Xenophon

Xenophon's account of a half-century of complete and total internecine mayhem — the Persians playing Sparta, Thebes and Athens off against each other with very little effort — is summed up thematically in its concluding words, describing the battle of Mantineia:

"And although each side claimed the victory, neither side was seen to have gained anything — no city, territory or increased rule — that they did not have prior to the battle. In Greece as a whole there was more uncertainty show more and disturbance after the battle than there had been before."

This is the most annalistic of the six Landmark editions, with no real unifying narrative except the Greek addiction to self-sabotage, but I still find it wonderful to read and, thanks to the luxurious maps, annotations, introductions and appendices, actually understand these texts from across a gulf of time. show less

As presented by Xenophon, Socrates is a man who knows he is the smartest guy in the room but disguises it from those who don’t know him well. When asked at the symposium to join in telling the party what he is best at or proudest of, Socrates answers, not philosophy, but pimping, by which he seems to mean introducing people to one another. He always has more than one item on his agenda. When he discusses farming in the Oeconomicus, he is interested not only in how to run a farm but also in show more the nature of what it means to be a gentleman and the nature of goodness.
His interrogators seldom understand his irony. In the Apology, when he is asked why he chooses death over some of the other punishments he might ask for, he says that he wants to die before he has to put up with the pains of old age. Kill me now because old age sucks is not a serious argument, but Socrates is the only one in the room who seems to know that.
Bisexual eroticism also stands out in Xenophon’s version of the Symposium. Most of the guests, including Socrates, seem equally turned on by boys and girls, but in the end, everyone except Socrates goes home to play with their wives and girlfriends. Socrates is not anxious to go home to Xantippe, his difficult wife. He heads out into the night alone.
I wish I had read these pieces when I first encountered Socrates in Plato. show less

Lately I have been reading, enjoying and schooling myself with the 2400 year old "Anabasis" written by Xenophon.
The story relates the ordeal of the 14.000 Greek mercenaries who enter the Persian Empire in 401 BCE, commissioned by the Persian prince Cyrus (the Younger), in his attempt to dethrone his older brother King Artaxerxes.
But things do not go as planned and the mercenaries get themselves stranded a few kilometers from the city of Babylon (the actual Bagdad), deep into enemy territory show more and with all their senior commanders dead. The troops however are feared Hoplites and the army of Artaxerxes hesitates to launch a frontal attack, even at the moment when the Greeks are at their weakest. This gives these foreign phalanxes just the few days they need to reorganize and elect new leaders.
Enters Xenophon. It is a bit unclear why this 30 year old, well-educated scion of a wealthy Athenian family, is among these fighters, but in this moment of confusion and chaos, he stands up as one of the new leaders. Their new objective: get the army of mercenaries out of Persia as fast as they can. A march of 1500 km through unknown and dangerous territory, surrounded by numerous hostile armies and tribes, awaits them.
It is no wonder that such a story still captivates the mind.
I have read Xenophon narration in the illustrious Robert Strassler's Landmark edition. This is a series of important historical texts, translated and annotated by numerous specialists in the field. Lavishly illustrated with maps, with detailed drawings of battle formations and with pictures of the actual sites, these books make a huge difference on the reading experience. If there is a proof that digital reading will never fully replace reading a paper-book, this is it.

Xenophon’s Anabasis (which basically means an "inland march") turns out to be a detailed report of the long retreat to get out of enemy territory. Its main attraction is that it is written on the level of the individual grunt; no great overarching strategic vistas. It is continuous "problem solving" on human level. Do we attack or negotiate? Do we cross the river or not? Shall we advance or wait? And this with the continuous concern to keep the vanguard and rearguard safe and the distance between them never dangerously overstretched.

Besides turning out to be a very capable and humble commander, Xenophon is also a perfect narrator. Even though he is an Athenian, he has strong and open sympathies for the Spartan lifestyle: resilience, perseverance, grit. No wonder he is banned from Athens. And he couldn't care less. Xenophon was an early student and follower of Socrates, and he was disgusted with the Athenian city for the condemnation of the famous philosopher. His Anabasis therefore can somehow be read as Socratian philosophy applied to a long survival situation.
Tough as steel in battle, proud when deserved but humble when in error.
A strong recommendation show less

Another Christmas, another lovely Landmark edition under the tree for me. These books are just so copious and so carefully produced and edited; as long as they keep printing them I'll keep requesting them from Santa.

As for Anabasis, it lived up to my expectations of a real gnarly time (mostly) in Asia Minor. Whether sweating in the blazing heat of the desert, hightailing it from hostile Kurds, freezing their nuts off (literally — frostbite) in the mountains of Armenia, dodging angry tribes show more as they track the coast East, being evicted from Byzantium, or getting caught up in internecine strife in Thrace, the Greeks never have it easy.

Some highlights were the "hallucinogenic honey" incident, the undergound villages, Thracian table manners, and Xenophon stalling the entire army for several days while he waits for the omens to come out right (it's suggested by the editors that their livestock was ill, resulting in the entrails looking funny on sacrifice — finally someone arrives by boat with some fresh bullocks, they slit one open and are good to go). There's lots of elegant, persuasive Greek rhetoric (all of it from the author) plenty of creative military tactics and improvisation (like when they train their own slingers and cavalry overnight to get the Persians off their backs), and of course — Thalassa, thalassa! A nice coincidence that I read this right after Ulysses which famously quotes the Greek cry of joy at finally seeing the sea. show less