shrine from the rest. If anyone fails to do so, the goddess herself will ensure the matter isn’t ignored."