Callias: A Tale of the Fall of Athens

  CHAPTER XXI.

  CYRUS THE YOUNGER.

  Almost the first person that the Athenian saw when he disembarked atTarsus was Xenophon. The latter was evidently in the highest spirits.

  "You are come at exactly the right moment," he cried. "All is goingwell; but, three days ago, I should have said that all would end badly.Cyrus and Clearchus have thrown for great stakes, and they have won; butat first the dice were against them. But I forget; you know nothing ofwhat happened. I will explain. You know something about Cyrus, the GreatKing's brother?"

  Callias assented.

  "You know that he was scarcely contented to be what he was, in fact thathe was disposed to claim the throne."

  "I heard some talk of the kind when I was with Alcibiades."

  "Listen then to what happened. Cyrus, to put a long story in a fewwords, collected by one means or another about thirteen thousand Greeksoldiers. He gave out that he was going to lead them against themountain tribes of Cilicia. But his real object has all along been tomarch up to Susa, and drive the King from his throne. Clearchus knewthis; I fancy some others guessed it; I know I did for one. But thearmy knew nothing about it. Of course it had to come out at last. Whenwe came to Tarsus, the men had to be told. If we were going to actagainst the Cicilian mountaineers, now was the time. If not, why had webeen brought so far? When the truth was known there was a frightfuluproar. The men declared that they would go back. It was madness, theysaid, for a few thousand men to march against the Great King. For fourdays I thought all was lost. Clearchus and Cyrus managed admirably. Iwill tell you all about it some day. Meanwhile it is enough to say thatall is settled. The men have changed their tone completely. They talk ofnothing but ransacking the treasuries of the King, and Cyrus is quitemagnificent in his promises. He gives a great banquet to the officersto-night. I am going with Proxenus, who is my special friend among thegenerals, and I have no doubt that I can take you. Cyrus, I assure you,is a man worth knowing, and, though we should call him a barbarian,worth serving."

  The Persian prince, when Callias came to make his acquaintance, boreout, and more than bore out, the high character which Xenophon had givenof him. A more princely man in look and bearing never lived. That he wasa stern ruler was well known, but his subjects needed stern methods; butfor courtesy and generosity he could not be matched, and he had thatgenial manner which makes these qualities current coin in the market ofthe world. He was of unusual stature, his frame well knit and wellproportioned, and his face, though slightly disfigured by scars which hehad received in early life in a fierce death struggle with a bear,singularly handsome. Proxenus introduced his friend's friend as a youngAthenian who had come to put his sword at his disposal, and Cyrus atonce greeted him with that manner of friendliness and even comradeshipwhich made him so popular. At the same time he made some complimentaryremark about Athens, saying that the Athenians had been formidableenemies, and would hereafter, he hoped, be valuable friends.

  The banquet could not fail, under such circumstances, of being a greatsuccess. Everyone was in the highest spirits, and when Cyrus, inthanking his guests for their company, said that though Greece andPersia had been enemies in the past they would be firm friends in thefuture, he was greeted with a burst of tumultuous applause.

  The next day the army set out, their last remaining scruples dispelledby an increase of pay.[68] There was still a certain reserve in speakingabout the object of the campaign but every one knew that it was directedagainst the Great King. Two days' march took them to Issi, a towndestined to become famous in later days.[69] The difficult pass of theCicilian Gate was found unguarded. About a month later the ford of theEuphrates at Thapsacus[70] was reached. Then all disguise was thrownoff. Cyrus was marching against his brother, and he would give each mana bonus of a year's pay when he had reached Babylon.

  So the long and tedious march went on. The King made no signs ofresistance. Line after line of defense was found unguarded. At last,just ten weeks after the army had marched out of Tarsus, a Persianhorseman attached to Cyrus' person, came galloping up with the news,which he shouted out in Greek and Persian, "The King is coming with agreat army ready for battle."

  Something like a panic followed, for the invaders had almost begun tothink that they would not have to fight. Cyrus sprang from the carriagein which he had been riding, donned his corslet, and mounted hischarger; the Greeks rushed to the wagons in which they had depositedtheir armor and weapons, and prepared themselves hastily for battle.

  By mid-day all was ready. Clearchus was in command of the right wing,which consisted of the heavy-armed Greeks, and rested on the Euphratesthe light-armed Greeks, with some Paphlagonian cavalry, stood in thecenter; on the left were the Persians under Ariaeus, Cyrus' second incommand. The extreme left of all was occupied by Cyrus himself with hisbody guard of six hundred horsemen. All wore cuirasses, cuisses andhelmets; but Cyrus, wishing to be easily recognized, rode bareheaded.

  It was afternoon before the enemy came in sight. First, a white cloud ofdust became visible; then something like a black pall spread far andwide over the plain, with now and then a spear point or bronze helmetgleaming through the darkness. Silently the huge host advanced, its lefton the river, its right far overlapping Cyrus' left, so great was itssuperiority in numbers. "Strike at the center," said the Prince toClearchus, as he rode along the line, "then our work will be done."

  He knew his countrymen; the King himself was in the center. If he shouldbe killed or driven from the field, victory was assured.

  The hostile lines were only two furlongs apart, when the Greeks raisedthe battle shout, and charged at a quick pace, which soon became a run.A few minutes afterwards the Persians broke. Their front line,consisting of scythe-armed chariots, for the most part, turned and drovehelter skelter through the ranks of their countrymen; the few thatcharged the advancing foe did, perhaps attempted to do, no harm. Theranks were opened to let them through, and they took no further part inthe battle. Anyhow the Greeks won the victory without losing a singleman.

  Meanwhile the King, posted, as has been said, in the center, seeing noone to oppose him, advanced as if he would take the Greeks on theirflank. Cyrus, seeing this, charged with his six hundred, and broke theline in front of the King. The troopers were scattered in the ardor ofpursuit, and the Prince was left alone with a handful of men. Even thenall might have been well but for the fit of ungovernable rage whichseized him. He spied his brother the King in the throng, and, cryingout, "There is the man," pressed furiously towards him. One blow hedealt him, piercing his corslet, and making a slight wound. Then one ofthe King's attendants struck Cyrus with a javelin under the eye. The twobrothers closed for a moment in a hand-to-hand struggle. But Cyrus andhis followers were hopelessly overmatched. In a few minutes the Princeand eight of his companions were stretched on the ground. One desperateeffort was made to save him. Artapates, the closest of his friends,leaped from his horse, and threw his arms around his body. It did butdelay the fatal blow for the briefest space. The next moment Cyrus wasdead.

  FOOTNOTES:

  [68] From one daric to one daric and a half per month, $5 to $7.50.

  [69] For the second of the great victories of Alexander.

  [70] Thipsach or "The Passage."