Callias: A Tale of the Fall of Athens

by Alfred John Church

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  THE DIARY.

  OCTOBER 27.[72]--Our new corps have covered themselves with gloryto-day. About noon Tissaphernes himself appeared with a large force ofcavalry. He had his own regiments with him; among the others werecognized some of Cyrus' Persian troops. They want, I suppose, to makethe King forget their rebellion. The satrap did not wish to come toclose quarters; but he found after all that the quarters were closerthan he liked. He was well within range; and as his men were posted ingreat masses every arrow and every bullet told. It would, in fact, havebeen impossible to miss, with such a mark to aim at. As for the Persianarchers they did no damage at all. But we found their arrows veryuseful. Our men are now well-equipped, for we discovered an abundantstore of bow-strings and lead for the sling bullets in the villages.

  NOVEMBER 3.--Things have not been going so well to-day. The barbariansoccupied a post of vantage on our route and showered down darts, stones,and arrows upon us as we passed. Our light-armed were easily driven in.When the heavy-armed tried to scale the height, they found the climbingvery hard work, and of course the enemy were gone by the time that theyreached the top. Three times this was done, and I was never more pleasedin my life than when at last we got to the end of our day's march. Eightsurgeons are busy attending to the wounded, of whom there is a terriblenumber. We are going to stop here three days, Xenophon tells me.Meanwhile we are in a land of plenty. There are granaries full of wheat,and cellars of wine, and barley enough to supply our horses if we hadfifty times as many. Hereafter we are to follow a new plan. As soon aswe are attacked, we halt. To march and fight at the same time puts us ata disadvantage. And we are to try to get as far in advance as possible.

  NOVEMBER 9.--We had our three days' rest, and then three days' quickmarching. To-day, however, there has been a smart brush with the enemy.They had occupied a ridge commanding our route, which just thendescended from the hills into the plain. Chirisophus sent for Xenophonto bring his light-armed to the front. This, of course, was a seriousthing to do, as Tissaphernes was not far from our rear. Xenophonaccordingly galloped to the front to confer with his colleague."Certainly," he said, when he saw how the enemy was posted, "thesefellows must be dislodged, but we can't uncover our rear. You must giveme some troops, and I will do my best." Just at that moment he caughtsight of a height rising above us just on our right--he has a truegeneral's eye--and saw that it gave an approach to the enemy's position."That is the place for us to take," he cried. "If we get that, thebarbarians can't stay where they are." As soon as the troops were toldoff for service, we started; and lo! as soon as we were off, thebarbarians seeing what we were after started too. It was a race whoshould get there first. Xenophon rode beside the men, and urged them on."Now for it, brave sirs!" he cried. "'Tis for Hellas! 'Tis for wives andchildren! Win the race, and you will march on in peace! Now for it!" Themen did their best, but of course it was hard work. I never had harderin my life. At last a grumbling fellow in the ranks growled out, "We arenot on equal terms, Xenophon. You are on horseback, and I have got tocarry my shield." In a moment Xenophon was off his horse. He snatchedthe fellow's shield from him, and marched on with the rest. That washard work indeed, for he had his horseman's cuirass on; still he keptup. Then the men fell on the grumbler. They abused him, pelted him, andcuffed him, till he was glad enough to take his shield again. ThenXenophon re-mounted, and rode on as before as far as the horse could go.Then he left him tethered to a tree, and went on foot. In the end we wonthe race; and the barbarians left the way clear.

  NOVEMBER 10.--We had a great disappointment to-day. The route lay eitheracross a river which was too deep to ford--we tried it with our spears,and could find no bottom--or through a mountainous region inhabited by aset of fierce savages whom the King has never been able to subdue. Heonce sent an army of a hundred thousand men among them, they say, andnot a single soldier ever came back! First we considered about crossingthe river. A Rhodian had a grand plan, he said, for taking the armyacross. He would sell it for a talent. I must confess, by the way, thatI am more and more disgusted by the manner in which everything is forsale. Citizen soldiers think of the common good, though, it must beconfessed, they are not so sturdy in action as these fellows;mercenaries think only of the private purse. However, the Rhodian nevergot his talent. His plan was clever enough, making floats of skins, butimpracticable, seeing that the enemy occupied the other shore in force.Nothing, then, remained for it but to take to the mountains. We must doour best to fight our way through them, if the mountaineers won't befriends. This done, we shall find ourselves in Armenia; once there, weshall be able to go anywhere we please.

  NOVEMBER 14.--We have had three awful days. The Carduchians--so theycall the barbarians--are as hostile and as fierce as they can be. Itseems unreasonable, for they must hate the Great King as much as we do.Still they will not listen to our overtures for friendly intercourse,but keep up an incessant attack. To-day there was very near being apositive disaster. We in the rear-guard had, of course, the worst of it.Generally when we find our work particularly hard we pass on the word tothe van, and they slacken their pace; otherwise we should get dividedfrom the main army. To-day no attention was paid to our messages;Chirisophus did nothing but send back word that we must hurry on.Consequently our march became something very like a rout, and we losttwo of our best men. At the first halt Xenophon rode to the front.

  "Why this hurry?" he asked. "It has cost us two men, and we had toleave their bodies behind." "See you that?" said Chirisophus, and hepointed to a height straight before us, which was strongly held by theenemy. "I wanted to get there first, for the guide says that there is noother way." "Says he so?" said Xenophon. "Let us hear what my fellowshave to say. I laid an ambush, you must know, and caught two barbarians.They would be useful, I thought, as guides!" The two were brought up andquestioned. "Is there any other way than what we see?" "No," said thefirst. Try all we could, he would make no other answer. At lastChirisophus had him killed. "Now," he said, turning to the other, "canyou tell us anything more?" "O yes," said the man, "there is anotherway, and one that horses can pass over. But the other would not sayanything about it, because he had kinsfolk living near it, and wasafraid that you would do them an injury." Poor fellow! I was sorry forhim, when I knew how loyal he had been. But I don't know what else couldhave been done. The second man told us that there was a height which wemust occupy if we would make the new route practicable. Two thousand menhave set off to get hold of it. If they fail, we shall be in terriblestraits.

  NOVEMBER 16.--The army is safe for the present, but some--I among thenumber--have had a very narrow escape. The two thousand found their workvery much harder than at first they thought it was going to be. Theytook the first height without any difficulty, and fancied they had doneall that was wanted. But there were no less than three heights beyond,and each of these had to be stormed. My part in the business was this.Xenophon thought that the second of the four heights--there were fourin all--ought to be held permanently till our army had passed. Some twohundred men were told off for this duty, and I volunteered to be one ofthem. All of a sudden we found ourselves attacked by a whole swarm ofmountaineers. They outnumbered us by at least ten to one. It was a casefor running, for there was really no position that we could hold. Butrunning was no easy matter. Our only chance was to climb down a verysteep mountain side to the pass below, where the last columns of thevan-guard were just making their way. Some of the men did not like totry it; and, indeed, it did look desperately dangerous. While they werehesitating, the barbarians were upon them. As for myself, I felt that Iwould sooner break my neck than fall into the enemy's hands, so Istarted off at full pace, and was safe. Nor do I think that any whofollowed my example were seriously hurt, though some got very nastyfalls. Those who stayed behind were killed to a man. Just now we are incomfortable quarters. Wine is in such plenty hereabouts that positivelythe people keep it in great cisterns.

  NOVEMBER 19.--We have crossed the Centrites, which is the Eastern bran
chof the Tigris.

  NOVEMBER 30.--The march through Armenia has been on the whole aspleasant as we had hoped. The Lieutenant Governor, one Tiribazus, madean agreement with our generals that he would do us no harm, if we wouldnot burn the houses, but content ourselves with taking such provisionsas we wanted. Four days ago, we had a heavy fall of snow, and thegeneral thought it as well to billet out the army in the villages, whichare very thick in these parts. There was no enemy in sight, and, as wehad no tents, bivouacking in the open would be neither pleasant norsafe. We all enjoyed it vastly, particularly as the villages were fullof good things, oxen, and sheep, and wine, some of the very best I evertasted, and raisins, and vegetables of all kinds. But after the firstnight we had an alarm. A great army was reported in sight; and certainlythere were watchfires in every direction. The generals thereupondetermined to bring the army together again, and to bivouac on theplain. The weather too, promised to be fine. But in the night there wasanother heavy snow fall, so heavy that it covered us all up. It was notuncomfortable lying there under the snow; in fact, it felt quite warm;but of course it was not safe. I have heard of people going to sleepunder such circumstances and not waking up again. Anyhow Xenophon setthe example of getting up, and setting to work splitting wood. Beforelong we were all busy. But there was no more bivouacking in the open. Wewent to the villages again; and some foolish fellows who had wantonlyset their houses on fire were now punished for their folly.

  DECEMBER 8.--The weather becomes colder and colder, and is our worstenemy now. The other day there was a cutting north wind, which driftedthe snow till it was more than six feet deep in places. Xenophon, whosefaith and piety are admirable, suggested a sacrifice to the north wind.This was made; and certainly the weather did begin to abate shortlyafterwards. The doubters say that the wind always does go down after atime. These are matters on which I do not pretend to judge; but I do seethat Xenophon's pious belief makes him very cheerful and courageous.The day before yesterday many of our men were afflicted, what with thelong march and what with the cold, with a sort of ravenous hunger. Theyfell down, and either would not, or could not, move a step forward. Atfirst we did not know what was the matter with them; but then some onewho had campaigned before in cold countries suggested the real cause.When we gave them a little food we found that they recovered. Yesterdaywe nearly lost a number of men who were simply overpowered with thecold. The enemy was close behind, and we tried to raise the poor fellowsup; but they would not stir. "Kill us," they said, "but leave us alone."They were simply stupid with cold. All that could be done was tofrighten the enemy away. On the barbarians came, till the rear guard,who were lying in ambush, dashed out upon them, and at the same time thesick men shouted as loud as they could, and rattled their spears againsttheir shields. The enemy fled in a hurry, and we saw and heard no moreof them. But what would have happened if they had persisted, is morethan I can say. The whole army was demoralized with the cold. The menlay down as they could with their cloaks round them. There was not asingle guard placed anywhere. As it was, no harm was done; and in theafternoon to-day the sick men were brought safe into good quarters. Weare now in excellent quarters, with all that we could wish to eat anddrink.

  DECEMBER 9.--Just as I had finished my entries yesterday an Athenianwith whom I have struck up a great friendship asked me to come with himon an expedition. His name is Polycrates, and he is the captain of acompany. "Let us raid that village," he said, "before the people havetime to get away." So we did, and we had a fine catch. We laid hands onthe villagers and their head man. With the head man was his daughter whohad been married only eight days before. Her husband was outhare-hunting, and so escaped. The village was a curious place. All thehouses were underground; beasts and men lived there together, the beastsentering by a sloping way, the men by a ladder. There were great storesof barley, and wheat, and green stuff of all kinds. The drink was barleywine, which they keep in great bowls. You have to suck it up by a reed.It is very strong. As to the flavor I feel a little doubtful. To-dayXenophon has been taking the head man, whom he had to sup with him lastnight, all round the camp, by which I mean the villages, for the men areencamped in them. At Chirisophus' quarters there was a strange sight.The men were feasting with wisps of hay round their heads, for lack offlowers; and Armenian boys, in the costume of their country, werewaiting on them. Everything of course had to be explained by signs, forneither soldiers nor waiters knew a word of each other's language.Xenophon gave the head man his old charger, which indeed was pretty wellworn out with marching, and took for himself and his officers a numberof young horses which were going to be sent, we were told, as part ofthe King's tribute.

  DECEMBER 27.--Nothing of much moment has happened, except it be aquarrel, the first that has taken place--and I devoutly hope thelast--between our generals. After resting in the villages for a week, westarted again, taking the head man with us as a guide. If he did thisduty properly, he was to be allowed to depart and to take his son withhim, for he had a young son in his company. All the rest of his familywere safe in his own village with a very handsome lot of presents. Atthe end of the third day Chirisophus got into a great rage because thehead man had not taken them to any village. The man declared that therewas no village near. But Chirisophus would not listen, and struck theman. The next night he ran away. Xenophon was very angry. "You ought notto have struck him," he said; "but having struck him, you certainlyought to have kept a doubly strict guard on him."

  DECEMBER 30.--We have crossed the river Phasis, and got through what is,I hope, our last difficult pass. I have not time to write about it; butI must record an amusing little controversy that took place between ourtwo generals. It shows anyhow that they have made up their quarrel.Xenophon had been insisting that they must do as much as they could bycraft, and had been speaking of _stealing_ somewhere at night,_stealing_ a march, and so forth. Then he went on, "But why do I talkabout stealing in your presence Chirisophus, for you Spartans areexperts in the art. You practice it, I am told, from your youth up. Itis honorable among you to take anything except what the law forbids. Butto encourage you and to make you master thieves you get a whipping ifyou are found out. I must not therefore presume to instruct you about_stealing_." "Nay," replied the other, "you have the best possible rightto do it. You Athenians, I am told, are wonderfully clever hands atstealing the public money and the best men among you do it the most. No;we Spartans must yield to you." In the end the pass was carried withoutmuch loss.

  JANUARY 3.--For several days we have been on very short commons. TheTaochi, through whose country we are passing, have collected all theirpossessions, alive and dead, into strong places. At last we felt thatsomething had to be done, for we were simply starving. Accordingly, whenwe came about noon to-day to one of these strongholds which happened tolie directly on our route, Chirisophus made up his mind to take it. Itcould be seen to be full of flocks and herds besides a mixed crowd ofmen, women and children. First one regiment went up against it; then asecond; then a third. They could do nothing with it; the slingers andarchers, which were the only troops we could use, made no impression atall. Just then Xenophon came up with the rear-guard, I being closebehind him. "You have come just in the nick of time my friend," saidChirisophus, "we must take this place or starve." "But what," Xenophonasked, "is to hinder our simply walking in?" Chirisophus answered, "Yousee that one narrow path, that is the only way of approaching the place.Whenever anyone attempts to go by it, these fellows roll down hugemasses of rock from the crag up there," and he pointed to a cliff thatoverhung the plain. "See what has happened to some of my poor fellowswho were unlucky enough to get in the way!" And sure enough there wasone man with one leg broken and another with both, and a third with hisribs crushed in. "But," said my own general, "when these fellows haveexpended their ammunition--and they can't have a perpetual supply ofit--there will be nothing else to hinder our going in. I can only see avery few men, and of these not more than two or three are armed. As forthe distance that we have to get across, it can
not be more than onehundred and fifty yards; and two-thirds of this are covered at intervalsby great pine trees. As long as we are among these, stones cannot hurtus. These past, there are only fifty yards more to be crossed." "Verygood," said Chirisophus, "but the moment we get near, the fire of stonesbegins again." "All the better," said Xenophon, "the hotter their fire,the quicker the enemy will use up their ammunition. However, let usbegin by picking out the place where the run across the open space willbe shortest."

  First we occupied the trees. I had the luck, by special favor ofXenophon, to be among them. We were only seventy, for no more could findproper shelter behind the pines. Then one of us came forward a yard ortwo from under cover of the pines. No sooner did the Taochi see him thanthey sent down a vast quantity of stones. Before they reached him he wasunder cover again. This he did several times; and every time awagon-load of rocks, at the very least, must have been whizzing andwhistling down the slope. Before long, however, the ammunition gavesigns of not holding out. As soon as Agasias, an Arcadian from LakeStymphalus, perceived this, he ran forward at full speed. The man whohad been amusing himself with the rocks, caught hold of his shield as heran by. Then two other men started. Altogether it was a splendid race,and curiously enough not another stone was thrown. Then the rest of usfollowed. But when I saw the horrible thing that ensued, I was inclinedto be sorry that I had anything to do with it. The women threw theirchildren over the cliff, and then threw themselves after them, and themen did the same. I caught hold of one man to stop him, but he wriggledout of my grasp, and threw himself over the top. It was well for me thathe did so or else I might have fared as AEneas of Stymphalus did. He sawa man very finely dressed just about to throw himself over, and tried tohold him. The man did not try to get away, but clasped AEneas tightly inhis arms. The next moment both had fallen headlong over the edge. Ofcourse they were both killed. We took very few prisoners, but flocks andherds as many as we wanted and more.

  JANUARY 26.--The marching has been easy enough on the whole, though wehave met with the bravest enemies that we have yet come across, theChalybes, they are called. They did not hang on our rear, taking carenever to fight unless they had some vantage ground, but met us fairlyface to face. They were not as well armed as we. Indeed, they had noarmor on the body except cuirasses of linen. Their chief weapon was avery long and clumsy spear. Nevertheless they made a good fight of it;and if they did kill a man they cut his head off directly with a shortsabre that they carried at their waists. We got nothing but hard knockshere. All the property of the country was stored away in strongholds;still what we got from the Taochi has lasted us up to this time, andwill supply us for some days to come. The country of the Chalybes past,we came to the city, the first, by the way, that we have seen. It seemedvery populous and rich, and its governor was extremely civil. He gave usa guide who told us the best news that we had heard for a long time."Within five days you shall see the sea," he said. "If I fail, my lifeshall be the forfeit." According to this we ought to see it to-morrow.

  JANUARY 27.--We have seen it! I was in the van-guard as usual. We hadour hands full, for the people of the country were up in arms againstus. Our friend, the guide, had been very urgent with us to ravage andburn the country; and the men had not been backward in following hisadvice. So now there was a whole swarm of enemies hanging on our heels,and we of the rear guard had to keep them in check. All of a sudden weheard a tremendous uproar. "There is another attack on the van," criedXenophon, "this looks serious." But the shouting grew louder and nearer.As soon as a company came up, it began racing towards the shouters, andthen took to shouting itself. Xenophon mounted his horse to see forhimself what had happened. He took the cavalry with him in case anythingshould have happened, and I made the best of my way after them.Presently we could distinguish the words. The men were shouting, _Thesea! The sea!_ Then everybody started running, rear guard and all; eventhe very baggage horses were taken with it and came galloping up. And,sure enough, there it was, right before our eyes, a glimpse of blue inthe distance with the sunshine upon it. What a scene it was! We all fellto embracing one another; rank was forgotten; generals, officers, andcommon men were friends. Indeed the gods could not have given to oureyes a more delightful sight. Presently the soldiers fell to erecting agreat cairn of stones. On this they put skins and staves and wickershields that we had taken from the enemy. Of course the guide had avery handsome present from the common store, a purse, a silver bowl, aPersian dress, and ten gold pieces. Then he begged some rings, and gotnot a few. The soldiers were ready to give him anything.

  FEBRUARY 2.--We have passed safely through another country. The peoplewere drawn out in order of battle when the luckiest thing happened,saving, I doubt not, many lives. One of the men came up to Xenophon andsaid: "I think I know the language these people talk. I verily believethat it is my own." And so it turned out to be. The man had been a slavein Athens. He explained to them that we did not wish to do them anyharm, but simply wanted to get back to our own country. Since then ithas been peaceful. The people--Macrones they call themselves--have beenas helpful as possible, making roads for us, and supplying us with asgood food as they possessed.

  FEBRUARY 7.--Yesterday I really thought that after all that I had gonethrough, I was going to die of eating a mouthful of honey. We found agreat store of this in one of the Colchian villages that we came to, andof course ate it freely. It was poisonous, at least to persons not usedto it. I know that I was desperately ill and so were many of mycomrades. Happily no one died. We reach Trapezus to-morrow. We are inGreece again. Thanks be to Zeus and all the gods!

  FOOTNOTES:

  [72] For convenience' sake I have translated the dates of the Attic yearwhich Callias, of course, used with the corresponding days in ourreckoning. October 27 would be the "fifth day of the middle ofBoedromia." Each month was divided into three portions, often days each,respectively called beginning, middle, and ending. The days of the lastwere reckoned backwards. If this month had twenty-nine days only, thethird division had nine.