Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/39

Rh Mesopotamia and Arabia. But it is not likely that he really meant to undergo all the difficulties of conducting the Greeks home by way of the Tigris. In all probability he used the offer of the Greeks to intimidate Artaxerxes, and to obtain an amnesty for himself on condition of abandoning his allies, which, in fact, he immediately did.

In the mean time the vacillation of the Persians was wonderful. They not only did not attack the Greeks, but instead of starving them in the barren country, they admitted them within the wall of Media, where they could get plenty of provisions, and where they might have used the canals and rivers as defences, which would have enabled them to hold an almost impregnable position, and where they might have made a military settlement threatening the very existence of the reigning dynasty. Presently this danger appears to have occurred to the Persians, and with it the expediency of "making a golden bridge for a flying enemy." For they sent Tissaphernes the satrap to profess friendly feelings for the Greeks, and to offer to escort them back to Greece. Under his guidance the Greeks crossed two of the canals, and arrived at Sitace, a town on the Tigris a little below Bagdad. Here they received false information that the Persians were going to destroy the bridge over the Tigris. This news was fabricated with the view of hurrying them out of Babylonia, lest at the last moment they should resolve to settle there. The ruse was successful, for the Greeks guarded the bridge during a night, and next morning crossed it with all expedition.