Now, with the major obstacles out of the way, Prince Cyrus set about to gather a mighty army that could stand against his brother, the Great King himself. By the time he returned to the Aegean, the Peloponnesian War was over and the Spartans victorious. As a result there were large numbers of Greek soldiers suddenly unemployed, men who had spent their whole lives under arms and knew no other livelihood. Cyrus was aware that the Greek hoplites were unmatched in close combat by any troops the Persians had in their vast empire. He went about augmenting the standing army he commanded with Greek mercenaries.
Cyrus engaged Clearchus, a Spartan general who had gone rogue and was amassing possessions as a warlord in Thrace. Cyrus also sent funds to Aristippus to maintain an army for him in Thessaly. Further, he sent for Sophaenetus of Stymphalus, Socrates of Achaea, Xenias of Arcadia, and Pasion of Megara to bring troops. He also hired Proxenus of Boeotia, Xenophon’s friend.[8] He also secured the assistance of the Spartan government for his project, including naval support.[9] Cyrus claimed to be preparing a force to deal with Pisidian rebels in his territories. In fact the Persian Empire never pacified all the peoples within its boundaries, but left many warlike peoples unconquered in their mountain fastnesses. Nevertheless, it quickly became evident that the size and power of the army Cyrus was collecting went beyond any force necessary for subduing tribal fighters. Tissaphernes hurried back from his province to Artaxerxes to warn him of Cyrus’s armament.[10] From now on, Tissaphernes would be Cyrus’ most implacable enemy and personal nemesis.
There was already bad blood between Tissaphernes and Cyrus because the former had accused the latter of plotting against King Artaxerxes. Thus the Great King, who had his own network of overseers and spies apparently led by an official known to Greeks as the King’s Eye, came to suspect that the real purpose for Cyrus’s military build-up was to attack Tissaphernes.[11] The Persian crown had an effective Royal Post consisting of a pony express that carried messages from every outpost of the empire to the capitals at the speed of a galloping horse; the Great King received timely updates of news from the length and breadth of his vast empire.[12] Tissaphernes was currently carrying on a border dispute with Cyrus over the Greek cities of Ionia, most of which had defected from the rule of Tissaphernes to that of Cyrus.[13] Surely Cyrus meant to crush his hostile neighbor—a result that did not by itself particularly bother the Great King.[14]
Back in Athens, Xenophon found Proxenus’ invitation attractive. His friend would introduce him to Prince Cyrus, the most powerful man in the Near East, so he could take part in a grand expedition as a kind of gentleman observer, perhaps even an adviser, not—Xenophon is careful to say—as a soldier of fortune. His friendship with Cyrus might open the door to wealth and fame. On the other hand, Cyrus was an old enemy of Athens, the man who had helped overthrow the Athenian empire. The troops on the expedition were largely, if not exclusively, Peloponnesian troops, including Spartans. Xenophon would thus be aiding people perceived by Athenians to be their adversaries.
Xenophon turned to his own intellectual mentor, Socrates, for advice. “After reading Proxenus’ letter of invitation,” says Xenophon, writing in the third person, “Xenophon consulted with Socrates of Athens about the trip. Because Socrates was concerned that to befriend Cyrus would make Xenophon persona non grata to the city of Athens, as Cyrus had strongly supported the Spartans in their war against Athens, he advised Xenophon to travel to Delphi to consult the god about the proposed trip.”[15] Xenophon duly went to Delphi and asked Apollo what god he should sacrifice to in order to prosper in his journey. When he reported back to Socrates, Socrates chided him for asking the wrong question. “Since, however,” said Socrates, “you asked that question, you had better do what the god commanded.”[16]
Xenophon set sail for Ephesus, where the pious young man consulted a seer. As he was setting out from Ephesus to Sardis, where Cyrus had his court, he saw an eagle on his right hand and heard it scream. The seer read the omen as promising glory, but with difficulty, because the eagle was perched rather than on the wing.[17] At Sardis Proxenus introduced Xenophon to the great Prince Cyrus, and both his friend and the prince urged Xenophon to take part in the expedition.[18] The young Athenian was dazzled. With the help of the oracle, Socrates’ advice, and an avian omen, he needed little persuading. He was always attracted to men of money, power, courage, and intelligence. Now Xenophon would be rubbing shoulders with the best and the brightest. Perhaps he saw a future for himself as a war correspondent or a military historian. The great host Cyrus had assembled of barbarians and Greeks joined in a common cause would surely leave its mark on history. And Xenophon would be there to record it.
[8].Xenophon Anabasis 1.1.9-1.2.3.
[9].Xenophon Hellenica 3.1.1; Plutarch Artaxerxes 6.3, with Briant 2002:616-617.
[10].Xenophon Anabasis 1.2.4.
[11].Xenophon Cyropaedia 8.6.16, 8.2.10-12; Plutarch Artaxerxes 12.1; Briant 2002:343-344 : Balcer 1977. There seems to be no official in Persian records with a name meaning the King’s Eye. But there certainly way bureaucratic oversight of satraps and other officials.
[12].Herodotus 8.98; Xenophon Cyropaedia 8.6.17-18; Briant 2002:369-371.
[13].Xenophon Anabasis 1.1.6. The story is complicated: When Cyrus was appointed satrap and viceroy in 407, he took over territory originally belonging to Tissaphernes; but after the latter accused the former of treason, he was awarded the cities of Greek Ionia. They however, preferring the rule of Cyrus, revolted from Tissaphernes.
[14].Xenophon Anabasis 1.1.7-8.
[15].Xenophon Anabasis 3.1.5.
[16].Xenophon Anabasis 3.1.6-7; Kahn 1996:33 says that this is “Xenophon’s only unmistakably genuine recollection of Socrates.”
[17].Xenophon Anabasis 6.1.23.
[18].Xenophon Anabasis 3.1.8-9.