SO THAT day ended. On the next the generals called a meeting of the soldiers at which it was decided to ask the men from Sinope to join in a discussion about the rest of their journey. If they had to go by land, the people of Sinope seemed likely to be useful, as they knew about the country of Paphlagonia. And if they went by sea, it appeared that they would also need their help as they were the only people who seemed capable of providing enough ships for the army. So they invited the ambassadors to the meeting and asked them for their advice, telling them that they relied in the first place on the claims of their common Greek nationality for a considerate attitude and for the best possible advice.
Then Hecatońymus stood up and, first of all, made his apology for his remarks about making friends with the Paphlagonians. What he had meant, he said, was not that they had any intention of making war on the Greeks, but that, though they were in a position to make friends with the natives, it was the Greeks whom they would choose. When they asked him to give his advice, he spoke as follows, beginning with a prayer to the gods. ‘If I give you the advice which I myself consider best, I pray that much good may come to me, and if I do the opposite, then let me suffer accordingly. “Counsel is sound” says the proverb, and it is just this sort of counsel which we have here. There will be many to praise me if it appears that I have advised you well, and many to curse me if my advice turns out bad.
‘ Now I am aware that it will mean much more trouble for us if you travel by sea, since we shall have to provide you with ships, while, if you go by land, it will be up to you to do the fighting. Nevertheless, I must tell you what I know, and I am in a position to speak both about the geography and the resources of Paphlagonia. It is a country which has both the most beautiful plains and the most enormous mountains. Now, first, I know the part where you will have to begin your invasion. The only possible way in is where there are high mountain peaks on each side of the road, and if these were held even by a very small force, it would be strong enough. All the men in the world could not get past, once these positions are occupied. I could show them to you, if you cared to send someone with me. Next, I know, come the plains, and also a cavalry force which the natives themselves consider to be superior to all the King’s cavalry. Just recently, when the King summoned them, they did not obey. Their leader was too proud for that. However, if you succeeded in stealing across the mountains or occupying the pass before the enemy, and if you won a victory in the plain, fighting not only against their cavalry but also against more than 120,000 infantry, you would then come to their rivers. First, the Thermodon, three hundred feet broad, which I should say is a difficult one to cross, especially when there are numbers of enemy troops in front and many more following you from the rear. Then the Iris, also three hundred feet broad; and the third river is the Halys, which is a quarter of a mile broad and cannot be crossed without boats. And where would you find anyone to supply you with boats? The Parthenius is equally difficult to cross, and this is the river which you would come to if you got across the Halys. Personally, then, I do not so much consider your march difficult as absolutely impossible. If, however, you go by sea, you can sail along the coast from here to Sinope, and from Sinope to Heraclea. After Heraclea there will be no more difficulty in going either by land or sea. There are plenty of ships also in Heraclea.’
At the end of this speech some people were suspicious that he had spoken out of friendship for Corylas – with whom he had official relations; others thought that he would get paid for giving this advice; others suspected that the reason why he had spoken in this way was that they should not do any harm to the land belonging to Sinope by marching there on foot. However, the Greeks voted for making the voyage by sea.
Afterwards Xenophon spoke as follows: ‘Men of Sinope, the army has chosen the method of travelling which you recommend. Now this is the position: if there are going to be enough ships so that not a single man of us will be left behind, we will go by sea; but if some of us are going to be left behind and others to sail, we will not go on board. We know that where we are in full strength we can both save our own lives and secure supplies for ourselves, but if we are caught at a disadvantage in strength over our enemies, it is plain enough that we shall be no better than slaves.’
When the ambassadors heard this, they asked the Greeks to send representatives to Sinope. They appointed Callimachus, an Arcadian, Ariston, an Athenian, and Samolas, an Achaean. These men, then, left for Sinope,
Meanwhile, when Xenophon considered the numbers of Greek hoplites that there were, and the numbers of peltasts and archers and slingers and cavalry, now, after all their experiences, in a very high state of efficiency, and when he considered that they were in the Euxine, where such a powerful force could never have been assembled without enormous expense, he thought it would be a fine thing to found a city there and so gain more territory and more power for Greece. It would be a great city, he thought, when he reckoned up the number of the Greeks themselves and the people living round the Euxine. With a view to this plan he held a sacrifice before mentioning the idea to any of the soldiers, and he called in for the sacrifice Silanus of Ambracia who had been Cyrus’s soothsayer. Silanus, fearing that the plan might come off and that the army might remain somewhere there, spread a rumour among the troops that Xenophon wanted the army to stay there and to found a city and so win a great name and power for himself. Silanus himself wanted to get back to Greece as soon as he could, as he had saved up the three thousand darics which he got from Cyrus at the time when he sacrificed for him and gave a correct prophecy about the ten days.
When the soldiers heard the story, some of them thought that the best thing was to stay there, but most did not. Timasion the Dardanian and Thorax the Boeotian got into conversation with some merchants from Heraclea and Sinope who were there, and told them that if they did not provide money for the army so that they could get their provisions on the voyage, there was a risk that this great force might stay in the Euxine. ‘This,’ they said, ‘is what Xenophon wants, and he is urging us, as soon as the ships arrive, not to lose a moment in addressing the army. “Soldiers” (we are to say), “you see now that you have no means either of getting provisions on the return voyage or of doing any good to your people at home, assuming you get home. If, however, you care to do so, you can select some place, wherever you like, in the inhabited districts round here in the Euxine and occupy it, and allow those who want to return home to return and those who want to stay here to stay; and there are ships available for you, so that you could make a sudden descent on any port you wanted.” ‘
On hearing this, the merchants reported it back to their cities, and Timasion the Dardanian sent Eurymachus the Dardanian and Thorax the Boeotian with them to tell the same story. When the people of Sinope and Heraclea heard it, they sent messengers to Timasion, urging him to accept a sum of money and take the lead in agitating for the army to sail away from the Euxine. He welcomed the proposal, and made the following speech in a meeting of the soldiers : ‘ Soldiers, we ought not to be thinking about staying here, we ought not to consider anything more important than Greece. Yet I hear that there are some people who are making sacrifices with the idea of staying, and have not even told you about it. Now I can guarantee to pay each one of you, if you sail out of the Euxine, a stater of Cyzicus4 a month, starting from the first of the month. And I will take you to the Troad, from which I was exiled, and my city will support you, since they will be glad to have me back. Then I will lead you myself to places where you will get plenty of money. I have had experience of Aeolia and Phrygia and the Troad and of the whole of Artabazus’s province, partly because this is where I come from and partly through having done some fighting there with Clearchus and with Dercylidas.’
Thorax the Boeotian, who opposed Xenophon on the question of the command, then stood up again and said that, if they sailed out of the Euxine, they would have the Chersonese,5 a fine prosperous land, in front of them, so that anyone who wanted to could stay there, and those who did not could return home. It was absurd to go looking for land in foreign parts when there was enough and plenty of it in Greece. ‘And until you get there,’ he said, ‘I, as well as Timasion, will guarantee you your pay.’ He said this because he knew what the people of Heracles and Sinope were promising on condition that they sailed away.
During these speeches Xenophon remained silent. Then Philesius and Lycon, both Achaeans, stood up and said that it was a monstrous thing for Xenophon to go to work privately persuading people to stay there and holding sacrifices for that purpose, and meanwhile saying nothing in public about all this.
Then Xenophon was forced to stand up and speak. He spoke as follows: ‘As you know, soldiers, I make what sacrifices I can both on your behalf and my own; my aim is that my words and thoughts and deeds may be the ones likely to bring most good and most honour to you and to me. It was just this that was the object of my sacrifice on the present occasion – whether it would be better to make a start by speaking to you and discussing the plan, or to give up the idea altogether. The soothsayer Silanus gave me his answer on the most important point, namely, that the appearance of the victims was propitious. He had to, since he was aware that I myself, because of always being present at sacrifices, had some experience in these matters. But he said that some treachery or intrigue against me was revealed in the sacrifice – naturally enough, since he knew that he himself was plotting to make an attack on me in front of you. He did so by spreading the story that I was contemplating putting this plan into operation without getting your consent to it first. Actually, if I saw you were without means, I should be trying to think out a plan by which you might occupy a city, and then whoever wanted could sail home at once, and the others could wait till they had acquired sufficient money to do some good to their people at home. Now, however, I see that the people of Heraclea and Sinope are sending you ships for the outward voyage, and these men are promising you regular pay from the first of the month; so I think it is an excellent idea for us to get where we want to be in safety, and be paid for it into the bargain. I myself give up the plan I have formed, and I recommend all those who have come to me and said we ought to carry it out to give it up too. This is what I think: so long as you keep together in your present great force, you are sure both of respect and of finding supplies. One of the results of power is the ability to take what belongs to the weaker. But if you became dispersed, and if this force of ours was broken up into small detachments, then you would not be able to secure your food, and it would be a sad business getting away from here. My view, then, is the same as yours – that we should set out for Greece: but if anyone is discovered leaving us before the whole army is safe, I think he should be put on trial for misconduct. Will those who agree with this put up their hands?’
Everyone raised his hand. Silanus, however, shouted out and tried to make a speech to show that it would be justifiable for those people to go away who wanted to do so. But the soldiers would not put up with it, and threatened to make him pay for it if they caught him running away.
When after this the people of Heraclea heard that it had been decided to sail out of the Euxine, and that it had been Xenophon himself who had put the matter to the vote, they sent the ships, but failed to keep their word about the money which they had promised to Timasion and Thorax. Seeing that it was they who had promised the pay, they were now much upset and frightened of the army. They therefore came to Xenophon, bringing along with them the other generals with whom they had been in consultation about their previous intrigue, and these were all of them except for Neon of Asine,6 the deputy commander to Chirisophus, who had not yet come back. They told Xenophon that they were sorry for what they had done, and that they thought the best thing to do was to sail to the river Phasis, since there were ships available, and occupy the Phasian land. A grandson of Aietes was then king of the country.
Xenophon replied that he did not propose to mention any-of this to the army. ‘But,’ he said, ‘you can call a meeting, if you like, and make the proposal.’
Timasion the Dardanian then put forward his opinion, which was that it would be better not to call an assembly, but that each of them should first try to win over his own captains. They then went off and did this.