Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/91

Rh feasting his friends, and writing his histories." And ere long he had in Scillus a charming souvenir of his adventures with the Cyreian army. To explain this it must be mentioned that when the Greek army reached the Euxine in their retreat, they sold the prisoners whom they had taken in various skirmishes by the way, and divided the proceeds. The tenth part of the money realised was set apart to be dedicated to Apollo and to Diana of Ephesus, and each general was intrusted with a portion of this sum to take charge of. It seems probable that Xenophon was forced, by the exigencies of the subsequent march, to spend the portion which had been intrusted to him. But when he returned to Athens, enriched with the ransom of Asidates, he caused an offering to Apollo to be made, and to be inscribed with his own name and that of his friend Proxenus, and this he sent to Delphi. Afterwards, when serving with Agesilaus in Asia, he replaced the amount which was due to the goddess Diana, and handed it over for safe keeping to Megabyzus, the warden of her temple at Ephesus. He stipulated that if he should fall in the campaign, Megabyzus was to devote the money to an offering in the Ephesian temple, but otherwise to restore it to him.

When Xenophon had taken up his abode at Scillus, Megabyzus came over on one occasion to see the Olympic games, and he brought with him the deposit and restored it. Xenophon invested the money in lands to be devoted in permanence to the goddess. Not only had Diana signified her approval of the site