Anabasis by Xenophon - Book 7, Part 4

But the next day Sothis burnt the villages to the ground. He left not a single house, being minded to inspire terror in the rest of his enemies, and to show them what they were also to expect, if they refused obedience, and so he went back again. As to the booty, he sent off Heraclites to Perinthas to dispose of it, with a view to future pay for the soldiers. But for himself he encamped with the Hellenes in the lowland country of the Thinians, the natives leaving the flats and betaking themselves in flight to the uplands. There was deep snow, and cold so intense that the water brought in for dinner, and the wine within the jars froze, and many of the Hellenes had their noses and ears frostbitten. Now they came to understand why the Thracians wear fox-skin caps on their heads and about their ears, and why on the same principle they are frocked not only about the chest and bust so as to cover the loins and thighs as well, and why on horseback they envelop themselves in long shawls, which reach down to the feet, instead of the ordinary short rider's cloak. Suthis sent off some of the prisoners to the hills with the message to say that if they did not come down to their homes and live quietly and obey him, he would burn down their villages and their corn, and leave them to perish with hunger. Thereupon down they came, women and children and the older men, the younger preferred to quarter themselves in the villages on the skirts of the hills. On discovering this, Suthis bade Xenophon take the youngest of the heavy infantry and join him on an expedition. They rose in the night, and by daybreak had reached the villages, but the majority of the inhabitants made good their escape, for the hills were close at hand. Those whom he did catch Suthis unsparingly shot down. Now there was a certain Olympian named Ephesthenes. He was a great lover of boys, and seeing a handsome lad just in the bloom of youth and carrying a light shield, about to be slain, he ran up to Xenophon and supplicated him to rescue the fair youth. Xenophon went to Suthis and begged him not to put the boy to death. He explained to him the disposition of Ephesthenes, how he had once enrolled a company, the only qualification being that of personal beauty, and with these handsome young men at his side there were none so brave as he. Suthis put the question, Would you like to die on his behalf, Ephesthenes? Whereat the other stretched out his neck and said, Strike, if the boy bids you, and will thank his preserver. Suthis, turning to the boy, asked, Shall I smite him instead of you? The boy shook his head, imploring him to slay neither the one nor the other, whereupon Ephesthenes caught the lad in his arms, exclaiming, It is time you did battle with me, Suthis, for my boy. Never will I yield him up. And Suthis laughed, What must be must, and so consented. In these villages he decided that they must bivouac, so that the men on the mountains might be still further deprived of subsistence. Stealthily descending himself he found quarters in the plain, while Xenophon with his picked troops encamped in the highest village on the skirts of the hills, and the rest of the Hellenes hard by, among the highland Thracians as they are called. After this, not many days had idly slipped away before the Thracians from the mountains came down, and wished to arrange with Suthis for terms of truce and hostages. Simultaneously came Xenophon and informed Suthis that they were camped in bad quarters, with the enemy next door. It would be pleasanter, too, he added, to bivouac in a strong position in the open, than under cover on the edge of destruction. The other bad him take heart, and pointed to some of their hostages as much to say, Look there. Parties also from the mountaineers came down and pleaded with Xenophon himself, to help arrange a truce for them. This he agreed to do, bidding them to pluck up heart, and assuring them that they would beat with no mischief if they yielded obedience to Suthis. All their parleying, however, was, as it turned out, merely to get a closer inspection of things. This happened in the day, and in the following night the Thracians descended from the hill country and made an attack. In each case, the guide was the master of the house attacked, otherwise it would have taxed their powers to discover the houses in the dark, which, for the sake of their flocks and herds, were palisaded all round with great stockades. As soon as they had reached the doors of any particular house, the attack began, some hurling in their spears, others belaboring with their clubs, which they carried, it was said, for the purpose of knocking off the lance points from the shaft. Others were busy setting the place on fire, and they kept calling Xenophon by name, Come out, Xenophon, and die like a man, or we will roast you alive inside. By this time, too, the flames were making their appearance through the roof, and Xenophon and his followers were within, with their coats of mail on, and big shields, swords, and helmets. Then Solanus, a mystician, a youth of some eighteen years, signaled on the trumpet, and in an instant out they all left with their drawn swords, and the inmates of other quarters as well. The Thracians took to their heels, according to their custom, swinging their light shields round their backs. As they leapt over the stockades some were captured, hanging on the top with their shields caught in the palings. Others missed the way out and so were slain, and the Hellenes chased them hotly, till they were outside the village. A party of Thinians turned back, and as the men ran past in bold relief against a blazing house, they let fly a volley of javelins out of the darkness into the glare, and wounded two captains, Hieronymus, a Iodian, and Theogenes, a Locrian. No one was killed, only the clothes and baggage of some of the men were consumed in the flames. Presently up came Sothis to the rescue with seven troopers, the first to hand, and his Thracian trumpeteer by his side. Seeing that something had happened, he hastened to the rescue, and ever the while his bugler wound his horn, which music added terror to the foe. Arrived at length, he greeted them with outstretched hand, exclaiming, I thought to find you all dead men. After that, Xenophon begged him to hand over the hostages to himself, and if so disposed, to join him on an expedition to the hills, or if not, to let him go alone. Accordingly the next day Sothis delivered up the hostages. They were men already advanced in years, but the pick of the mountaineers as they themselves gave out. Not merely did Sothis do this, but he came himself, with his force at his back, and by this time he had treble his former force, for many of the Odrysians, hearing of the proceedings, came down to join in the campaign, and the Thinians, espying from the mountains the vast array of heavy infantry and light infantry and cavalry, rank upon rank, came down and supplicated him to make terms. They were ready, they professed, to do all that he demanded, let him take pledges of their good faith. So Sothis summoned Xenophon and explained their proposals, adding that he should make no terms with them, if Xenophon wished to punish them for their night attack. The latter replied, For my part, I should think their punishment is great enough already, if they are to be slaves instead of free men. Still, he added, I advise you for the future to take as hostages those who are most capable of doing mischief, and to let the old men abide in peace at home. So to a man they gave in their adhesion in that quarter of the country. Crossing over in the direction of the Thracians above Byzantium, they reached the Delta, as it is called. Here they were no longer in the territory of Macetes, but in the country of Teres the Odrysian, an ancient worthy. Here Heraclides met them with proceeds of the spoil, and Sothis picked out three pairs of mules, there were only three, the other teams being oxen. Then he summoned Xenophon and bade him take them, and divide the rest between the generals and officers, to which Xenophon replied that for himself he was content to receive his share another time, but added, Make a present of these to my friends here, the generals who have served with me, and to the officers. So of the pairs of mules, Timoshenes the Dardanian received one, Cleonor the Okrominian one, and Phroniskes the Achaean one. The teams of oxen were divided among the officers. Then Sothis proceeded to remit pay due for the month already passed, but all he could give was the equivalent of twenty days. Heraclides insisted this was all he had got by his trafficking, wherepon Xenophon with some warmth exclaimed, Upon my word, Heraclides, I do not think you care for Sothis's interests as you should. If you did, you would have been at pains to bring back the full amount of the pay, even if you had to raise a loan to do so, and if by no other means, by selling the coat off your own back. What he said annoyed Heraclides, who was afraid of being ousted from the friendship of Sothis, and from that day forward he did his best to calumniate Xenophon before Sothis. The soldiers on their side laid the blame, of course, on Xenophon. Where was their pay? And Sothis was vexed with him for persistently demanding it for them. Up to this date he had frequently referred to what he would do when he got to the seaboard again, how he intended to hand over to him Byzanthus, Ganthos, and Neotychus. But from this time forward he never mentioned one of them again. The slanderous tongue of Heraclides had whispered him, it was not safe to hand over fortified towns to a man with a force at his back. Consequently, Xenophon fell to considering what he ought to do as regards marching any further up the country. And Heraclides introduced the other generals to Sothis, urging them to say that they were quite as well able to lead the army as Xenophon, and promising them that within a day or two they should have full pay for two months, and he again implored them to continue the campaign with Sothis. To which Tymation replied that for his part he would continue no campaign without Xenophon, not even if they were to give him pay for five months. And what Tymation said, Perniscus and Cleonor repeated. The views of all three coincided. Sothis fell to upbraiding Heraclides in round terms. Why had he not invited Xenophon with the others? And presently they invited him, but by himself alone. He, perceiving the knavery of Heraclides, and that his object was to columniate him with the other generals, presented himself, but at the same time he took care to bring all the generals and the officers. After their joint consent had been secured, they continued the campaign. Keeping the Pontus on their right, they passed through the millet-eating Thracians, as they are called, and reached Salmidesis. This is a point at which many trading vessels bound for the Black Sea run aground and are wrecked, owing to a sort of marshy ledge or sandbank, which runs out for a considerable distance into the sea. The Thracians, who dwell in these parts, have set up pillars as boundary marks, and each set of them has the pillage of its own flotsam and jetsam. For in old days, before they set up these landmarks, the wreckers, it is said, used freely to fall foul of and slay one another. Here was a rich treasure-trove, of beds and boxes numberless, with a mass of written books, and all the various things which mariners carry in their wooden chests. Having reduced this district, they turned round and went back again. By this time the army of Suthis had grown to be considerably larger than the Hellenic army, for on the one hand, the Odrysians flocked down in still larger numbers, and on the other, the tribes which gave in their adhesion from time to time were amalgamated with his armament. They got into quarters on the flat country above Silibria, at about three miles' distance from the sea. As to pay, not a penny was as yet forthcoming, and the soldiers were cruelly disaffected to Xenophon, whilst Suthis, on his side, was no longer so friendly disposed. If Xenophon ever wished to come face to face with him, want of leisure or some other difficulty always seemed to present itself. The rugged Salmodecian jaw of the Black Sea, inhospitable to sailors, stepmother of ships. But the poet is at fault in his geography, since he connects the Salmodecian jaw with the Thermidon. End of Book 7, Part 4 and 5.