It was clear the Persians were bent on nothing less than the complete annihilation of the Greeks. There were cavalry with white armour on the enemy’s left and Tissaphernes was said to be in command of them. The rear seemed to get the worst of it, and Xenophon became so heavily engaged he sent messages to Cheirisophus asking him to halt and wait for the rear to catch up.

But just because they didn’t like the Persians didn’t mean they would ally themselves with the Greeks. The Greek truce-talk party included the tough old Spartan and four other Hellenic strategoi: Proxenus the Boeotian, Menon the Thessalian, Agias the Arcadian, and Socrates the Achaean. In 401 BC, Cyrus, the younger brother of Artaxerxes 11, Emperor of Persia, decided to make an attempt to seize the throne and raised an army in Asia Minor, of which he was satrap, or subordinate ruler. La bataille était gagnée grâce aux mercenaires grecs jusqu'au moment où Cyrus fut tué d'un coup de lance à l'œil alors qu'il allait lui-même tuer Artaxerxès, ce qui donna de fait la …

Their bronze helmets provided for little ventilation, and soon the searing heat of the sun and their own exertions caused cascades of sweat upon their faces. He had an unsavory reputation, so he was a special target for Persian ire.

One group of stragglers refused to leave a hot spring they happened upon, even when Xenophon warned them the enemy was close. In front of them, and at considerable distances apart from each other, were what they called the scythed chariots. So far from shouting, they came on as silently as they could, calmly, in a slow, steady march. It certainly didn’t seem the place to be for an ambitious man, someone who wanted to make his mark in the world. [2], Inversely, Artaxerxes II placed his left on the river, with a unit of cavalry supporting it also. Pour éviter les problèmes, il a fui sa cité, sans pour autant s'établir à Sparte même.

It looked like the road to an early grave. This is inconsistent with military discipline, even in this day. Later, lead was found in some villages that provided the Rhodians with their favorite ammunition. Others took up the cry, and soon thousands of voices melded together in a single exultant roar. The great battle of the revolt of Cyrus took place 70 km north of Babylon, at Cunaxa (Greek: Κούναξα), on the left bank of the Euphrates River.

They were saved; once they reached the Greek colony of Trapezus (now Trabzon) they could find ships to go home. The Persians, feeling discretion is the better part of valor, let the Greeks move on without incident. The day grew hot, and though the troops could quench their thirst in the Euphrates, food was scarce. Xenophon’s men conducted a fighting retreat and managed to link up with the van. Their relative immobility would make them more of a hindrance than a help. Then certainly the Greeks pressed on the pursuit vigorously, but they shouted out to each other not to run, but to follow up the enemy without breaking ranks. Hoplites went forward at the run, though naturally enough their heavy armor was an impediment. https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Counaxa&oldid=172057549, Portail:Iran et monde iranien/Articles liés, Portail:Proche-Orient ancien/Articles liés, Portail:Civilisations asiatiques/Articles liés, licence Creative Commons attribution, partage dans les mêmes conditions, comment citer les auteurs et mentionner la licence. When all were assembled Xenophon gave the speech of his life.

Sweat soaked through chiton tunics; faces became grimy, dust-caked masks; and throats grew parched with thirst. The men were crying Thalassa! When left with these few, he caught sight of the King and the closely formed ranks around him.

The hollow-square formation was found wanting—when the road narrowed, the hoplites bunched together and lost all cohesion, and when it finally widened it took time to sort things out and regain original ranks. The Greeks struggled on, breath misting in great clouds of smokey vapor as they trudged through the snowdrifts. This is when he was, according to his work Anabasis, invited by his friend Proxenus to join the military expedition…one that marked his life and lifetime work.

The battle of Cunaxa — the climax of a revolt by the Persian prince Cyrus against his brother, king Artaxerxes II — is significant in the study of Xenophon as a military historian. The whole area was blanketed in snow, a stark whiteness so all-encompassing many Greeks succumbed to snow blindness. As they advanced, part of the phalanx surged forward in front of the rest and the part that was left behind began to advance at the double.

Cyrus leaped down from his chariot, donned a breastplate, and mounted a magnificent charger. A few months later he met his death on the battlefield of Cunaxa. Après une marche de 1 400 kilomètres, ses troupes rencontrèrent celles d'Artaxerxès — environ 40 000 hommes, ou près d'un million selon Xénophon — à Counaxa sur la rive gauche de l'Euphrate, à environ 70 km au nord de Babylone [3].

Athens had been devastated by the Peloponnesian War; half its citizen body was dead, its once-flourishing commercial empire in ruins. They were brought forward and interrogated, but one of them stubbornly refused to talk. It was now time to adopt a plan of action. What were these 10,000 Europeans doing here in the heart of Asia?