Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand Greeks : Being a Geographical and Descriptive Account of the Expedition

Resumen del libro

Xenophon's account of the homeward march of the 'Ten Thousand Greeks' in the army of Cyrus of Persia, after his death at the battle of Cunaxa in 401 BCE, describes one of the most famous feats of ancient warfare. The troops had to travel over difficult and (to them) unknown terrain in Assyria and Armenia, with their generals murdered and their ranks constantly harassed by the Persian army and hostile natives. After many months, the depleted band of about 6,000 arrived at the Black Sea coast near Trebizond. This commentary on the Anabasis was published in 1844 by William Ainsworth (1807-96), who used his knowledge of the area, drawn from two expeditions in the 1830s, to discuss the route, the terrain, and the difficulties of living off the land which the Greeks would have encountered. Both of Ainsworth's earlier travel narratives are also reissued in this series.