#wearemercs

Male Mercenary by Jinju Choi

Dark Stalker Mercenary by ProdigyDuck

Heavy Archer by MARCH .

Of all the mercenaries and mercenary groups in history, none can perhaps claim to eternal popularity than that of Xenophon’s Anabasis. Written in a series of seven books, Anabasis (oft translated to The March of the Ten Thousand) tells the tale of the disastrous campaign by Cyrus the Younger in an attempt to regain his throne from his brother Artaxerxes II. 

The books themselves are written by Xenophon, an interesting figure on his own who could have an entire post written about him (perhaps, one day). A student of Socrates, philosopher, historian, and most importantly to this post, a mercenary, Xenophon was a captain (though not initially) of the Ten Thousand and was able to record his experience during his tenure.

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At the Battle of Cunaxa, Xenophon was most likely serving as an officer of some capacity. During battle, the Greeks on Cyrus’ right charged the Persians’ left and were able to successfully break ranks where as the Persian’s right. At some point, Cyrus charged his brother only to be killed by a javelin. The Ten Thousand didn’t know this after the battle was done, and realising their employer was dead and the enemy had yet to be defeated.

Deep in enemy territory with no employer, no reward, no food (the Persians were able to take the Greek camp and destroyed their food supplies) and no friends, the mercenary army decided that a retreat back to Greek territory was the best course of action and it was this march that would later be known as the Anabasis.

Realising that they were in dire need of friends, the Greeks offered their services to Tissaphernes, a leading satrap of Artaxerxes (satraps were akin to governors in Persian empires) but were refused and refused to be surrendered. No doubt that not only he might incur the wrath of his king, he may also have had problems in caring for ten thousand extra mouths.

In realising that he may gain favour from the king, Tissaphernes pretended to be friend to the Greeks, inviting the officers to a feast. They were taken prisoners to the king and decapitated. The Greeks elected new officers, Xenophon among them, and marched northwards to the Black Sea.

Much of the harrowing journey as shown in the map above was a constant state of danger where many a Persian satrap could rally their forces to skirmish the Greeks as well of being in danger of being caught by Artaxerxes II. After

When the Ten Thousand started their journey in 401 BC, Xenophon states the number of Greek were 10,400. When Xenophon left them two years later, their number had dwindled to under 6000. They did finally arrive at Trapezus, where the troops shouted in joy at their salvation.

"On the fifth day the Greeks came to a hill, and when the van reached the summit a great cry arose. When Xenophon and those at the rear heard it they thought that an enemy was attacking in front; but when the cry increased as fresh men continually came up to the summit, Xenophon thought it must be something more serious, and galloped forward to the front with his cavalry.

"As he drew near he heard what the cry was—'The Sea, the Sea. "

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Details to note of this great march is, despite popular belief, many of the Greeks in the campaign had very little armour. At most, they had helmets, their shields and their spear. Xenophon notes of finding difficulty for much armour, stating that of the all troops, only fifty or so had proper cuirasses. It is therefore untrue to imagine the Ten Thousand in shining bronze armour as the general conception of what a “hoplite” truly is.

Discipline and moral was an important factor considering there thousands of Greeks in foreign lands. The Greeks made allies with certain tribes and were able to acquire food. They also hunted game, most notably in Arabia where much of the animals (like antelope) were strange to them.

 At one point, Xenophon was criticised for riding his horse while marching and dismounted to walk with his fellow soldiers. Being a rich man, Xenophon had multiple horses and wore fine armour, a luxury envied by many men. This was a time when horses were not the strong muscular types we see today but smaller though not by much. Even horsehoes were something unknown to the Greeks, and in his book On Cavalry, Xenophon advised that horses should toughen their hooves on rocks, a practice ill advised after horseshoes were introduced.

The journey of the Ten Thousand sadly has not truly penetrated popular media and remains a great tale only known for those interested in history. At most, the 1979 film The Warriors and the book it was based off was inspired by the tale with a quote from the book present in both film and movie. 

Perhaps one day the Anabasis will be better known to everyone. A  tale of defeat, struggle and triumph, truly one of greatest adventures in human history.

"The Sea, the Sea!"