likely to be so pleasant and obliging as to allow us to take provisions out of his camp for our journey? And the ships that he has brought here for his own use, is it likely that he will part with them in order that we may get home comfortably?
‘Then as regards the guide, is it to be expected that he will grant a guide to us, who by our desertion will be doing him the greatest injury and crossing all his plans? Even if he were to supply us with ships, I, for one, should expect the ships to be sunk in mid-sea in order that we might be drowned, or if he gave us a guide, I should fear that the guide would lead us into some place where we could not fail to perish.
‘This plan will never do. I propose instead that we nominate certain persons to go with Clearchus to Cyrus, and ask him what it is exactly that he wants of us. If he proposes some such enterprise as those on which our countrymen have been employed before, then let us follow him.
If on the other hand it appears likely that his plans will involve us in great toils and dangers, we must ask him either to give us good reasons for advancing, or else consent to our going back. Then we shall either accompany him as friends, or else be allowed to return in peace.’
This speech made the desired impression, for the Hellenes could not but see that there was far more sense in the apprehensions of the last speaker than in the hopeful view of the man who had preceded him, and accordingly, when the proposal to send a deputation to Cyrus was put to the meeting, a great show of hands was raised in favour of it. The members of the deputation were therefore chosen at once, and sent away on their errand.
Cyrus granted the messengers an interview, and agreed to answer their questions. He made no mention of attacking the Pisidians, still less of marching against the Great King, but spoke of an enemy of his, a powerful satrap named Abrocamas, who lived on the banks of the Euphrates at a distance of twelve days’ march from Tarsus. It was for the purpose of fighting this satrap, he said, that he wanted the help of the Hellenes, for Abrocamas had a great army under his command. If he held his ground, he should be punished; but if on the other hand he should save himself by flight, then in that case, it would be necessary to consider further what would have to be done.
With this answer the messengers returned to their comrades, and the Hellenes declared themselves ready to remain in the service of Cyrus, on condition that he would increase their pay. To this he readily consented, and promised that instead of receiving every month one daric as before,[10] the private soldiers should in future have a daric and a half. In like proportion, the captains were to have three darics instead of two, and the generals six darics instead of four.
[10] See p. 31.
The Hellenes were in the position of a man whose path lies through a bog. After he has advanced some little way, he begins to consider whether it would not be better to turn back, but finding that this is just as difficult as to go forward, he thinks it a pity to waste the effort he has already made, and decides to continue.
So to the Hellenes it seemed that to return promised to be no less dangerous than to advance. The more clear-sighted were by this time perfectly aware that whatever Cyrus might say, or refrain from saying, his ultimate design was to proclaim war against the Great King. But the great mass of the soldiers, although they knew in their hearts that this was his real intention, preferred not to think too much about it, and persisted in hoping that after all it might turn out to be something else.
X FROM TARSUS TO MYRIANDUS After twenty days’ halt at Tarsus, the army again set out on its march, and in five days came to the last city in Cilicia. The next province through which they would have to pass was that of Syria, and here the entrance was even more carefully guarded than had been the approach to Cilicia.
Between the two provinces were two fortresses, called the Gates of Cilicia and Syria. They were at about six hundred yards apart, and stood one behind the other on each side of a little river which flowed from the mountains into the sea, and formed the boundary between the two provinces. The mountains at this place approached so close to the sea that the walls of the fortresses stretched the whole distance, and the only passage was through gates which opened to admit friends, but remained fast shut when enemies approached. The fortresses were quite impregnable, if defended, and it was said that Abrocamas had taken the field against Cyrus with 300,000 men, reinforced moreover by 400 Hellenes who were in the service of the Great King.
But Cyrus had long ago foreseen this difficulty as he had foreseen that of entering Cilicia, and had provided against it in the same way. He had desired the fleet to follow him from Tarsus, and had arranged that it should land two divisions of troops on the coast of Syria, one in the space between the river and the Syrian fortress, the other on the further side of it, so that the fortresses might be attacked on both sides at the same time.
As before however, it proved unnecessary to carry out the plan. For when Abrocamas heard that Cyrus had made his way through Cilicia, and found moreover that his Hellenes were leaving him to join their countrymen, he turned and fled, never stopping until the waters of the Euphrates were rolling behind him. The only harm that he did to Cyrus was to burn the ferry-boats employed for crossing the Euphrates, after making use of them himself.
The cowardly satrap remembered the saying that ‘discretion is the better part of valour,’ and following the example of the Cilician prince, he took care so to manage matters, that in the quarrel between the two brothers, he should have done something to help both sides.
If the Great King should conquer, he could urge that he had burnt the boats and guarded the walls for a time. If, on the other hand, Cyrus should prevail, he could say that he had given way at his approach, and had yielded him free passage. He afterwards carried out this policy by bringing an army to the aid of the Great King five days after the decisive battle between the two brothers had been fought, with a plausible excuse for not having been able to arrive sooner.
A day’s march along the Syrian coast brought the troops to Myriandus, a populous sea-port of Phenicia, where an active trade brought many merchant-vessels to anchor in the bay. Here the army rested for seven days, and during this time two of the Hellene officers, Xenias and Pasion by name, hired a ship, and sailed away home in it with the greater part of their possessions.
These were the two officers from whom 2,000 soldiers had deserted at Tarsus in order to take service under Clearchus. They had expected that Cyrus would compel the deserters to return to them, but knowing that they would serve much better under the general of their own choice, he had allowed them to remain with Clearchus. In consequence of this, the two officers were so much annoyed that they determined to abandon the expedition.
When their flight became known, the soldiers all expected that Cyrus would send some ships of war in pursuit of them, and that having been overtaken and brought back, they would be severely punished. But in this they were mistaken, for instead of acting in any such way, Cyrus called together the remaining Hellene officers, and addressed them in an altogether different strain.
‘Xenias and Pasion,’ he said, ‘have deserted, but they are still in my power. I am fully informed as to the route they have taken, and my ships are swifter than theirs. But for all that, I will not pursue them. No one shall be able to say of me that I know how to make use of a man as long as he is with me, but that when he wishes to leave me, I lay hands upon him and seize his goods. Let them go. They will have to confess that they have treated me worse than I have treated them. I might detain their wives and children who have been left at home under my protection, but they shall not be deprived of them. This shall be their reward for the services they have rendered hitherto.’
This proof of high-mindedness increased the respect of all the Hellenes for Cyrus.
XI THE CROSSING OF THE EUPHRATES From this point, the route by which the army was to march left the coast and struck inland. The fleet could therefore be of no further service, and Cyrus accordingly sent it home from Myriandus.
It was now the hot season, which in Syria is infinitely more trying than anything that is ever experienced in our northern climates. And as the troops were marching southwards, the heat continued to increase in intensity with every day’s march.
To the Hellenes, everything in these tropical regions was new and strange; the vegetation, the animals, the people, the customs, the ways of thinking, all were very different from anything to which they were accustomed at home. One day they came to a river swarming with great fish. These were worshipped as gods by the people of the country, who would have thought it a great crime to catch them. In the same place there were large flocks of pigeons, which were also considered sacred, and any one who dared to kill or even to catch one of them, would have been severely punished.
Towards the end of August the army reached the large and flourishing city of Thapsacus, on the Euphrates. Here Cyrus called together the Hellene officers, and told them plainly that he was marching towards Babylon to make war upon the Great King, and that they must communicate this information to the soldiers under them, and persuade them to follow him as before.
The news was received by the men, not indeed with surprise, for they had long had their misgivings, but with considerable irritation, and many of them cried out that nothing would induce them to go any farther.
Their anger was directed, not so much against Cyrus, as against their own officers, whom they accused of having known from the first what was intended, and they said that by keeping the matter secret, the officers had involved them in an undertaking which, so far at all events, appeared absolutely hopeless.
A few days’ consideration however was sufficient to make them realise their position. What could they do? Ever since leaving Tarsus they had been marching farther and farther away from their homes, and the reasons which had then decided them to cast in their lot with Cyrus were now even more urgent than before.
Again therefore they allowed themselves to be persuaded, and once more demanded an increase of pay, which was promised by Cyrus to an extent that exceeded their highest hopes. For he said that when they reached Babylon he would give to each man five silver minæ, which was more than the ordinary pay for a whole year, and that during the return march they should receive full pay until they were again among their own countrymen in Ionia.
It was now necessary to find some means of crossing the great river Euphrates, and at first it seemed probable that this would be a task of no small difficulty. The boats ordinarily used for the purpose had been burnt by Abrocamas, and the only thing to be done was to make an attempt at wading through the stream. Happily this proved to be a far more simple matter than could have been expected, for when the soldiers stepped into the water, it only reached as far as their breasts, although at this season of the year it was usually very much deeper.
The men of Thapsacus said that this was a sign from heaven, and that the stream had been constrained to roll back his waters in order to make way for the man who was destined to wear the royal tiara of Persia.
At this time, Menon, one of the Hellene generals, saw an opportunity of gaining an advantage over his comrades, and he used it in a manner that was little to his credit. Before it had been decided whether the Hellenes should continue to follow Cyrus or not, an advance party had been sent out to see if the river could be forded, and had reported that it was possible.
On hearing this, Menon called his men together, and said to them, ‘Soldiers, if you will be guided by my advice, you may, with no danger, and little trouble, get yourselves farther advanced in the favour of Cyrus than any of your comrades. To him it is of the utmost importance that the Hellenes should cross the Euphrates and support him in his attack upon the Great King. If then we take the lead and cross the river to-day, and they follow us, he will give us credit for having set them a good example. If, on the other hand, they decide not to follow Cyrus, we can easily go back again, but in any case we may be sure that Cyrus will regard us as his most faithful friends, and that when he has rich appointments and well-paid offices to give away, he will remember us in disposing of them.’
The prospect suggested by Menon was so alluring that the soldiers fell in readily with his proposal, and at once crossed the Euphrates. When Cyrus heard that they were already on the further side, he was greatly pleased, and sent them this message,--‘I have occasion to praise you, and that you may soon have occasion to praise me must be my care, or I should not be Cyrus.’ He lost no time moreover in testifying his especial gratitude to Menon by sending him magnificent presents.
Selfishness was the most conspicuous feature in the character of Menon.
His highest aim in life was to amass wealth, and to obtain power. A straightforward, honourable man he regarded as a fool, and for his own part shunned neither deceit nor perjury. Whereas other men considered it their duty to honour the gods and to deal justly with their fellows, Menon prided himself only on getting the better of others by cunning and fraud.
XII IN THE DESERT After crossing the Euphrates, the army followed the course of the river, keeping it on the right, and came in nine days to the desert.
The tract of country that now lay before them was so waste and barren as to be entirely uninhabited; the most they could expect was to meet from time to time with some stranger journeying through it.
It was necessary therefore to lay in a good store of provisions, and happily the villages on the border of the desert were thriving and well supplied with corn and wine, so that the soldiers were able to load the baggage animals with as much as they could possibly carry.
After this they journeyed for eighteen days through a waste of sand, which lay all around them in broad, low waves, like the sea when it is stirred by a gentle wind. There were no trees in this desert, but occasional shrubs and plants, which gave forth a delicious scent. In consequence of the absence of men, wild animals abounded, especially gazelles and wild asses, bustards and ostriches. Never in their lives before had many of them seen such a creature as a Hellene soldier.
When there was a halt, the soldiers went out hunting, but some of the animals were hard to catch. The wild asses were very different beasts from our donkeys, who are justly accused of being both slow and stupid.
They were remarkable both for swiftness and intelligence, and could not be run down by a single horse, however fleet. When they found that they were being hunted, they would stand quite still until their pursuer was almost within spear range, and then dash away out of reach, and again stop to rest.
The only way in which the Hellenes could succeed in capturing them was by arranging for several horsemen to take part in the chase. Having placed themselves at suitable distances apart, the first horseman would drive the wild ass as fast as possible towards the next, who would then take up the chase with his fresh horse, and by the time that two or three horses had been tired out, the wild ass would himself become so exhausted that he was easily caught and killed.
As for the ostriches, it was quite useless to pursue them, for, as is well known, they run very swiftly, and moreover add to their speed by the movement of their wings, which they use like sails. Of all the wild animals the easiest to kill were the bustards, for they, like partridges, can only fly a short distance. They furnished moreover the best eating, although the flesh of the wild ass, which resembled venison, was also excellent.
In this desert region, long forced marches were sometimes necessary, in order to reach either a spring of water, or a place where the horses and beasts of burden could find pasture, but even so, many of them died of hunger. The men also suffered considerably.
One day they came in sight of a city where they felt sure that they would be able to obtain abundance of food. But there was neither boat nor bridge nor any other means of crossing the river, and the stream, at this place, was far too deep for the men to wade through it.
They overcame the difficulty however by means of a contrivance that is still common in the East. Taking a number of the leather coverings used by the army for various purposes, they made great sacks which they filled with hay and bound together so as to form little rafts capable of supporting a few men and some cargo. The soldiers then rowed themselves over to the opposite shore in these rafts, and bought in the town supplies of wheat, millet-bread, and palm-wine.
Another time it happened that they had to march along a narrow way, where the wagons sank so deep in the soft clay soil, that the transport animals were unable to drag them through it. Cyrus commanded his Barbarian soldiers to pull the wagons along. But they set to work in a surly, lazy manner, and he became so impatient that he drove them away, and turning to his suite, ordered them to put their shoulders to the wheel.
These proud nobles were little accustomed to any kind of exertion, but with the implicit obedience of the Persian subject, they hastened to do the bidding of Cyrus. Laying aside their gorgeous cloaks, but still dressed in their silk vests and trousers, many of them adorned moreover with golden chains and bracelets, they ran to the place, as if each were eager to prove himself more active and zealous than all the rest, and seizing the dirty wagons, dragged them along until they were well beyond the bad part of the road.
Such a spirit of submission was quite unknown among the Hellenes, who were accustomed to treat their superiors in a very different manner.
Once already they had manifested their displeasure at the conduct of Clearchus, and about this time another incident of the same sort occurred, which might have led to very serious consequences.
It happened that in passing through the camp, Clearchus saw one of the soldiers of his company engaged in a dispute with a soldier belonging to the company of Menon, and taking the part of his own man, he did not hesitate to have the other one beaten.
This action was resented by the comrades of the man who had been beaten, and later in the day, when Clearchus chanced to be riding through the camp of Menon with only a few soldiers attending him, a Hellene who was occupied in cutting wood, threw his axe at him, while others threw stones, and called out after him in an insulting manner.
Neither the axe nor the stones hit their mark, but Clearchus was nevertheless beside himself with rage, and riding furiously to his own camp, he ordered his men to arm themselves and advance without a moment’s delay against the company of Menon. On the other hand, the soldiers of Menon, seeing Clearchus and his men about to charge, rushed also to seize their arms and prepare for battle.
Meanwhile one of the other generals, named Proxenus, had seen what was going on, and he also hurried forward at the head of his men, and placing himself between the combatants, implored Clearchus to make peace. But Clearchus only reproached him with estimating far too lightly the insult he had received, and becoming more furious than ever, ordered him to withdraw.
Just then however, by great good fortune, Cyrus came to the place, and seeing the Hellene troops drawn up in battle-array, enquired what was the meaning of it. When he heard all that had passed, he was filled with dismay, and cried out, ‘Ye leaders of the Hellenes, ye know not what ye do. As surely as my Barbarians see you fighting among yourselves, my ruin will be sealed, and yours also. Ye will have more to fear from my followers than from the army of my brother.’
These grave words brought back Clearchus to his right mind. He was filled with remorse, and both sides laid down their arms and made friends again.
It was not indeed without cause that Cyrus had referred to the ill-will of the Barbarians, for they had long since observed with feelings of jealousy and hatred the preference that on all occasions he showed for the Hellenes.
XIII THE TREACHERY OF ORONTES After marching some distance farther, Cyrus was informed that the ground showed the tracks of about 2,000 horsemen. This was a troop of cavalry sent out by the Great King to reconnoitre. They were to discover and report to him the position of Cyrus, and were also to burn down all the villages and corn-fields on the way, so as to prevent his army from getting any food. It was important therefore for Cyrus to intercept these horsemen, and either kill them or keep them prisoners, so as to prevent their returning to the King.
At this moment, a Persian of high rank, named Orontes, came forward, and offered to undertake their capture. Orontes had already twice proved himself a false friend to Cyrus, and had twice been forgiven.
He had however promised so faithfully on the last occasion to be true for the future, that in spite of his previous history, Cyrus did not now feel suspicious, but agreed to let him take with him the thousand horsemen that he asked for.
Everything was in readiness for the start, when a Barbarian presented himself before Cyrus, and delivered into his hands a letter that he had received from Orontes, with instructions to obtain the swiftest horses, and carry it with all speed to the Great King. In the letter Orontes reminded the King of the services that he had formerly rendered him, and added that he was now about to hasten to his side with all the horsemen he could procure.
Cyrus immediately caused Orontes to be arrested, and sent to summon the most distinguished Persians, and Clearchus the Hellene, to a meeting in his tent. After informing them of the treachery of Orontes, he said, ‘My friends, I desire your counsel as to the course which in the sight of God and man it will be right for me to pursue with regard to the prisoner, Orontes.’ He then began to question Orontes.
‘Since our reconciliation at Sardis,’ he asked, ‘have I ever in any way wronged you?’
Orontes was obliged to answer, ‘No.’
‘Did you revolt from me to the Mysians, and lay waste my land, so far as you were able?’
‘I did.’
‘Did you then come to the altar of Artemis, and say that you repented of your misdoings? And did you swear that you would in the future be always my friend and helper?’
‘I did.’
‘Have I since then done you any wrong, that you have turned traitor for the third time?’
‘You have given me no cause.’
‘Do you think that from henceforth you can be to my brother an enemy, but to me a true friend?’
‘If I were, you would not trust me.’
The questioning over, Cyrus turned to the judges, and said to them, ‘Thus has Orontes spoken, thus has he done. Speak then, and you first, Clearchus, say what he deserves.’
‘My advice,’ answered Clearchus, ‘is to put this man out of the way, so that we need not have to watch him.’
The Persians, even the relations of Orontes, concurred in the opinion of Clearchus, and each in turn seized the prisoner by the girdle, which was the Persian manner of pronouncing the sentence of death.
Then Orontes was led away through a great crowd of Hellenes and Barbarians who had assembled outside the tent of Cyrus, and many of the Persians of lower rank threw themselves on the ground before him, as they had always been accustomed, although the great lord was now a criminal condemned to death.
After this Orontes was never seen again, and no one ever knew by what death he died, or where he was buried. It is probable that according to a practice common in Persia, he was buried alive beneath the tent to which he had been taken.
XIV THE KING APPROACHES After three more days of marching, there arrived at the camp of Cyrus some deserters, who informed him that the King’s army was close at hand.
He could hardly have been much surprised at the news that Artaxerxes was approaching; the only wonder was that he had tarried so long, for he had heard from Tissaphernes of the revolt of Cyrus in little more than a month from the time that the expedition had set out from Sardis.
The King had certainly expected that his brother would find some difficulty in getting through Cilicia, and that Abrocamas, with his 300,000 men, would do something more to check his progress than merely burning the boats on the Euphrates. But it was now two months since the flight of Abrocamas, and yet the King had made no effort to meet the usurper, but had allowed him to penetrate unhindered into the very heart of the empire. Cyrus had now reached the rich province of Babylonia, where the fruitful soil brought forth food in abundance, being watered by the two great rivers Tigris and Euphrates, which in this part of the country flow at a distance of only a few miles apart.
The Hellenes thought scorn of a King who could be so indolent and so irresolute, and they said, mockingly, one to another, ‘This is a King who can neither ride, nor drink, nor hunt, nor fight.’
But Cyrus took a different view of his brother’s character, for once when Clearchus asked him, ‘Do you think, Cyrus, that your brother will fight at all?’ he answered, ‘By Zeus, he will. If he be the son of Darius and Parysatis, and my brother, I shall not get the crown from him without a struggle.’
When the news of the King’s approach reached Cyrus, it was already past midnight, but nevertheless he at once held a review of his whole force, for he thought that a battle might now take place at any time.
After the review, Cyrus addressed the Hellene officers. ‘Men of Hellas,’ he said, ‘it is not from any scarcity of troops of my own that I have brought you hither, but because I know that you are braver and stronger than a whole multitude of Barbarians. See that you prove yourselves worthy of the freedom that you enjoy. Believe me when I say that I envy you this, and would willingly part with all my treasures to purchase it, and even with far more precious possessions. The Barbarians trust to their overwhelming numbers, and to the deafening clamour with which they charge, but if you resist them bravely, you will find them--it shames me to say so--nothing but a cowardly mob.
Bear yourselves bravely, and if I conquer, I will send you back to your homes with such treasures as will make you envied by all your friends.
Yet I hope that many of you will prefer to remain in my service, instead of returning to Hellas.’
When Cyrus had ended his speech, a Hellene from the island of Samos answered him, saying, ‘There are many of us, Cyrus, who think that it is all very well in the hour of danger to promise mountains of gold, but that when the danger is past, you may forget your promises, or it may not perhaps be in your power to fulfil them.’
‘The empire of my father,’ said Cyrus, ‘stretches northwards to the regions where men cannot live because of the cold, and southwards to the regions where men cannot live because of the heat, and all the countries that lie between are governed by the friends of my brother.
If we conquer, I will set my friends over all that land. I have less fear that I shall not have enough gifts with which to reward my friends, than that I shall not have enough friends on whom to bestow my gifts. To each of you moreover, ye officers of the Hellenes, I will give, in remembrance of this campaign, a crown of gold.’
The rest of the soldiers quickly heard of the dazzling prospects held out by Cyrus, and there was not a man among them who did not long for the battle to begin. At the same time the officers were anxious that Cyrus should not expose himself, for everything depended on his escaping unhurt, and they urged him to take up a safe position behind the cavalry.
But Cyrus would not hear of such a thing, and in this he was perfectly right. In our days the general is regarded as the head of the army who has to think for all, and he would be blamed if he were to risk his life without actual necessity. But in the time of Cyrus, the general in command always took his share of the actual fighting, and would have been thought a coward if he had not been seen by friend and foe alike, in the fore-front of the battle.
The next morning the troops continued their march, drawn up in fighting order, for Cyrus expected that the two armies would meet that day. But as the day wore on, and no enemy appeared in sight, he remembered a prophecy that had been made by a Hellene soothsayer, Silanus by name, who ten days before this had sacrificed a heifer, and had afterwards prophesied that the battle would not take place within the next ten days.
The Hellenes believed that by examining the entrails, that is to say, the heart, the lungs and the liver of an animal that had been offered in sacrifice, the soothsayer could discover the will of the gods, and foretell the fate of the person for whom the animal had been sacrificed.
Cyrus had rejoiced greatly on hearing the prophecy of Silanus, for he said, ‘If my brother does not fight within the next ten days, he will not fight at all.’ And he had promised the soothsayer that if his prophecy should come true, he would give him 3,000 darics.[11] This was now the eleventh day, and he sent for Silanus, and gave him the promised reward.
[11] See note on p. 24.
Another circumstance seemed also to indicate that the King had abandoned all idea of fighting. In the middle of the day, the army came to a newly made trench of enormous size, twenty feet only from the bank of the Euphrates, whose course they were still following. The trench was thirty feet wide and eighteen feet deep, and was said to extend for more than forty miles. It had been recently dug by the command of the Great King, and must have required the toil, night and day, for months, of many thousands of workmen. It seemed certain therefore that the enemy would not fail to make the most of a defence that had been prepared at such tremendous cost, and Cyrus approached it with considerable anxiety, for in the narrow space of twenty feet between the river and the trench, his army would be completely exposed to the arrows and darts of the enemy, whom he expected to find waiting for him on the further side.
To his extreme surprise however, when he reached the dreaded spot not a soul was to be seen behind the trench, and the army was able to pass it unharmed. There were indeed tracks of men and horses, as if troops had been stationed there, but had retreated.
Cyrus now became convinced that his brother must have given up all intention of fighting, and he began to look forward to obtaining possession of the throne without a struggle. Hitherto he had been riding on horseback, but now he dismounted and seated himself in his chariot. The army also took its ease, and marched carelessly. In order to save themselves the fatigue of carrying their heavy shields in the burning sun, the hoplites took them off, and either placed them on the baggage-wagons, or gave them to their slaves.
It was almost time to halt and prepare the midday meal when a scout came riding up at a furious gallop, his horse all covered with foam and heat. Without drawing rein, he dashed through the various groups of soldiers, straight to the presence of Cyrus, but as he passed he shouted aloud, here in Persian, there in Hellene speech, ‘The King comes! The King comes!’
XV BEFORE THE BATTLE.
In a moment everything was in confusion. The King was said to be approaching with a vast army, prepared for battle, and it was thought that the battle would take place without delay. Cyrus leapt from his chariot, put on his armour, and mounted his horse, giving orders that all should arm themselves in like manner, and take their appointed places.
The Hellene army under its various officers occupied the right wing; the Barbarian army, commanded by Ariæus, took the left; Cyrus, with his body-guard of six hundred Persian cavalry, was in the centre. The body-guard were armed with breast-plate and helmet, carrying in the left hand a short Hellenic sword, and in the right hand two javelins; their horses were also protected by light armour on the head and breast. Cyrus was armed in like manner, but on his head he had placed, instead of a helmet, the upright tiara, worn only by the Great King.
It was still some time however before the enemy came in sight. Not till the afternoon was their approach announced by immense clouds of white dust, soon displaced by a blackness that overspread the horizon.
Presently, as the host came nearer, the long, never-ending lines of spear-points began to flash in the sunlight, and by degrees the different groups could be distinguished, advancing nation by nation.
In front of all came a hundred and fifty scythe-chariots. These were two-wheeled cars with a number of sharp scythes projecting from the axle-trees on both sides. They were drawn by a pair of swift horses, and driven as fast as possible into the midst of the enemy’s ranks, that they might cut to pieces everything that crossed their path.
Behind the scythe-chariots came the royal troops, drawn up in the order in which they were to fight. In the centre of the line was the Great King surrounded by a guard of six thousand picked horsemen, and close to him floated the standard of his forefathers, a golden eagle with outstretched wings upon a high perch.
It was easy enough to see how infinitely greater was the army of the King than that of his brother. Cyrus had twenty scythe-chariots, but the King had a hundred and fifty. The army of Cyrus numbered a hundred thousand, besides the Hellene force of thirteen thousand, but the King was said to have with him a million two hundred thousand soldiers. This may have been an exaggeration, but in any case the disproportion was so great that the whole line of Cyrus, although far less deep, extended little beyond the centre of the King’s line.
As the enemy approached, Cyrus rode a little forward, and surveyed his own troops and those of his brother. The immense host marshalled against him caused him no alarm, for he felt sure that his Hellenes would be victorious, and setting spurs to his horse, he galloped down to the right wing, where they were posted, to tell them that the sacrificing priest had just declared the omens to be favourable.
As he approached, he heard a sort of murmur passing through the ranks.
He asked what it meant, and was told that it was the war-cry being given for the second time from mouth to mouth. Before entering into an engagement, it was the custom for the general in command to give the war-cry, or watch-word for the day, to the first soldier in the foremost rank, who immediately passed it on to the man next him. It