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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kevin McGonigal, post: 4562288, member: 72790&quot;]For those readers familiar with Plutarch you may know that in his Parallel Lives the author compared Julius Caesar with Alexander the Great, an obvious parallel comparison, but I think he might have done just as well, or better, comparing him to another Greek military commander and author. Far fewer folks are as familiar with this runner-up as with Alexander but bear me out and see what you think.</p><p><br /></p><p>The person in Ancient Greece I think whose life most parallels that of the famous Caesar, was an Athenian commander, office holder and author, whose long life spanned the end of the Peloponnesian War to the emergence of Phillip of Macedonia. Some readers will recognize his name, Xenophon of Athens, (born ca. 430 BC) and if you do, it will probably be in connection with the event known from his major literary achievement, the book known as The Anabasis ( Moving Upcountry). But to compare him to Julius Caesar, Xenophon has got to account&nbsp; for more than his autobiographical account of a Greek commander. More on the book will follow, below.</p><p><br /></p><p>We know a fair amount about Xenophon (pronounce the &quot;x&quot; like a &quot;z&quot;), mostly from the enormous output of his pen (or stylus) because it appears that everything that he wrote is still extant, an amazing happening for an author who wrote most of his works some 2400 years ago. Athenian playwrights of this period have seen most of their works long lost as is the same for most Ancient historians, Greek or Roman. Livy, Tacitus, Claudius (the emperor) must envy the favor of Clio who seems to have favored Xenophon with this encomium. That he wrote in Greek and that he wrote on many topics beyond his military achievements, and publicly lived a life somewhat compatible with later Christianity, may have made him more acceptable to later Byzantine copyists as a subject worthy to be preserved. The range of his interests and writings is encyclopedic. Interested in the breeding and training of horses? Well, the Ancients and even later people, have found his book to have been quite informative. Having trained as an Athenian cavalry officer probably helped there. How about the sport of hunting, especially using hunting dogs. Xenophon&#039;s book on this will tell the Nimrods of the day what breeds to use on what game and how to breed and raise those dogs. Want an alternative to Thucydides on the history of Greece? Xenophon&#039;s &quot;Hellenica&quot;, much admired by later Byzantines, will do that and some think better. Want a incisive look into the thinking of the Ancient Philosophers? Try his Symposium, a work made possible by his having been a student of Socrates. Though Xenophon is an Ancient figure, he reminds us of later luminaries, a Renaissance man from Ancient times. His use of the Greek language is impeccable. Although he used the dialect of Attic Greek he wrote it in such a way that it was understandable by those readers who used a different dialect. Just as Caesar&#039;s Gallic Wars is used in the study of Latin as the usual first author students of Latin study for its simple and clear explanation of events, in the study of Greek, Xenophon is usually the first author students of ancient Greek are exposed to, using his Anabasis as the text.</p><p><br /></p><p>And now to the most well known of his writings, the Anabasis. Xenophon fought in the last stages of the Peloponnesian War when matters were going badly for Athens (by the way it was Xenophon who finished up Thucydides&#039; famous account of that war). Having strong conservative views, he got mixed up in the political turmoil of a defeated Athens and chose to leave the city state while he could. At that time a friend named Proxenos contacted Xenophon about an opening in a Greek mercenary force hired by a Persian prince who aspired to greater things. After the end of the Peloponnesian war the Mediterranean was awash with unemployed soldiers looking for work. The Persian prince, Cyrus put together a force that included about ten thousand Greek soldiers, mostly hoplite heavy infantry (the Persians had plenty of archers and cavalry). The enemy of Cyrus was the then reigning king, Artaxerxes, and in the battle of Cunaxa the army of Cyrus, strongly aided by that Greek heavy infantry, won the battle, and lost the war. Cyrus was killed in his victory. Artaxerxes was not happy with the presence of 10,000 heavily armed Greeks in the middle of his empire (keep in mind Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea). Actually the Greek mercenary force was not happy in the middle of a hostile empire with no mission and no paymaster. They wanted out and to get back to Greek territory. Artaxerxes would not just let them leave. At first he appeared willing to negotiate their departure but in a treacherous &quot;peace conference&quot; the Greek generals were killed. Having decapitated the Greek mercenary force, the Persians thought they could intimidate the Greek army into surrendering. Not a chance. The Greeks elected Xenophon as their new commander and it was the best choice they could have made.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am not going to reveal what happened then but you can read about it in Xenophon&#039;s Anabasis. You will read one of the most exciting stories of an army fighting for its life to escape from hostile territory, rivaling or bettering the story of Napoleon&#039;s retreat from Moscow or the US Marines from the Chosen reservoir. I will relate one other part of the story. After months of grueling hardship, over a thousand miles of dessert and then winter mountain snows they approached the Black sea. Greeks never felt comfortable far inland and knew that if they could get to the sea they could find or build ships and get back to the Hellenic world. If they could cover that 1,000 miles from Babylon to the Euxine (Black) Sea . (Spoiler alert. They make it). In the Anabasis, Xenophon put it this way. They were ascending a ridge of hills. Xenophon was a few miles back in the column wheh he heard a few miles ahead the vanguard of the army making an awful racket, yelling, screaming and banging spears on shield. At first he thought it an attack and rushed forward with reinforcements. As he neared the top of the ridge he could just make out what the Greeks were yelling. Let me use the words of Xenophon himself. Kai tacha de akouousi Boonton ton stratioton, THALATTA, THALATTA. And quickly they heard the shouting of the soldiers,&nbsp; THE SEA. THE SEA</p><p><br /></p><p>So, now good readers, go and find out some more about Xenophon, the Greek Caesar whose adventurous life had just begun with the march of the ten thousand upcountry and, perhaps, even read the whole of the Anabasis for an adventure story more readable than anything in fiction. And now for my coins. I must admit that I am not as well versed in Greek coinage as Roman so I ask readers for help here. My two coins are an Athenian tetradrachma probably issued during the lifetime of Xenophon. Any experts reading this, if you can tell me more about the coin regarding its date or mint from its style please tell me. It weighs 17.05 grams. The second is a silver siglos of Persia with some great king on it, I think but maybe a satrap instead. It weighs 5.4 grams andit has a crescent shape banker&#039;s mark but I have no idea who the satrap or great king might be and therefore, its proper date. It would be nice for this post if it turned out to be Artaxerxes. The ancient Greeks believed that the greatest happiness of the dead was to hear their names mentioned among the living. Now go out and make Xenophon happy and join the ranks of the followers of Xenophon.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1129369[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1129370[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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