Book 5 · Chapter 5

Through this country, whether they were friendly or not, the Greeks marched, covering eight stages, and reached the Chalybes. These were a people few in number, and under the rule of the Mossynoecians. They mostly made a living by mining and forging iron. Then they came to the Tibarenians.

The Tibarenians’ land was much flatter, and their fortresses were along the coast and not very strong, whether by design or just the way things were. The generals really wanted to attack these places to get some loot, so they refused the gifts of hospitality offered by the Tibarenians.

Instead, they told them to wait while they discussed things, and then they offered sacrifices. After several failed attempts, the seers finally declared that the gods didn’t want them to fight. So, they accepted the gifts and marched through what was now recognized as friendly territory.

In two days, they reached Cotyora, a Greek city and a colony of Sinope, even though it was located in Tibarenians territory. They stopped here for forty-five days.

During that time, they first offered sacrifices to the gods and organized processions, with each group of Greeks participating according to their tribes, and had some athletic competitions.

They also got supplies, partly from Paphlagonia and partly from the estates of the Cotyorites, because the Cotyorites wouldn’t let them sell goods or let their sick people inside the city walls.

Meanwhile, ambassadors arrived from Sinope, really worried, not just about the Cotyorites and their city, which belonged to Sinope and paid them tribute, but also about the territory that, they’d heard, was being looted. So, they came to the camp and gave a speech.

Hecatonymus, who was known to be a good speaker, led the way: Soldiers, he said, the city of Sinope sent us to offer you, as fellow Greeks, our congratulations on your victories over the non-Greeks.

Also, we're so happy you overcame those terrible hardships you're heard about and made it here safely. As Greeks, we expect you to be kind to us, as fellow Greeks. We certainly haven't treated you badly in the past. Now, the Cotyorites are our colonists.

We gave them this land to live in, taking it from the non-Greeks; that’s why they, along with the people of Cerasus and Trapezus, pay us a set amount of tribute. So, any harm you do to the people of Cotyora, the city of Sinope considers it a personal attack.

Right now, we hear some of you have broken into their city and are living in their houses, and you’re taking whatever you need from the Cotyorite estates, by any means necessary. We’re protesting these actions.

"If you continue to do this, you’ll force us to make friends with Corylas and the Paphlagonians, or anyone else we can find."

"To address these accusations, Xenophon, speaking on behalf of the soldiers, stood up and said: "As far as we’re concerned, people of Sinope, we’ve come this far, and we’re happy we saved our lives and our weapons.

Honestly, it was impossible to both hold back our enemies and take their stuff at the same time. Now that we’re in Greek cities, how’s it been going for us? At Trapezus, they gave us a marketplace, and we paid fair prices for our supplies.

In return for the honor they showed us and the hospitality they offered our army, we treated them with respect. Whenever the local people were friendly, we held back from causing trouble; or, with their help, we attacked their enemies as much as we could.

Ask them yourselves - they’re here to tell you what kind of people they found us to be. Some of their fellow citizens and the city of Trapezus, because they were friends, sent them with us to be our guides.

"But wherever we go, whether it’s foreign land or Greek territory, and can’t find a market for supplies, we help ourselves - not because we’re rude, but because we have to."

There were tribes like the Carduchians, the Taochians, and the Chaldaeans, who weren't under the king’s control, but were just as tough and independent. We had to defeat them. We needed supplies, and they refused to sell to us, so we took what we needed.

But other people, like the Macrones, even though they were barbarians, we considered friends simply because they provided us with the best market they could, and we didn’t take anything from them by force.

Now, about these Cotyorites, whom you claim are your people - if we’ve taken anything from them, it’s their fault, because they didn’t treat us like friends. They slammed their gates in our faces. They wouldn't let us in or sell us anything. They just said your governor told them to act that way.

"As for your claim," he continued, turning to Hecatonymus, "that we forced our way in and took over quarters, here’s what happened. We asked them to shelter our sick and wounded, and when they refused to open the gates, we went inside where it seemed like a safe place."

The only violence we’ve committed is that our sick people are under cover, paying for their expenses, and we have guards at the gates so our sick and wounded won’t be at the mercy of your governor, and we can move them whenever we want.

The rest of us, you see, are camping out in the open, in neat lines, and we’re ready to repay kindness with kindness, but to fight back hard against any trouble.

And as for your threat," he said, turning back to the spokesman, "that you’ll team up with Corylas and the Paphlagonians to attack us, we don’t mind fighting both of you if we have to - we’ve fought bigger groups than you many times.

"Besides, if it ‘suits us,’ as you put it, to make the Paphlagonian our friend (word is he really wants your city and some other coastal towns), we can make our friendship even more valuable by helping him get what he wants."

The ambassadors made it super obvious they were annoyed with Hecatonymus, because of how he was talking. One of them stepped up to explain that they weren’t trying to start a war at all, but actually wanted to show they were friendly.

"And if you ever come to Sinope," the speaker went on, "we’ll welcome you with gifts and a good time. For now, we'll ask the people here to give you whatever they can; we believe everything you’re saying is true. Then, the Cotyorites sent over some gifts.

The Greek generals threw a party for the Sinopeans' ambassadors. They talked about a ton of different things - just letting the conversation flow. Both sides were able to ask questions and learn more about what the rest of the journey would be like.