Anabasis

Anabasis is the most famous work by the Greek soldier and writer Xenophon. Anabasis translates as ‘The March Up Country’, it details the march of the ten thousand Greek mercenaries hired to take part in the military campaign of Cyrus the Younger’s attempt to dethrone his brother Artaxerxes and claim the Persian Empire as his own.

Xenophon accompanied the Greek mercenaries as an observer, but before long he is thrown into a position of command. After the military defeat of Cyrus’s army at the battle of Cunaxa (in modern day Iraq), the Greek army largely remains intact, but stranded in an unfamiliar country. Artaxerxes has no intention of letting a single Greek leave his country.

The Anabasis is a firsthand account of the journey of the Ten Thousand Greeks as they fight their way into the heart of the Persian Empire, and out again. It is often times studied by students of the classical world.