Page:History of Greece Vol IX.djvu/85

 SECRET DESPAIR OF KLEARCHUS. 62 Such words from Klearchus are remarkable, as they testify his own complete despair of the situation, certainly a very natural despair, except by amicable dealing with the Persians ; and also his ignorance of geography and the country to be traversed. This feeling helps to explain his imprudent confidence afterwards in Tissaphernes. That satrap, however, after twenty days, at last came back, with his army prepared to return to Ionia, with the king's daughter whom he had just received in marriage, and with another grandee named Orontas. Tissaphernes took the conduct of the march, providing supplies for the Greek troops to purchase ; while Ariaeus and his division now separated themselves altogether from the Greeks, and became intermingled with the other Persians. Klearchus and the Greeks followed them, at the distance of about three miles in the rear, with a separate guide for themselves ; not without jealousy and mistrust, sometimes shown in individual con- flicts, while collecting wood or forage, between them and the Per- sians of Ariceus. After three days' march (that is, apparently, three days, calculated from the moment when they began their re- treat with Ariasus) they came to the Wall of Media, and passed through it, 1 prosecuting their march onward through the country on its other or interior side. It was of bricks cemented with bitu- men, one hundred feet high, and twenty feet broad ; it was said to extend a length of twenty parasangs (or about seventy miles, if we reckon the parasang at thirty stadia), and to be not far distant 1 Xen. Anab. il, 4, 12. AieMovTSf 6e rpetf aTa&[iove, ('up'tKovro Trpbf rb TAriS'iac KaTiovfievov re^of, nal Trap rthtiov avrov elau. It appears to me that these three days' march or aradfioi can hardly be computed from the moment when they commenced their march under the conduct of Tissaphernes. On the other hand, if we begin from the moment when the Greeks started under conduct of Ariieus, we can plainly trace three distinct resting places (ara^fiovf) before they reached the Wall of Media. First, at the villages where the confusion and alarm arose (ii, 13-21). Secondly, at the villages of abundant supply, where they concluded the truce with Tis- saphernes, and waited twenty days for his return (ii, 3, 14 ; ii, 4, 9). Third- ly, one night's halt under the conduct of Tissaphernes, before they reached the Wall of Media. This makes three distinct stations or halting places, between the station (the first station after passing the undefended trench) from whence they started to begin their retreat uider the conduct of Ariaeus, and the point where they traversed the Wai? of Media.