Book 7 · Chapter 1

At this point, Pharnabazus, who was worried the army might attack his territory, sent a message to Anaxibius, the Spartan admiral, who happened to be in Byzantium. He begged Anaxibius to move the army out of Asia, promising to do whatever the admiral wanted.

Anaxibius then sent for the generals and officers to come to Byzantium and promised the soldiers would get paid if they crossed the strait. The officers said they’d think about it and get back to him. Xenophon told them he was leaving the army right away and just wanted to set sail.

Anaxibius told him to hold on: "Cross over with everyone else," he said, "and then you can think about leaving. The others agreed to do that. Now, Seuthes the Thracian sent Medosades and asked Xenophon to use his influence to get the army across.

"Tell Xenophon," he said, "if he does his best for me, he won't regret it." Xenophon replied, "The army is going to cross anyway, so Seuthes doesn’t owe me or anyone else anything. But as soon as it’s across, I’m done with it."

"So, as far as it makes sense, Seuthes should talk to those who are staying and will be in charge. After that, the whole army crossed to Byzantium. But instead of paying them, Anaxibius announced, "Soldiers, grab your weapons and pack your gear and head out!"

It was like he just wanted to count them and wish them luck at the same time. The soldiers weren’t happy because they had no money to buy food for the journey, and they slowly started packing. Xenophon, who was friendly with the governor, Cleander, went to say goodbye, planning to set sail.

But Cleander protested, "Don’t go! Or else," he said, "you’ll be blamed. Some people are already mad that the army is moving so slowly. Xenophon replied, "It's not my fault. The men need food; that's why they're dragging their feet about leaving."

"Still," Cleander said, "I advise you to head out there, like you're marching with them, and then you can leave when you’re far enough away." "Okay," said Xenophon, "let’s talk this over with Anaxibius."

They went to the admiral, who insisted they do as he’d said and march out, gear and all, as quickly as possible. As an add-on to his announcement, he added, "Anyone missing the review and the headcount will have only themselves to blame. It was a strict order.

So, the generals led the way, followed by the rest of the troops. Now, with the exception of a few stragglers, they were all outside. It was a total sweep. Eteonicus stood near the gates, ready to shut them and lock them as soon as the men were out.

Then Anaxibius summoned the generals and captains and said, "You better get your food from the Thracian villages. You'll find plenty of barley, wheat, and other supplies there. And then, get moving to the Chersonese, where Cyniscus will take you into his service."

"Some of the soldiers overheard what was said, or maybe one of the officers told them. Either way, the news spread throughout the army. As for the generals, they were worried about Seuthes: "Was he an enemy or an ally?

"And would they have to march through the Sacred mountain or go around through the middle of Thrace?"

While they were discussing these points, the soldiers grabbed their weapons and charged full speed at the gates, planning to get back inside the walls. But Eteonicus and his men, seeing the heavy infantry running up, quickly slammed the gates shut and slid in the bolt.

Then the soldiers started pounding on the gates, complaining it was unfair to push them out into the enemy’s clutches like that. "If you don’t open the gates yourselves," they shouted, "we’ll smash them to pieces!"

And another group raced down to the sea, along the breakwater, and over the wall into the city; while a third group, made up of those who’d stayed inside the city all along, saw what was happening at the gates, chopped through the bars with axes, and threw the gates wide open; and the rest poured in.

Xenophon, seeing what was happening, got seriously worried that the army would start looting and cause irreparable damage to the city, to himself, and to the soldiers. So he took off, plunging into the crowd and being swept through the gates with them.

The Byzantines, seeing the soldiers forcing their way in, scattered - some ran to the ships, others to their homes, and those already indoors rushed out.

Some even started pulling their warships from their moorings, hoping to find safety onboard; nobody doubted the city was lost and they were all done for. Eteonicus quickly retreated to the citadel.

Anaxibius ran down to the sea, hopped onto a fisherman’s boat, and sailed around to the acropolis, immediately sending a message to get garrison troops from Chalcedon over, since those already in the acropolis didn't seem like enough to control the soldiers.

The soldiers, spotting Xenophon, mobbed him, yelling: "Now, Xenophon, is your chance to prove yourself! You’re in charge of a city, you’re got warships, you’ve got money, you’ve got men! Today, if you want to, you can do us a huge favor, and we’ll make you a big shot."

He replied: "I like what you’re saying, and I’m in. But if that’s really what you want, fall into formation and take your positions now. He said this to calm them down, and passed the order along the lines himself, telling everyone else to do the same: "Fall in line; stand at attention."

But the soldiers, almost on their own, formed ranks, and soon they were organized - the heavy infantry eight deep, while the light infantry had run up to cover the flanks. The Thracian Square is a great spot for drills, being clear of buildings and perfectly level.

"As soon as the weapons were stacked and the soldiers calmed down, Xenophon called a general meeting and gave this speech: - "Soldiers, I’m not surprised you’re angry, or that you think it’s outrageous to be tricked like this.

But think about the consequences if we give in to our anger and get revenge on the Lacedaemonians here, and plunder an innocent city. We’ll be declared enemies of the Lacedaemonians and their allies; and what kind of war that will be, we don’t need to guess.

You haven’t forgotten what just happened, have you? We Athenians went to war against the Lacedaemonians and their allies with a fleet of over three hundred warships, including those in dry dock and those at sea.

We had huge treasures stored in the city, and an annual income, from both home and abroad, of no less than a thousand talents. Our empire included all the islands, and we controlled numerous cities in both Asia and Europe.

"Even this very Byzantium, where we are now, was ours; and yet in the end, we were defeated, as you all know."

"Seriously, what's going to happen to us now? The Spartans aren’t just relying on their old friends, but they’re joined by the Athenians and everyone else who was allied with Athens back then."

Tissaphernes and all the other folks along the coast of Asia are against us, not to mention our biggest enemy, the king himself, way up there, who we set out to strip of his power and, if possible, take out.

So, with everyone banded together against us, is there anyone crazy enough to think we can actually win? For goodness sake, let’s not go nuts and throw our lives away fighting our own cities - our own friends, our family; they’re all somewhere in one of those places.

Every city will march against us, and honestly, they’re justified if, after refusing to hold onto a single foreign city we conquered, we grab the first Greek city we come across and tear it down. I’m praying that before I see you guys do something like that, I’m buried ten thousand fathoms deep!

My advice to you, as Greeks, is to try and get what’s fair through respecting the leaders of Greece. And if we fail to get what we want, being more victims than aggressors, why would we give up Greece too?

Right now, I suggest we send a message to Anaxibius and tell him we’re inside the city, not planning to cause trouble, just checking to see if he and his people will treat us okay; if they do, great. But if not, at least let him know he shouldn’t play us for fools.

We know what discipline means; we turn around and head out. That plan was approved, and they sent Hieronymus, an Eleian, along with two others, Eurylochus, an Arcadian, and Philesius, an Achaean, to deliver the message. So, those three set off."

But while the soldiers were still meeting, Coeratadas, from Thebes, showed up. He was a Theban, not in exile, but with a real interest in being a general, always looking to see if any city or nation needed his services.

So, this time, he showed up and offered to lead them into the Delta of Thrace, where they’d find plenty of food and supplies; and until they got there, he’d provide them with enough meat and drinks. While they were still listening to his pitch, a reply came from Anaxibius.

His message was: "The discipline you talked about isn’t something you’ll regret; in fact, he’s going to report your behavior to his superiors; and for himself, he’s going to take advice and do his best for you. Then, the soldiers chose Coeratadas as their general and left the city.

Their new general promised to show up the next day with animals for sacrifice and a fortune teller, plus plenty of food and drinks for the army. As soon as they were gone, Anaxibius closed the gates and announced that anyone caught inside would be "taken down hard and sold immediately."

The next day, Coeratadas arrived with the animals, the fortune teller, and a procession of twenty guys carrying barley, followed by another twenty with wine, then three carrying olives, and two others - one with as much garlic as one person could lift, and the other with a similar load of onions.

He set all these supplies down, apparently for distribution, and started the sacrifices.

"Xenophon sent a message to Cleander, basically begging him to set things up so he could get inside the city walls and start his trip home from Byzantium. Cleander showed up, and here’s what he said: "I made it happen, but it was a struggle.

Anaxibius was really pushing it: 'It's not a good look for Xenophon to be chilling inside while the troops are right outside the walls. Plus, the Byzantines are totally chaotic, and there's serious bad blood between different groups.'

Still, he finally told you to come in if you were serious about leaving by sea with him." So, Xenophon said goodbye to the soldiers and headed back inside the walls with Cleander. Now, let's get back to Coeratadas."

The first day, the sacrifices weren’t looking good, and he didn’t hand out any food to the soldiers.

The next day, the animals were lined up at the altar, and Coeratadas was all decked out with a wreath, ready to make the sacrifice, when Timasion from Dardanus, Neon from Asinae, and Cleanor from Orchomenus showed up and told him to hold off: "He needs to know his time as general is up unless he gets them fed."

The others told him to sort out the food, "Seriously, hand it over. But when he realized he was way short - not even enough for a single day's rations per person - he grabbed his stuff and bailed. He wasn’t interested in being in charge anymore.