Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/89

Rh (from March 401 to March 399 ) must have been on both sides cordial and pleasant. The ten thousand Greeks had been reduced by casualties and dispersion to six thousand; and of this force Thimbron, coming to Pergamus, took the command. The Cyreian contingent now lost its distinctive existence. It was merged in the army which, under Thimbron, and afterwards under the far abler Dercylidas who superseded him, carried on a successful campaign against the Persian satraps, and secured for a time the independence of the Greek cities in Asia Minor. Doubtless many of the old comrades of Xenophon returned, like himself, enriched to their homes. And doubtless many a Greek fireside during many a winter time was enlivened by tales of the Expedition of Cyrus and the Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks.

Xenophon's return to Athens must have taken place within a few weeks of the death of his master Socrates. He appears to have diligently collected particulars of the accusation, trial, and death of the sage, and to have added them to his former notes of the conversations of Socrates. But it appears probable that he did not bring out his 'Recollections' till a later period of his own life, when he had settled down to literary pursuits. "Within three years he had again quitted his home, and was serving under the Lacedæmonian king Agesilaus in the still protracted war against the Persians in Asia Minor. But now a fresh shuffle of the political cards in Greece took place; for the Athenians, together with the Thebans and others, formed an alliance with the King of Persia; and thus