Sherrie Gossett's Reviews > Anabasis

A modern re-titling could be "The Adventures of Xenophon." I've given this 5 stars because the book is unique. It tells the autobiographical tale of Xenophon, then a twenty-something Athenian, student of Socrates, who joined a grand military campaign of Cyrus, son of Darius. Keeping his intentions secret from his ever-growing body of troops, Cyrus's goal is to de-throne his brother, Artaxerxes II, King of Persia. As Cyrus and his army traverse vast territory and engage in various military exploits, the would-be usurper still manages to keep his intentions secret from his troops. Finally, once they're "deep in" over a long haul of marching and pillaging, the true intent of Cyrus becomes clear.

The Persian satrap Tissaphernes has long suspected Cyrus's intentions and warns Artaxerxes. Accordingly, provisions have been made to thwart Cyrus. The rout is spectacular, Cyrus is killed, the troops are scattered. Leading the Hellenes to safety over many treacherous miles and through remarkably varied territory (snowy mountains, desert plains, etc.) falls in large part to the young Athenian Xenophon. This is the long retreat.

This book is part travelogue: throughout their long trip home they encounter a variety of cultures, including "the most barbaric and outlandish of people" who entertained visitors with exhibitions of their "fatted children" covered in tattoos, "fed up on boiled chestnuts until they were as white as white can be." We read about the food and drink of various peoples: one group keeps "slices of dolphin . . . in narrow-necked jars, all properly salted and pickled." Near the end of the book, Xenophon's soldiers suffer frostbite after encountering a sudden onset of cold and are said to then understand why the Thracian soldiers wore long garments into war and fox fur caps that covered their ears. And so on.

Three-quarters of the way in the book I began to tire of the military strategy details (if you can find a version of this book with maps and diagrams for the battles, I'd recommend that). The biggest takeaway is the wisdom of young Xenophon in successfully meeting incredible challenges, including, towards the end of the book, the attempted mutiny of some of his men who wrongly accuse him and seek his death. Highly observant, Xenophon is always ahead of those scheming against him.

Xenophon finally completes his journey, and is so poor he is forced to sell his prized horse. That's before a dramatic turn of events, which I'll leave to the reader to discover. (Mini-spoiler: Xenophon gets his horse back).