Book 6 · Chapter 1

They mostly lived off food from the market, and also by raiding Paphlagonia. The Paphlagonians were super good at snatching up anyone who wandered off, and at night they's try to cause trouble for the soldiers camping far away.

Things were seriously tense between them, so Corylas, who was basically the boss of Paphlagonia at the time, sent messengers to the Hellenes. He brought horses and fancy clothes, and offered a deal: they’d both agree to stop hurting each other.

The generals said they’d talk it over with the rest of the army. In the meantime, they treated the Paphlagonians really well, inviting some of the soldiers who seemed important. They sacrificed some of the captured cattle and other animals, and threw a pretty awesome party.

Everyone was chilling out on their low beds, drinking from cool horn cups they found around. But as soon as they finished the offering and sang the song, some Thracians jumped up and did a dance with their weapons.

They were leaping and waving their swords - one guy even pretended to get seriously hurt, he fell so realistically! The Paphlagonians totally lost it.

Then the guy who landed the blow stripped the other soldier of his armor and swaggered off chanting "Sitalcas," while other Thracians carried the other guy off, who was lying there looking like he was dead, even though he wasn't even scratched.

Next up, some Aenianians and Magnesians started doing the Carpaea - that’s what they called it - also with their weapons. The dance went like this: one guy would ditch his gear and start driving a team of oxen, while he drove, he’s also sowing seeds, turning around a lot like he was nervous.

Then a cattle thief would show up, and as soon as the farmer spotted him far off, he’s grabbing his weapons and getting ready to fight. They’d battle right in front of the oxen, all in time with the music. Finally, the thief would tie up the farmer and steal the team.

Or sometimes, the farmer would tie up the thief and make him walk under the yoke with the oxen, hands tied behind his back, and then they'd head off.

Then a Mysian came in with a light shield in each hand and started dancing, sometimes pretending to fight off two attackers at once, and other times using the shields to face a single enemy. He’s spinning and doing flips, still holding the shields - it was a really cool show.

Finally, he did the Persian dance, clashing the shields together, dropping to one knee and bouncing back up, all in time with the flute music. After him, the Mantineans and some other Arcadians came out, decked out in their battle gear.

They marched in step, with pipes playing a strong, military tune. The music swelled, and they moved gracefully, like a procession honoring the gods.

The Paphlagonians thought it was wild to see everyone dancing while armed, so the Mysians convinced one of the Arcadians to let him introduce his dancing girl. He got her all dressed up and gave her a light shield. When she started dancing the Pyrrhic, everyone started clapping.

The Paphlagonians asked, "Do these women fight alongside you in battle?" and they replied, "Absolutely! It was the women who beat the great King and chased him out of camp." That ended the night.

The next day, the generals introduced the embassy to the army, and the soldiers agreed with their plan: they would both avoid hurting each other. Then, as soon as enough ships arrived, the Hellenes set sail, traveling with a good wind for a day and a night, keeping Paphlagonia on their left.

The following day, they reached Sinope and anchored in the harbor of Harmene, near Sinope. The Sinopeans, even though they lived in Paphlagonia, were actually from Milesia. They gave the Hellenes gifts of hospitality - three thousand measures of barley and fifteen hundred jars of wine.

At that point, Cheirisophus rejoined them with a warship. The soldiers were expecting him to bring something, but all he brought were nice words from Anaxibius, the high admiral, and the others, who congratulated them and promised to pay them as soon as they were out of the Black Sea.

The army stopped at Harmene for five days, and they started thinking about how they were going to get home with money. They decided to pick one general to lead them, because one person would be better at handling the troops, day or night, than several sharing the job.

If they needed to keep something secret, it would be easier, and if they needed to move fast, they wouldn't risk arriving late because everyone would be on the same page, and whatever the single leader decided would happen right away, instead of arguing about what the majority wanted.

With those ideas swirling in his head, he turned to Xenophon, and the officers approached him, telling him that was how the soldiers felt. Each of them, showing genuine warmth, urged him to take the job.

Xenophon partly wanted to, thinking it would boost his reputation with his friends and make his name known throughout the city - maybe even letting him discover something amazing for the army. These thoughts excited him; he really wanted to be in charge.

But then he started thinking it over, and he realized that the future was uncertain for everyone, and there was a risk of losing the reputation he’s already built. He was in a tough spot, unsure how to decide, so he figured it was best to ask for guidance from the gods.

He led two animals to the altar and sacrificed to Zeus, the King - the oracle at Delphi had named him, and Xenophon believed the vision he had when he first helped run the army had been sent by that god.

He also remembered something that happened earlier, when he left Ephesus to join Cyrus: an eagle screamed on his right, from the east, and stayed perched there.

The soothsayer who was with him said it was a great and royal omen, promising glory and hardship - smaller birds only attack an eagle when it’s sitting still. "But," the soothsayer added, "it doesn’t mean you’ll get rich; eagles grab their food while they’re flying."

So Xenophon sacrificed, and the gods gave him a clear sign: don’t ask for the generalship, and if chosen, don’t accept the job. That’s how things stood when the army gathered, and they unanimously decided to elect a single leader.

"After that decision, they nominated Xenophon, and when it became clear they would elect him if he put it to a vote, he stood up and spoke: "Friends, I’m just a person, and I'm honored that you would consider me. I thank you, and I hope the gods will let me help you.

But honestly, being chosen as general in front of a Spartan seems like a bad idea for either of us. You’re less likely to get what you need from them later, and I think accepting the job could be dangerous for me.

Don’t I know that the Spartans pushed the war until our state had to acknowledge their leadership? Once they got that confession, they stopped fighting, and the siege ended. If I try to downplay their pride, I might just end up learning a hard lesson.

"But I understand your idea that a single general will be less divided than many - be assured, if you choose someone else, I won’t cause trouble. I believe anyone who opposes the leader is hurting their own safety. But if you choose me, don’t be surprised if that decision makes other people angry."

After Xenophon said that, a bunch more people stood up, one after another, insisting it was totally fine for him to take charge.

Agasias from Stymphalus was like, "Seriously, it’s kind of crazy if the Spartans are gonna freak out just because a few friends had dinner and didn’t invite a Spartan to be the head of the table."

He added, "Honestly, if that’s the deal, I don’t even see why we, who are just Arcadians, should be officers. That comment got a huge cheer from the crowd. Xenophon, seeing he needed to step it up, came forward again and said, "Okay, look, I’m being straight with you guys."

"I swear to all the gods; truly and honestly, as soon as I realized what you were planning, I checked with the sacrificial animals to see if it was better for you to give me this leadership, or someone else."

He continued, "The gods gave me a sign so clear, even a regular person could understand it, and know that I shouldn't take on this kind of power." With that, they chose Cheirisophus.

After he was elected, he spoke up and said, "Listen, you guys, be sure of this: if you’s picked someone else, I wouldn’t have caused any drama. As for Xenophon, I think you did him a favor by not choosing him."

Even now, Dexippus has been trashing him to Anaxibius as much as he could, despite my trying to shut him down. Dexippus claimed that Xenophon would rather share command of Clearchus’s army with Timasion, a Dardanian, than with himself, a Laconian."

But, Cheirisophus went on, now that you've chosen me, I’m going to do everything I can to help you. So get ready to set sail tomorrow, weather permitting. We're heading to Heraclea, so everyone needs to make it to that port. We’ll figure out the rest when we get there.