Anabasis, Book 2, Ch. 2 - Jitters and a Joke in the night

This seems like a fairly nerve-wracking day, for both sides. Neither one really wants to fall into battle against the other; as both are undefeated, neither side really knows the other’s situation. The Greek plan (actually Ariaeus’ plan) to get as far away from the King’s army as quickly as possible is a good one. The Greeks are a long way from home, and have nothing with them except their weapons.

When this agreement had been reached, Clearchus said “Come now, Ariaeus, since your expedition is also ours, tell us what opinion you have about the journey, whether to return by the same route we came, or if you have in mind some other way that seems better to you.” He (Ariaeus) replied, “If we returned by the way we came, we would be wholly destroyed by starvation; because now we have no provisions. On the last seventeen stages on the way here, there was nothing for us to take from the land; and whatever there was, we consumed entirely on our way through. So now, we propose to march a longer way, but we shall not run out of provisions. And we must make our first daily marches as long as we can, to put as much distance as possible between us and the King’s army. For once we are two or three days journey away from him, the King will never be able to to catch us. For he will not dare to pursue us with a small army, and with a big force, he will not be able to move quickly. And similarly, he may lack provisions.”

“This,” he said, “was the view he held himself.”

This strategy was nothing other than trying to run and hide. But luck managed better. When it became day, they marched keeping the sun on the right, estimating that they would come to the villages of Babylonia when the sun went down. And in this, they were not disappointed. But it was still afternoon when they thought they saw enemy horsemen. And the Greeks who were not in formation ran to form up, and Ariaeus (who was riding in a way because he had been injured) got down and put on his breastplate, as did those with him. Meanwhile, as they were arming themselves, the scouts who had gone forward to observe, returned, saying that they were not horsemen but rather grazing pack animals. But soon everyone realized that the King was encamped somewhere nearby, for smoke was visible from some villages not far away.

Clearchus was not attacking the enemy, for he knew that the army was both exhausted and hungry, and it was already getting late; nonetheless he took care not to seem to retreat, but about sunset, and with the van, encamped in the nearest villages, which had been plundered by the King’s army, even the wood from the dwellings. And nevertheless while the van encamped in some fashion, the remaining troops came up in the darkness, so each one settled himself for the night in the open, and made such a racket calling to each other that the enemy could hear, and the nearest ones of the enemy actually fled their encampment. This became clear the next day: for not a pack animal could be seen anywhere, nor a camp, nor any smoke nearby. And even the King, as it seemed, was panicked by the approach of the army, shown by what he did the next day.

However, as the night advanced, fear also fell upon the Greeks, when the noise and confusion were such as to naturally grow into fear falling upon them. Clearchus ordered Tolmides of Elis, the best herald of the time, who was with him, to proclaim silence, announcing that the leaders had made a proclamation that whoever would report on the man who let the jackass loose in the weapons would receive a reward of a talent of silver. When this had been announced, the soldiers realized that their fear was groundless and that the leaders were safe. And at dawn Clearchus ordered the Greeks to get in formation with weapons ready, just as they had in the battle (of Cunaxa).

The “joke” might seem a little obscure to the modern reader, but I guess it was funny at the time. A talent of silver was 30 months wages for these soldiers; obviously not a serious offer. As to whether the “jackass” was literal or human, that was left ambiguous.

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