In 401 BC. an event occurred that, without any exaggeration, shook Europe and Asia and had significant consequences on the course of further history, showing everyone the military weakness of Persia. Finding themselves on the banks of the Euphrates, in the very heart of the Persian Empire, and having lost their commanders, the Greek mercenaries managed to reach the Black Sea with continuous battles and then return to Hellas.
We know about this unprecedented campaign mainly from the writings of the Athenian Xenophon, who, by chance, after the murder of the recognized leaders of this expedition, led the Greek army.
Xenophon, a monument in Vienna
Xenophon was a contemporary of Plato and a student of Socrates, but his sympathies were always on the side of Sparta. After returning from this famous campaign, he, at the head of his detachment (at that time there were about 5,000 people in it), came to the Spartan Fibron, who was gathering an army for the war with the satrap Farnabaz. In Asia Minor, Xenophon fought alongside King Agesilaus, for which he was even stripped of Athenian citizenship (citizenship was returned to him when Athens became an ally of Sparta in the war with Thebes). To the great happiness of the descendants, Xenophon turned out to be a talented writer, who, moreover, invented a new literary genre, writing in the third person (under the name Themistogen of Syracuse) the world's first autobiography - the famous "Anabasis" ("Ascent" - originally this term meant a military hike from a low-lying area to a higher one).
Xenophon, Anabasis, Russian edition
Xenophon, Anabasis, Oxford Edition
Xenophon, Anabasis, Turkish edition
In the "General History" Polybius reports that it was the book of Xenophon that inspired Alexander the Great to conquer Asia. The Byzantine historian Eunapius writes about the same. The Greek historian and geographer Arrian, having written a book about the campaigns of Alexander the Great, called his work "Anabasis of Alexander". It is believed that it was the book of Xenophon that served as a model for Caesar's military writings, also written in the third person. Nowadays, the word "Anabasis" has become a household name, meaning a difficult march home through enemy territory. Some historians call the path of the Czechoslovak legionnaires through Siberia to Vladivostok and then by sea to their homeland in 1918 as the "Czech Anabasis".
In the newspaper "The Times" during the Dunkirk evacuation of British troops from the mainland (Operation Dynamo), an article was published "Anabasis", which compared the position of British troops with the access to the sea by the Greeks in the 5th century. BC.
Even Jaroslav Hasek, in his famous book "The Adventures of the Gallant Soldier Schweik", placed the chapter "Budejovice Anabasis of Schweik", which tells how Schweik "caught up" with his regiment, moving in the opposite direction.
In Russia "Anabasis" was first published in the second half of the 18th century. entitled "The Tale of the Younger Cyrus and the return campaign of ten thousand Greeks, translated from French by Vasily Teplov."
But, nevertheless, how did the Greeks get so far from home? After all, less than a hundred years ago, when the Persian governor of Miletus Aristogorus, fearing the wrath of King Darius, aroused the Ionian Greeks to revolt, and tried to find mercenaries for a possible campaign inland, the Spartans replied to his emissaries: “You are crazy if you want us to leave three months' journey from Greece and the sea. And now a whole army of mercenaries from different cities of Hellas has moved into such a campaign, which seemed to everyone impossible and incredible, even insane.
This story began as a fairy tale in which the great king of Persia, Darius II, had two sons: the elder Arshak and Cyrus the Younger.
Darius II
It was Cyrus, in the opinion of his mother Parysatida, the half-sister of Darius, who a priori possessed all the necessary qualities of a future king, and therefore she gave him a name that could only be worn by the heir to the throne: Cyrus means the Sun. As a first step, in 407 BC. she persuaded the aging king to appoint Cyrus (born about 432) to the most important position of satrap of Lydia, Phrygia and Cappadocia, and at the same time the commander-in-chief of all troops in Anatolia. In Hellas at this time, the Peloponnesian War was in full swing, in which Darius at some point decided to support Sparta. And Cyrus unexpectedly turned out to be an ally of the great Lysander. In 405 BC. NS. Darius died, and the Persian governor in Caria Tissaphernes, for whose help Cyrus hoped, sided with his son-in-law Arshak, who now took the name Artaxerxes II, and even informed the new king about his brother's plans to kill him.
Image of Artaxerxes II, tomb at Persepolis
As a result, Cyrus was imprisoned, but the weak-willed Artaxerxes was frightened by the wrath of Parysatis, who freed Cyrus, and achieved the return of his son to his satrapy. It is Cyrus who is the protagonist of Book I of Xenophon's Anabasis.
And at this time, a man appeared on the stage of world history, destined to become the protagonist of Book II - the untalented Spartan commander Clearchus, whose lack was the unwillingness to obey anyone. Despite his strict Spartan upbringing, Clearchus looked more like Alcibiades than Lysander. When the authorities of Sparta sent him to the aid of the city of Byzantium, Clearchus, without thinking twice, seized power there and declared himself a "tyrant" (that is, a ruler who did not have the rights of royal power). Outraged by such arbitrariness, the gerons sent a new army to Byzantium, and Clearchus fled from there with the treasury and even some kind of detachment: a condottiere appeared on the territory of Hellas, ready to offer his services to anyone who pays. And such a person was quickly found - Cyrus, who had barely escaped from his brother, became him. Representatives of almost all the states of Hellas came to the glitter of Persian gold, and an impressive army of 13,000 people came to Asia Minor: 10,400 hoplites and 2,500 peltasts.
Running hoplite, antique figurine from Dodona
This detachment joined the 70,000-strong Persian army of Cyrus. The Greek mercenaries did not yet know what awaited them, and were sure that they were going to war in Asia Minor against the insidious Tissaphernes. However, in the spring of 401 BC. they were led to the southeast - under the pretext of a war with the rebellious mountaineers. And only when two-thirds of the way had been passed, they announced the true goal of the campaign - a war with the legitimate king of the Persian Empire. Cyrus promised them one and a half pay, and in case of victory, another five minutes of silver to each. It was too late to retreat, the Greeks moved on.
September 3, 401 BC Cyrus's army met at the Euphrates (about 82 km north of Babylon) with the army of Artaxerxes. It was here that the Battle of Kunax took place. Currently, this area is called Tel Akar Kuneise.
The Battle of Kunax is described by Xenophon, Polybius and Diodorus. We have already spoken about Cyrus's army. Artaxerxes led about 100 thousand soldiers from Iran, India, Bactria, Scythia to Kunax. According to Xenophon, the army of Artaxerxes also had 150 Persian serpentine chariots, which were directed specifically against the Greeks. Each of these chariots was carried by four horses, sickles about 90 centimeters long were attached to the major axis, and two more vertical sickles were attached from below. The same chariots were used by the Persians during the war with Alexander the Great.
Persian War Chariot
Warriors of the Battle of Kunax, drawing by Richard Scollins
And then Cyrus and Clearchus had serious disagreements about the plan for the upcoming battle. Cyrus quite reasonably proposed to strike the main blow in the center, where his brother would stand. In this battle, it was not a military victory that was needed, but the death (at least, capture) of the rival Cyrus: upon learning of the death of the king, his army would stop the battle and go over to the side of the new legitimate monarch. But this was contrary to everything Clearchus had learned. Indeed, in fact, according to all the rules of military science, it was necessary to inflict a powerful blow with the right wing on the left flank of the enemy army, overturn it, and then, turning around, hit the center. The Greek phalanx behind Clearchus's back seemed to whisper to him inaudibly: “Tomorrow the glory of Pausanias and Lysander will fade forever, and you will become the first Greek commander to defeat the Persians in the very heart of their empire, a great king will receive the crown from your hands. Then. You have a flat field in front of you, the right flank will be protected by the river, you have peltasts and cavalrymen from Paphlagonia, who will protect the phalanx from flank attacks and disperse the javelin and javelin throwers. Everything will be fine."
Each of these plans was good in its own way, and each promised victory if Cyrus and Clearchus could agree. But they didn't agree. And the next day, to the warlike singing of flutes, the Greek phalanx bristling with spears moved forward - ruthlessly and inexorably, sweeping away everything and everyone in its path. The Hellenes were opposed by Persian and Egyptian infantrymen, 500 horsemen led by Tissaphernes, and the famous Persian serpentine quadrigi.
Attack of a Persian scythe chariot. Drawing by André Kastenya (1898-1899)
"Do not think about anything, close the line, do not look around, do not hesitate - the Persians are brave, but there is still no force in the world that can stop you. It's time to start running."
In a few hours, Cyrus will win and become king.
Greek warriors at the Battle of Kunax
Persian warriors at the Battle of Kunax
But Cyrus did not want to wait a few hours. Hatred for his brother, impatience and anger seethed in his soul, he led a cavalry attack in the center where Artaxerxes stood, and even personally wounded his horse - the king fell to the ground. But, in order to show everyone his prowess, Cyrus fought without a helmet. When the Bactrians threw darts at him, he received a wound in the temple, and then someone hit him with a spear. They cut off the head of the dead Cyrus and presented it to Artaxerxes, then showed it to the rebel army. It was all over, Cyrus's army ceased resistance, but the Greeks did not know about it. They continued to do their job: overturning the infantry standing opposite them, breaking the war chariots (some of which they passed through the formation, where the charioteers were pelted with peltasts with spears), one after another, they now repulsed the attacks of the Persian cavalry. In this battle, the Greek mercenaries demonstrated all the qualities of impeccable warriors. They calmly carried out the orders of the commanders, skillfully rebuilt themselves and acted that day, truly, ideally. Seeing that the army of Cyrus had stopped fighting, the phalanx turned around and pressed against the river - and the Persians no longer dared to attack it.
Then the Greeks themselves moved forward, and the commanders of Artaxerxes, who had already seen the power of the phalanx, did not want to tempt fate - they retreated, leaving the battlefield for the Greeks. The losses of the army of Artaxerxes amounted to about 9000 thousand people, the troops of Cyrus - about 3000, and the losses of the Greeks were minimal. Polybius reports that none of them died.
The armies returned to their original positions and the situation was extremely unpleasant for both sides. It seems that the victorious Greeks found themselves far from their homeland in the middle of a hostile country. The victorious rebel brother Artaxerxes did not know what to do with the undefeated Greek warriors in the center of his power. He suggested to them: "Lay down your arms and come to me."
According to Xenophon, at the council of war, the first of the Greek military leaders said: "Better is death." Second: "If he is stronger, let him take away (the weapon) by force, if weaker, let him appoint a reward." Third: "We have lost everything, except for weapons and valor, and they do not live without each other. Fourth: "When the vanquished commands the victors, it is either madness or deceit." Fifth: "If the king is our friend, then with weapons we are more useful to him, if the enemy, then it is more useful to ourselves." Xenophon reports that in this situation, Clearchus, one of the few, retained his composure, thanks to which order and confidence in a successful outcome remained in the Greek army. The Greeks were offered a free exit from the country, and Tissaphernes was instructed to "see off" them.
Silver tetradrachm of Miletus (411 BC) depicting the Persian satrap Tissaphernes
Oddly enough, the Greeks completely trusted him, but Tissaphernes did not believe them and was afraid that on the way they would take possession of some province, from which it would be very difficult to knock them out. Therefore, on the way, he invited Clairch, four other strategists and twenty commanders of lesser rank to dinner, seized them and sent them to Susa, where they were executed. This was the most terrible moment of the epic: panic and riots almost broke out in the army. And only now Xenophon comes to the fore, who took command over himself and, no longer relying on the insidious Persians, led the army on his own. The carts that could slow down the movement were burned, the soldiers lined up in a square, inside which were placed women and pack horses. Tissaphernes's cavalry followed them, constantly harassing. The Persian infantrymen pelted them with stones and javelins. By order of Xenophon, the Greeks formed their own cavalry detachment and a detachment of pelgasts, which now successfully drove the Persians away from the marching column. On the territory of what is now eastern Turkey, the Greeks encountered the ancestors of the Kurds - the Kardukhs, who considered the property of the unknown aliens to be their legitimate prey. The position of the Greeks was desperate: they did not know the road in the mountains, there were warlike kardukhs from all sides, throwing stones and arrows at them. In addition, the Greeks here could not act in formation, which was unusual and deprived them of their advantage in combat clashes. By order of Xenophon, the best warriors were left in ambush, who succeeded, having destroyed a small enemy detachment, to capture two kardukhs. The first of them, who refused to speak, was immediately killed in front of the other. Frightened by death, the second kardukh agreed to become a guide. It turned out that there was a mountain in front, which could not be bypassed - the positions of the mountaineers could only be taken by storm. Volunteers at night, in the pouring rain, climbed this mountain and killed the Kardukhs who were not expecting their appearance. Finally, the Greeks reached the Kentrit River, which separated the country of the Kardukhs from Armenia (the lands of the Armenians then occupied part of modern eastern Turkey). Here, a new obstacle arose before the army of Xenophon: the bridges were controlled by detachments of Persian mercenaries. But the Greeks managed to find a ford, along which they crossed to the other side. In Armenia, other enemies awaited them - snow and frost. Pack animals died, people were freezing and sick. However, the Armenians were not eager to fight in the snow, their onslaught was not strong. Making sure that the strange newcomers did not claim the Armenian land, they left them alone. The Greeks were saved from death in underground cities (probably in Cappadocia), in the caves of which people and pets lived together. Here the Greeks, apparently, first tasted beer ("infusion of barley"), which they, accustomed to diluted wine, found too strong. However, here the Greeks contrived to quarrel with the owners, capturing the horses prepared as a tribute for Artaxerxes, and taking the son of the generally friendly leader as hostage. As a result, they were shown the wrong path, with great difficulty they nevertheless came out to the river valley, which led them to the sea. Xenophon says that when he heard the cries of those in front, he decided that the vanguard was attacked, but the cries of "sea", which quickly spread through the column, dispelled doubts. People who saw the sea cried and hugged. Forgetting fatigue, the Greeks built something like a mound from large stones to mark the place of salvation.
The first Greek city to which the warriors of Xenophon came was Trebizond. Its inhabitants were, to put it mildly, a little shocked to see on their streets a whole army of some ragamuffins, in order which only had weapons. However, the commanders of the Greeks still continued to maintain discipline among their warriors, without which they certainly could not have reached the sea. In addition, they had some booty, profitable (for the inhabitants of Trebizond), selling which, they were able to pay for their stay. Nevertheless, the townspeople were undoubtedly very happy when the unnamed "guests" finally departed for their homeland. Residents of other cities who found themselves on the way of "10,000" were less fortunate: most of the soldiers had no money left, their further advance was often accompanied by violence and looting. It took the Greek mercenaries of Cyrus the Younger a year and three months to travel from Hellas to Babylon and return. About 5,000 of them (under the command of Xenophon) took part in the war of Agesilaus against Pharnabaz in Asia Minor. Xenophon became rich, having received a large ransom for a rich Persian captured in one of the battles and, although he continued to fight, did not need anything else. But 400 of his associates were not lucky: for unauthorized actions in Byzantium, the Spartan commanders sold them into slavery. About 30 years later, Xenophon wrote his famous work, which historians consider one of the main sources on the history of military affairs in ancient Greece. In addition, in "Anabasis" he described the customs of the Persian court (using the example of the court of Cyrus the Younger), the religious beliefs of various peoples, as well as the climate in different countries, their flora and fauna. Moreover, "Anabasis" contains data on the distances that his army covered in a day (though only where the army marched on high roads). Talking about all this, Xenophon distinguishes between events that he personally witnessed from those transmitted from hearsay (in this case, the source is usually indicated). Books IV and V contain descriptions of tribes that lived in the northeastern regions of Asia Minor and on the southern coast of the Black Sea in the 5th century. BC. Researchers of Transcaucasia believe that this information of "Anabasis" is no less valuable than Book IV of Herodotus for the history of the south of the USSR, "Germany" of Tacitus for Central Europe and "Notes" of Julius Caesar for the Gallic countries.
