Book 7 · Chapter 5

What he said really got under Heracleides’ skin - he was worried about losing Seuthes’ friendship - and from that day on, he did everything he could to trash-talk Xenophon to Seuthes. The soldiers, naturally, blamed Xenophon: "Where’s our pay?"

And Seuthes was super annoyed with him for constantly demanding it for them. Until then, he'd often talked about what he’d do once they hit the coast again, like handing over Bisanthe, Ganos, and Neontichos to him. But after that, he never mentioned them again.

Heracleides had been whispering in his ear - it wasn’t safe to give fortified towns to someone with their own army. So Xenophon started thinking about whether he should even keep moving further inland.

Heracleides brought the other generals to Seuthes, pushing them to say they were just as good as Xenophon at leading the army, and promising they’d get paid for two months within a couple of days, and begging him to keep the campaign going with Seuthes.

But Timasion replied, "I'm not doing any campaign without Xenophon, not even if they give us pay for five months! And Phryniscus and Cleanor echoed that - they were all on the same page. Seuthes then straight-up ripped into Heracleides. "Why didn't you invite Xenophon with the rest of you?"

Eventually, they invited him, but by himself. Seeing through Heracleides' sneaky plan to badmouth him to the other generals, Xenophon showed up - but made sure to bring all the generals and officers with him. Once everyone was on board, they kept the campaign going.

Keeping the Pontus on their right, they passed through the Thracians who eat millet, and reached Salmydessus. This is a spot where tons of trading ships heading for the Black Sea run aground and get wrecked because of a shallow, sandy area that stretches far out into the sea.

The Thracians living in the area set up markers, and each group claimed the salvage from their own wrecks - back in the old days, before the markers, the wreckers apparently used to fight and kill each other over the loot.

There was a ton of stuff there: beds, boxes, countless written books, and all the other things sailors carry in their wooden chests. After taking control of the area, they turned around and headed back. By this point

, Seuthes’ army was way bigger than the Greek army - more Odrysians kept joining, and other tribes were merging with his forces. They set up camp on the flatlands above Selybria, about three miles from the sea.

Still no pay, and the soldiers were seriously ticked off at Xenophon, while Seuthes wasn’t as friendly as he used to be. Whenever Xenophon tried to meet with him, something always got in the way. "{trakheia pontou Salmudesia gnathos ekhthroxenos nautaisi, metruia neon.} "

"The rugged Salmudesian jaw of the Black Sea, Inhospitable to sailors, stepmother of ships." But the poet got the geography wrong, connecting "the Salmydesian jaw" with the Thermodon.