Book 7 · Chapter 6

At this point, nearly two months had passed, when an embassy arrived. These were two representatives from Thibron - Charminus, a Lacedaemonian, and Polynicus.

They were sent to say that the Lacedaemonians had decided to launch an attack on Tissaphernes, and that Thibron, who had set sail to lead the war, really wanted to use their troops.

He promised each soldier would get a silver coin a month as pay, officers would get double, and generals would get four times that amount.

"The Lacedaemonian representatives hadn’t even arrived when Heracleides, hearing they were looking for Hellenic troops, went off himself to Seuthes and said: "This is perfect! The Lacedaemonians want these troops, and you’re done with them.

"If you hand over the troops, you’re doing the Lacedaemonians a huge favor and won't have to worry about getting paid anymore. The country will finally be rid of them for good. Hearing this, Seuthes told him to bring in the representatives.

As soon as they explained they were there to negotiate for the Hellenic troops, he replied that he’s totally willing to give them up - his main goal is to be friends and allies with Lacedaemon.

So he invited them to stay and treated them to an amazing feast; but he didn't invite Xenophon, or any of the other generals. Soon after, the Lacedaemonians asked: What’s Xenophon like? and Seuthes answered: He's not a bad guy, really.

"But he’s way too friendly with the soldiers - and that's not good for him." They asked: "Is he a popular leader?" and Heracleides replied: "Exactly." "Well then," they said, "he's going to oppose us taking the troops, right?"

"Definitely," said Heracleides; "but you just need to call a meeting and promise them pay, and they won’t pay much attention to him - they'll flock to you." "So, how do we get them all together?" they asked.

"Early tomorrow," said Heracleides, "we'll bring you to them - and I know, as soon as they see you, they'll rush to you. That ended the day. The next day, Seuthes and Heracleides brought the two Laconian representatives to the army, and the troops gathered.

The representatives announced: "The Lacedaemonians have decided to go to war with Tissaphernes, who did you so much wrong. By joining us, you’ll punish your enemy, and each of you will get a silver coin a month, officers will get double that, and generals will get four times that amount."

The soldiers seemed interested, and one of the Arcadians immediately jumped up to criticize Xenophon. Seuthes was nearby, too, eager to see what would happen.

He stood close enough to hear everything, and his interpreter was right there with him - though he could understand most of what was said in Greek himself.

Then the Arcadian spoke: "Honestly, Lacedaemonians, we should have been on your side a long time ago if Xenophon hadn’t convinced us and brought us here. We’re constantly campaigning, night and day, through a miserable winter, but he's enjoying the rewards of our hard work."

Seuthes has made him rich privately, but he’s keeping us from earning our fair share.

"So, as the first to speak, all I can say is, if I could see that guy stoned as punishment for all the trouble he’s put us through, I’d feel like I’d finally gotten my pay, and wouldn’t regret the suffering we’ve gone through. Another soldier followed, then another, all saying similar things.

After that, Xenophon spoke: -

"It’s a classic saying, right? You really never know what you’re gonna see. Here I am, getting accused by you today, when my conscience is telling me I'm doing everything I can for you. Wasn't I actually heading home when I turned back?"

Not because I heard you were suddenly winning the lottery, but because I heard you were in a serious jam, and I wanted to help if I could. I went back, and Seuthes over there sent messengers, made me promise after promise, just to get you to come see him.

But, you guys know me, I wasn’t gonna be swayed. Instead of getting involved in that mess, I just led you to a spot where you could cross into Asia with the least amount of wasted time. I thought that was the best thing for you, and I knew you wanted it.

"But when Aristarchus showed up with his warships and blocked our way, you’re not gonna blame me for calling you all together to figure out what to do, right?"

I heard both sides - first Aristarchus, who told you to march to the Chersonese, then Seuthes, who begged you to join his campaign - and you all decided to go with Seuthes. You all voted for it! What did I do wrong by bringing you where you wanted to go?

Okay, so maybe I’ve been supporting Seuthes since he started lying and ripping us off about the pay - you can totally call me out for that.

But if I, who was his biggest friend at the start, am now more against him than anyone else, how can you blame me for something that’s already caused a fight between him and me? You’re probably gonna say I’m getting what's rightfully yours from Seuthes, right?

But isn't it obvious that if Seuthes paid me anything, he did it to avoid paying you even more, since he still owes you? If he gave me something, it was just a small gift to get out of paying you a larger amount.

But if you really think that’s what happened, you can shut this whole thing down right now by making him pay you what you’re owed. It’s obvious, Seuthes will demand anything I got from him, and he's even more justified in doing so if I haven't secured what he wanted when he gave me those gifts.

But seriously, I'm not enjoying anything that's yours, and I swear to all the gods and goddesses I haven't even taken what Seuthes promised me privately. He's right here listening, and he knows in his heart if I’m lying.

And get this, I can swear I haven’t even gotten what the other generals got, or even what some of the officers got. But how is that possible? Why didn’t I manage things better? I thought, the more I helped him through his tough times, the more he’d be my friend when he had power.

Turns out, it’s only when I see his good fortune rising that I'm starting to understand his true character. "Someone might say, aren't you embarrassed to have been played like that? Yeah, I’d be embarrassed if an enemy had tricked me. But when a friend cheats a friend, it’s a much deeper betrayal."

We took every precaution against him. We gave him absolutely no excuse to refuse to pay us what he promised. We were totally honest in our dealings with him. We didn't drag our feet on his business, and we didn't shy away from any work he challenged us with.

"But you’ll say, I should have gotten some kind of guarantee from him back then, so that if he’d wanted to trick me, he wouldn’t have been able to."

To answer that, I have to ask you to listen to things I’d never have said in front of him, except that you seem totally clueless about how I feel, or you’re unbelievably ungrateful. Try to remember what your situation was like when I got you out of trouble and brought you to Seuthes.

Don’t you remember how Aristarchus at Perinthus shut the gates in your face every time you tried to get into town, and you were forced to camp outside under the open sky? It was the middle of winter; you were relying on a market with very few goods, and not much money to buy anything.

But you had to stay in Thrace, because there were warships anchored in the bay, ready to stop you from crossing the water. And what did that mean? It meant being in a hostile country, facing tons of cavalry and legions of light infantry. And what did we have?

A strong infantry force, sure - we could have raided villages together, maybe grabbed a little food - but chasing down the enemy with our force, or capturing people or livestock? Forget about it. When I found you again, your original cavalry and light infantry were gone.

You were in a really tough spot! "Imagine if, without asking for any money at all, I’d just secured an alliance with Seuthes - whose cavalry and light infantry were exactly what you needed - wouldn’t you have thought I’s planned things out really well for you?"

I’m guessing that it was thanks to your partnership with him that you were able to find such a huge supply of grain in the villages, when the Thracians were forced to flee in such a rush, and you ended up with so many prisoners and livestock.

From the day his cavalry joined us, we didn’t see a single enemy soldier in the field. Before that, the enemy, with his cavalry and light infantry, was always right on our heels, making it impossible for us to split up and gather supplies.

"But if the person who partly gave you this security hasn’t paid you all the money he owed, isn’t that a disaster? So bad, in fact, that you think I shouldn't even be alive. "But let me ask you, what condition are you in as you leave this land today? Haven’t you spent the winter here in luxury?

Anything you’ve gotten from Seuthes has been extra. Your enemies have been paying your bills, while you’ve been having a great time, without even seeing the body of a fallen comrade or losing a single man. And on top of that, today you've earned a second victory.

You launched a campaign against the European Thracians and conquered them. So, what I'm saying is that these very things you're complaining about with me are actually blessings you should be thankful for.

So far, I’m just telling things from your point of view. Stick with me, okay? I need you to hear mine now. When I first tried to leave you and head home, I felt seriously blessed. I’d gotten some praise from you guys, and thanks to you, I’d earned glory from all of Greece.

The Spartans trusted me; otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent me back. But today, I’m leaving, and you’re spreading rumors about me to the Spartans, and Seuthes hates me - and I was trying to help him, so I could find a safe place for myself and my kids, if I ever had them.

And you, the people I’m doing all this for, the ones I’m still trying to help in every way I can, you're feeling this way about me? Why? I’m not a traitor or a runaway slave.

If you do what you’re saying, you’ll be killing a guy who’s stayed up countless nights watching over you, who’s shared tons of hard work with you, and risked everything for you, time after time. Thanks to the gods, he’s stood by you, celebrating victories over the barbarians.

And he's pushed himself to the limit to protect you, even from yourselves. And now, you can go wherever you want, by sea or land, and nobody can stop you.

You’re heading towards a goal you’ve wanted for so long, and the biggest military powers are after you, with pay and leadership from the Spartans, our top leaders. Now's the time you think to just get rid of me?

But when things were tough, you called me "dad!" and promised you’d always remember me as "the one who helped you." But that's not how things are now; and I don't think you’re any better in their eyes because of how you’d treated me.

With that, he stopped, and Charminus the Spartan stood up and said, "Seriously, by the Twins, you’re wrong to be so angry at this guy. I can vouch for him myself! When Polynicus and I asked Seuthes what he was like?"

Seuthes said: he only had one complaint about him - he was too friendly with the soldiers, which is why things went wrong, whether with us Spartans or with himself, Seuthes. Then, Eurylochus of Lusia, an Arcadian, stood up and said (to the two Spartans), "You know what?

"It’s clear to me that you can’t start your command of us better than by getting our pay from Seuthes. Whether he likes it or not, he needs to pay up in full; and don’t take us away before then."

Polycrates the Athenian, who was put forward by Xenophon, said, "If my eyes don’t deceive me, there’s Heracleides over there, the guy who got the property we earned through our hard work."

"He took it and sold it, and never gave either Seuthes or us back any of the money from the sale - he just kept it for himself, like a thief. If we’re smart, we’ll grab him, because he’s not a Thracian, he’s Greek; and he messed up against another Greek."

When Heracleides heard those words, he totally freaked out. So he went to Seuthes and said, "Dude, if we're smart, we need to get out of here before those guys find us. They hopped on their horses and were gone in a flash, riding hard back to their own camp.

Later, Seuthes sent Abrozelmes, his personal translator, to Xenophon, basically begging him to stay behind with a thousand of the strongest soldiers. He promised to give him the coastal towns and everything else he’s already said he would.

And then, like a total secret, he told Xenophon that he’s heard from Polynicus that if the Spartans got their hands on him, Thibron would definitely kill him.

More messages kept coming to Xenophon - letters and stuff - from all over, warning him that he was being talked about and he needed to be careful.

Hearing this, he chose two animals and sacrificed them to Zeus, the main guy: "Is it better and happier to stay with Seuthes like he wants, or leave with the army?" The answer he got was, "Leave."