Book 7 · Chapter 8

From there, they sailed across to Lampsacus, and here Xenophon was met by Eucleides, a fortune-teller from Phlias, son of Cleagoras, who painted “interpretations of dreams” on Lycium walls.

Eucleides congratulated Xenophon on his safe return and asked, “How much gold did you bring back? Xenophon had to admit, “Honestly, I’m barely going to have enough to get home unless I sell my horse, and everything I’m carrying.

The other guy couldn’t believe it. When the people of Lampsacus sent gifts to welcome Xenophon, and he was making sacrifices to Apollo, he asked for Eucleides to be present.

The fortune-teller, after looking at the animals being sacrificed, said, “Now I believe you when you said you had no money. But I’m sure there’s something in the way. You, yourself, might be the problem. Xenophon had to agree with that.

Then Eucleides said, “Zeus Meilichios is standing in your way, I’m sure. He added, in a different tone, “Have you tried sacrificing to that god? I used to sacrifice and offer whole burnt offerings to him for you back home.

Xenophon replied that he hadn't sacrificed to that god since leaving home. So, Eucleides advised him to sacrifice in the traditional way: he was sure his luck would improve.

The next day, Xenophon went on to Ophrynium and sacrificed, offering a whole pig as a burnt offering, a tradition in his family, and the signs he got were positive.

That very day, Bion and Nausicleides arrived loaded with gifts for the army. These two were warmly welcomed by Xenophon, and they were kind enough to buy back the horse he’d sold in Lampsacus for fifty darics.

Suspecting he’d sold it because he needed the money, and knowing he was fond of the animal, they returned it to him, refusing any payment.

From there, they marched through the Troad, crossed Mount Ida, and arrived at Antandrus, then followed the coast of Mysia to the plains of Thebe.

Then, they made their way through Adramytium and Certonus, passed by Atarneus, and came into the plain of the Caicus, finally reaching Pergamus in Mysia.

Here, Xenophon was warmly welcomed at the house of Hellas, the wife of Gongylus, an Eretrian, and mother of Gorgion and Gongylus. From her, he learned that Asidates, a wealthy Persian official, was in the area.

“If you take thirty men and go by night, you can capture him,” she said. “You’ll get his wife, his children, his money, he’s got a lot of it. To show them the way, she sent her own cousin and Daphnagoras, whom she trusted greatly.

So, Xenophon, with these two to help, did a sacrifice; and Basias, an Eleian, the fortune-teller in attendance, said the animals were as promising as could be, and the official would be an easy target.

Accordingly, after dinner, he set off, taking with him the officers who had been his closest friends and most trusted advisors, he wanted to do them a favor.

A bunch of others tried to join their group, swelling their numbers to six hundred, but the officers turned them away. "They had no intention of sharing in the spoils," they said, “as if the treasure was already in their hands.

About midnight, they finally arrived. The slaves working around the tower, along with all the goods and stuff, seemed to slip through their fingers, they were only focused on grabbing Asidates and everything he owned.

So, they started firing their cannons, but couldn't take the tower by force (it was tall, strong, and had good defenses, plus a bunch of tough fighters inside). Instead, they tried to dig under it.

The wall was super thick, like eight layers of clay bricks, but by sunrise, they’d broken through and undermined it.

As soon as a tiny bit of light showed through the hole, one of the defenders inside, swinging a huge roasting spit, smashed it right through the thigh of the guy closest to the opening, and the rest started firing arrows so fast it was crazy dangerous to even get close.

Plus, all the shouting and setting off signal fires meant a relief force eventually arrived, led by Itabelius and his troops, along with some Assyrian soldiers from Comania, and some Hyrcanian cavalry, they were all mercenaries for the king.

There were eighty cavalry and another group of about eight hundred light troops, plus reinforcements from Parthenium, Apollonia, and the surrounding areas. It was now time to figure out how to get out of there.

So, they rounded up all the cattle and sheep they could find, along with the slaves, and formed them into a square to drive them away.

They weren't really thinking about the loot anymore, but they were worried that if they left all the goods and stuff behind and ran, the retreat would turn into a chaotic stampede, and the enemy would get bolder as the troops lost hope.

For now, they pretended they were still fighting for the spoils.

As soon as Gongylus saw how few Greeks there were and how many attackers there were, he came out himself, even though his mom told him not to, with his own private force, wanting to join the fight.

Another guy joined the rescue too, Procles, from Halisarna and Teuthrania, a descendant of Damaratus.

By this point, Xenophon and his men were getting hammered by arrows and slingstones, even though they were curving their march to keep their shields facing the missiles.

They barely made it across the Carcasus River, and almost half of them were wounded. That’s where Agasias, the captain from Stymphalia, got hit, while still fighting like crazy against the enemy from start to finish.

And so, they made it home safely with about two hundred captives and enough sheep for sacrifices.

The next day, Xenophon made sacrifices and led the entire army out under cover of darkness, planning to go deep into Lydia to make the enemy think he wasn’s a threat and basically catch him off guard.

But Asidates, hearing that Xenophon had sacrificed again, planning another attack, and was approaching with his whole army, left his tower and set up camp in some villages near the town of Parthenium.

There, Xenophon’s group found him, and took him prisoner, along with his wife, his kids, his horses, and everything he owned, fulfilling a promise made earlier.

After that, they headed back to Pergamus, where Xenophon could really thank God, the Laconians, the officers, the other generals, and the soldiers as a whole gave him the best horses and cattle teams, and everything else, so he was now in a position to help someone else out.

Meanwhile, Thibron arrived and joined his troops with the rest of the Greek forces, and they continued to fight against Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus.