![]() Around 400 B.C., after the death of the then Persian ruler, Darius, a struggle for the Persian throne took place. ![]() One of Merriam Webster’s definitions of the word, Anabasis, is “a difficult and dangerous military retreat,” and that is exactly what faced the author Xenophon and the army of 10,000 Greek mercenaries of which he was a part. Now, “everyone” knows of these two Persian encounters, but lesser known is the tale of Xenophon in “Anabasis.” Later, the equally bellicose son of Darius, named Xerxes, gave it another try, but he in turn was defeated in another famous battle – Thermopylae. Early in the fifth century B.C., after a revolt of the Greeks of Ionia (roughly the west coast of present day Turkey) against the Persian Achaemenid empire, the Persian king Darius (the Great) decided to punish the Greeks to prevent future rebellions, and embarked on a scheme of invasion – until he was soundly defeated at the famous battle of Marathon. The Greeks and the Persians… They go waaaay back. (This post is part of The Classics Circuit’s “Classic Greek” tour) ![]()
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