Xenophon's Anabasis, or The Expedition of Cyrus, is one of the most famous survival stories ever written and the most important autobiographical work to have survived from ancient Greece. This book places the Anabasis in its historical and literary context and opens up for the reader different ways of interpreting its major themes.

The Landmark Xenophon’s Anabasis is the definitive edition of the ancient classic—also known as The March of the Ten Thousand or The March Up-Country—which chronicles one of the greatest true-life adventures ever recorded. As Xenophon’s narrative opens, the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger is marshaling an army to usurp the throne from his brother Artaxerxes the King. When Cyrus is killed in battle, ten thousand Greek soldiers he had hired find themselves stranded deep in enemy territory, surrounded by forces of a hostile Persian king. When their top generals are arrested, the Greeks have to elect new leaders, one of whom is Xenophon, a resourceful and courageous Athenian who leads by persuasion and vote. What follows is his vivid account of the Greeks’ harrowing journey through extremes of territory and climate, inhabited by unfriendly tribes who often oppose their passage. Despite formidable obstacles, they navigate their way to the Black Sea coast and make their way back to Greece. This masterful new translation by David Thomas gives color and depth to a story long studied as a classic of military history and practical philosophy. Edited by Shane Brennan and David Thomas, the text is supported with numerous detailed maps, annotations, appendices, and illustrations. The Landmark Xenophon’s Anabasis offers one of the classical Greek world’s seminal tales to readers of all levels.

First comprehensive commentary on a section of Anabasis in English for a century, reflecting scholarly advances for students and scholars.

The famous chronicle of the wealthy Athenian leader Xenophon, brought to life for the modern reader

Xenophon and the History of his Times examines Xenophon's longer historical works, the Hellenica and the Anabasis. Dillery considers how far these texts reflect the Greek intellectual world of the fourth and fifth centuries B.C., rather than focusing on the traditional question of how accurate they are as histories. Through analysis of the complete corpus of Xenophon's work, and the writings of his contemporaries, Xenophon is shown to be very much a man of his times, concerned with topical issues ranging from panhellenism and utopia to how far the gods controlled human history. This book will be valuable reading for students on ancient history courses and for all those interested in Greek political and philosophical thought.

"With this first masterpiece of Western military history forming the backbone of his book, Robin Waterfield explores what remains unsaid and assumed in Xenophon's account - much about the gruesome nature of ancient battle and logistics, the lives of Greek and Persian soldiers, and questions of historical, political, and personal context, motivation, and conflicting agendas. The result is a rounded version of the story of Cyrus's ill-fated march and the Greeks' perilous retreat - a nuanced and dramatic perspective on a critical moment in history that may tell us as much about our present-day adventures in the Middle East, site of Cyrus's debacle and the last act of the Golden Age, as it does about the great powers of antiquity in a volatile period of transition."--BOOK JACKET.