Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

240
HISTORY OF PERSIA
Alexander based his calculations on the experience of
Cunaxa. For Persia the death of Cyrus the Younger
was a
great misfortune, as, with his
great capacity, his
energy, and his varied experience, he would have been an
ideal Great King, and might even have restored the empire
to the it position held under Cyrus the Great and Darius.
In any case, he would have revitalized Persia and, with
his knowledge of the Greeks and skill to play off one
state against another, might have destroyed the independence
of Hellas. Sed dis aliter visum.
The Retreat of the Ten Thousand,—Few of the exploits
of mankind challenge our admiration more than the retreat
of the immortal Ten Thousand. The morning after the
battle the Greeks were on the point of advancing to effect
a junction with Cyrus, when they were informed of his
death and of the flight of his Persian adherents. Nothing
daunted, Clearchus sent to offer the throne to Ariaeus :
but he prudently declined it on the ground that the
Persian nobility would not accept him. Later in the day
heralds arrived from Tissaphernes summoning the Greeks
*' to deliver up their arms and to proceed to the King's
porte,^ to obtain any favourable terms they could." This
summons provoked intense
indignation, but after discuss-
ing the situation and receiving the refusal of Ariaeus, the
Greeks decided that to advance farther would be unwise.
Their celebrated retreat began by a night march which
brought them back to the spot they had left the day
before the battle, and here they rejoined the troops of
Ariaeus. A council was held, at which the Persian general
pertinently pointed out that the question of supplies made
a retreat along the route which they had come impossible,
and he recommended a longer route to the north. He
added that two or three forced marches would make them
safe from the Great King, whose vast army moved slowly,
while he would not dare to attack with a small force.
In the morning, accordingly, the united forces marched
north, but to their surprise fell in with the Great King's
army. The Persians were more alarmed than the Greeks,
^ It is extraordinary how widespread is this idea of the Sublime Porte. The terms
Pharaoh and Mikado both convey a similar meaning.