For at least two millennia, it has been debated whether or not Xenophon was first and foremost a general, historian, or philosopher. For the majority of time in the past two millennia, Xenophon was recognized as a philosopher.Quintilian inThe Orator's Education discusses the most prominent historians, orators and philosophers as examples of eloquence and recognizes Xenophon's historical work, but ultimately places Xenophon next toPlato as a philosopher. Today, Xenophon is recognized as one of the greatest writers of antiquity.[6] Xenophon's works span multiple genres and are written in plainAttic Greek, which is why they have often been used in translation exercises for contemporary students of theAncient Greek language. In theLives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers,Diogenes Laërtius observed that Xenophon was known as the "Attic Muse" because of the sweetness of his diction.[7]
Despite being born anAthenian citizen, Xenophon came to be associated withSparta, the traditional opponent of Athens. Much of what is known today about the Spartan society comes from Xenophon's royal biography of the Spartan kingAgesilaus and theConstitution of the Lacedaemonians. The sub-satrapMania is primarily known through Xenophon's writings. Xenophon'sAnabasis recounts his adventures with theTen Thousand while in the service ofCyrus the Younger, Cyrus's failed campaign to claim the Persian throne fromArtaxerxes II of Persia, and the return of Greek mercenaries after Cyrus's death in theBattle of Cunaxa.
Xenophon was bornc. 430 BC[9] in thedeme (local district) ofErchia inAthens; his father was called Gryllus (Γρύλλος) and belonged to an Athenian aristocratic family.[10][11] ThePeloponnesian War was being waged throughout Xenophon's childhood and youth.[12] A contemporary ofPlato, Xenophon associated withSocrates, as was common for wealthy young men in this period, and probably served in the Athenian cavalry.[13][12] He appears to have remained in Athens during the overthrow of Athenian democracy under theThirty Tyrants, and fought democratic insurgents in the civil war of 403–404.[13] Accounts of events inHellenica suggest that Xenophon personally witnessed tumultuous political events such as thereturn of Alcibiades in 407 BC, thetrial of the generals in 406 BC, and the overthrow of theThirty Tyrants in 403 BC.
Personally invited by Proxenus of Beotia (Anabasis 3.1.9), one of the captains in Cyrus's mercenary army, Xenophon, sailed toEphesus to meetCyrus the Younger and participate in Cyrus's military campaign againstTissaphernes, the Persiansatrap ofIonia. Xenophon describes his life in 401 BC and 400 BC in the memoirAnabasis.
Written years after the events it recounts, Xenophon's bookAnabasis (Greek: ἀνάβασις, literally "going up")[14] is his record of the expedition of Cyrus and the Greek mercenaries' journey to home.[15] Xenophon writes that he asked Socrates for advice on whether to go with Cyrus and that Socrates referred him to thePythia. Xenophon's query to the oracle, however, was not whether or not to accept Cyrus' invitation, but "to which of the gods he must pray and do sacrifice, so that he might best accomplish his intended journey and return in safety, with good fortune". The oracle answered his question and told him which gods to pray and sacrifice to. When Xenophon returned to Athens and told Socrates of the oracle's advice, Socrates chastised him for asking so disingenuous a question (Anabasis 3.1.5–7).
Under the pretext of fightingTissaphernes, the Persiansatrap ofIonia, Cyrus assembled a massive army composed of native Persian soldiers and Greeks. Prior to waging war against Artaxerxes, Cyrus proposed that the enemy was thePisidians, and so the Greeks were unaware that they were to battle against the larger army of King Artaxerxes II (Anabasis 1.1.8–11). AtTarsus, the soldiers became aware of Cyrus's plans to depose the king and, as a result, refused to continue (Anabasis 1.3.1). However,Clearchus, a Spartan general, convinced the Greeks to continue with the expedition. The army of Cyrus met the army of Artaxerxes II in theBattle of Cunaxa. Cyrus was killed in the battle (Anabasis 1.8.27–1.9.1). Shortly thereafter, Clearchus was invited by Tissaphernes to a feast, where, alongside four other generals and many captains, including Xenophon's friend Proxenus, he was captured and executed (Anabasis 2.5.31–32).
19th-century illustration of Xenophon leading his Ten Thousand through Persia to the Black Sea
Themercenaries, known as theTen Thousand, had no leadership in territory nearMesopotamia. They elected new leaders, including Xenophon himself. Dodge says of Xenophon's generalship, "Xenophon is the father of the system of retreat [...] He reduced its management to a perfect method."[16]
Xenophon and his men initially had to deal with volleys by a minor force of harassing Persian missile cavalry. One night, Xenophon formed a body of archers and light cavalry. When the Persian cavalry arrived the next day, now firing within several yards, Xenophon unleashed his new cavalry, killing many and routing the rest.[17] Tissaphernes pursued Xenophon, and when the Greeks reached theGreat Zab river, one of the men devised a plan: goats, cows, sheep, and donkeys were to be slaughtered and their bodies stuffed with hay, sewn up, laid across the river, and covered with dirt so as not to be slippery and be used as a bridge to cross the river. This plan was discarded as impractical.
Dodge notes, "On this retreat also was first shown the necessary, if cruel, means of arresting a pursuing enemy by the systematic devastation of the country traversed and the destruction of its villages to deprive him of food and shelter. And Xenophon is moreover the first who established in rear of the phalanx a reserve from which he could at will feed weak parts of his line. This was a superb first conception."[18]
The Ten Thousand eventually made their way into the land of theCarduchians, a wild tribe inhabiting the mountains of modern southeastern Turkey. "Once the Great King had sent into their country an army of 120,000 men, to subdue them, but of all that great host not one had ever seen his home again."[20] The Ten Thousand were shot at with stones and arrows for several days before they reached a defile where the main Carduchian host sat. Xenophon had 8,000 men feint and marched the other 2,000 to a pass revealed by a prisoner under the cover of a rainstorm, and at daylight, they pushed in.[21]
After the fighting, the Greeks went to the northern foothills of the mountains at the Centrites River, later finding a Persian force blocking the route north. Xenophon's scouts found another ford, but the Persians blocked this as well. Xenophon sent a small force back toward the other ford, causing the Persians to detach a major part of their force parallel. Xenophon overwhelmed the force at his ford.
Winter has arrived as the Greeks marched through Armenia "absolutely unprovided with clothing suitable for such weather".[22] The Greeks decided to attack a wooden castle known to have had storage. The castle was stationed on a hill surrounded by forest. Xenophon ordered small parties of his men to appear on the hill road, and when the defenders shot at them, one soldier would leap into the trees. Then, "the other men followed his example [...] When the stones were almost exhausted, the soldiers raced one another over the exposed part of the road", storming the fortress with most of the garrison now neutralized.[23]
Soon after, Xenophon's men reachedTrapezus on the coast of theBlack Sea (Anabasis 4.8.22). Before their departure, the Greeks made an alliance with the locals and fought one last battle against theColchians, vassals of the Persians. Xenophon ordered his men to deploy the line extremely thin so as to overlap the enemy. The Colchians divided their army to check the Greek deployment, opening a gap in their line through which Xenophon rushed in his reserves.[24] They then made their way westward back to Greek territory viaChrysopolis (Anabasis 6.3.16). Once there, they helpedSeuthes II make himself king ofThrace before being recruited into the army of the Spartan generalThimbron (whom Xenophon refers to as Thibron).
Xenophon's conduct of the retreat caused Dodge to name the Athenian knight the greatest general that preceded Alexander the Great.[25]
Xenophon'sAnabasis ends in 399 BC in the city ofPergamon with the arrival of the Spartan commanderThimbron. Thimbron's campaign is described inHellenica.[26] In the describtors, after capturingTeuthrania andHalisarna, the Greeks led by Thimbron lay siege toLarissa. Failing to capture Larissa, the Greeks fall back toCaria. As a result, theephors of Sparta recall Thimbron and sendDercylidas to lead the Greek army. After facing the court at Sparta, Thimbron is banished. Xenophon describes Dercylidas as a significantly more experienced commander than Thimbron.
Led by Dercylidas, Xenophon and the Greek army march to Aeolis and capture nine cities in 8 days, includingLarissa,Hamaxitus, andKolonai.[27] The Persians negotiated a temporary truce, and the Greek army retired for a winter camp atByzantium. In 398 BC, Xenophon captured the city ofLampsacus. The Spartan ephors officially cleared theTen Thousand of any previous wrongdoing (the Ten Thousand were likely a part of the investigation of Thimbron's failure at Larissa) and integrated the Ten Thousand into Dercylidas' army.Hellenica mentions the response of the commander of the Ten Thousand, "But men of Lacedaemon, we are the same men now as we were last year; but the commander now is one man (Dercylidas), and in the past was another (Thimbron). Therefore you are at once able to judge for yourselves the reason why we are not at fault now, although we were then."[27]
In 397 BC, Dercylidas' force mirrored the movement ofTissaphernes' andPharnabazus' forces nearEphesus but did not engage in battle. The Persian army retreated toTralles and the Greeks toLeucophrys. Dercylidas proposed the new terms of truce to Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus and the three parties submitted the truce proposal to Sparta and the Persian king for ratification. Under Dercylidas' proposal, the Persians abandoned claims to independent Greek cities in Ionia, and the Spartans withdrew the army.
In 396 BC, the newly appointed Spartan king,Agesilaus, arrived at Ephesus and assumed command of the army from Dercylidas. Xenophon joined Agesilaus' campaign for the Ionian Greece independence of 396–394 BC. In 394 BC, Agesilaus' army returned to Greece, taking the route of the Persian invasion eighty years earlier and fought in theBattle of Coronea. Athens banished Xenophon for fighting on the Spartan side. Xenophon probably followed Agesilaus' march to Sparta in 394 BC and finished his military journey after seven years. Xenophon received an estate inScillus where he spent the next twenty-three years. In 371 BC, after theBattle of Leuctra, theElians confiscated Xenophon's estate, and, according toDiogenes Laërtius, Xenophon moved toCorinth.[28] Diogenes writes that Xenophon lived in Corinth until his death in 354 BC, at around the age of 74 or 75.Pausanias mentions Xenophon's tomb inScillus.[29]
Xenophon wrote theCyropaedia to outline his political and moral philosophy. He did this by endowing a fictional version of the boyhood ofCyrus the Great, founder of the firstPersian Empire, with the qualities of what Xenophon considered the ideal ruler. Historians have asked whether Xenophon's portrait of Cyrus was accurate or if Xenophon imbued Cyrus with events from Xenophon's own life. There is a consensus that Cyrus's career is best outlined in theHistories ofHerodotus.[32] Herodotus contradicts Xenophon at several other points. Herodotus says that Cyrus led a rebellion against his maternal grandfather,Astyages, king ofMedia, and defeated him, thereafter keeping Astyages in his court for the remainder of his life (Histories 1.130). The Medes were thus "reduced to subjection" (1.130) and became "slaves" (1.129) to the Persians 20 years before the capture of Babylon in 539 BC.
TheCyropaedia relates instead that Astyages died and was succeeded by his son,Cyaxares II, the maternal uncle of Cyrus (1.5.2). In the initial campaign against the Lydians, Babylonians, and their allies, the Medians were led by Cyaxares and the Persians by Cyrus, who was crown prince of the Persians since his father was still alive (4.5.17). Xenophon relates that at this time the Medes were the strongest of the kingdoms that opposed the Babylonians (1.5.2). In the Harran Stele, a document from the court ofNabonidus wrote the same point.[33] In the entry for year 14 or 15 of his reign (542–540 BC), Nabonidus speaks of his enemies as the kings of Egypt, the Medes, and the Arabs. There is no mention of the Persians; according to Herodotus and the current consensus, the Medians had been made "slaves" of the Persians several years previously. An archaeologicalbas-reliefs in the stairway atPersepolis shows no distinction in official status between the Persian and Median. Olmstead nevertheless wrote, "Medes were honored equally with Persians; they were employed in high office and were chosen to lead Persian armies."[34]
Bas-reliefs ofPersian soldiers together withMedian soldiers are prevalent in Persepolis. The ones with rounded caps are Median.
Both Herodotus (1.123,214) and Xenophon (1.5.1,2,4, 8.5.20) present Cyrus as about 40 years old when his forces captured Babylon. In theNabonidus Chronicle, there is mention of the death of the wife of the king (name not given) within a month after the capture of Babylon.[35] It has been conjectured that this was Cyrus's first wife;Cyropaedia's stated (8.5.19) that Cyaxares II gave his daughter in marriage to Cyrus soon after the fall of the city, with the kingdom of Media as her dowry.
TheCyropaedia praises the first Persian emperor,Cyrus the Great, and it was through his greatness that the Persian Empire held together. However, following the lead ofLeo Strauss, David Johnson suggests that there is a subtle layer to the book in which Xenophon conveys criticism of the Persians, the Spartans, and the Athenians.[36] In section 4.3 of theCyropaedia, Cyrus wrote his desire to institute cavalry. He wrote that he desires that no Persiankalokagathos ("noble and good man" literally, or simply "noble") ever be seen on foot but always on a horse, so much so that the Persians may actually seem to becentaurs (4.3.22–23).
Xenophon plays upon the post-Persian-war propagandistic paradigm of using mythological imagery to represent theGreco-Persian conflict. Examples of this include the wedding of theLapiths,Gigantomachy,Trojan War, andAmazonomachy on theParthenon frieze. Johnson believes that the unstable dichotomy of man and horse found in a centaur is indicative of the unstable alliance of Persian and Mede formulated by Cyrus.[36] He cites the regression of the Persians directly after the death of Cyrus as the result of this instability, a union made possible only through Cyrus.[36]
The strength of Cyrus in holding the empire together is praiseworthy, according to Xenophon. However, the empire began to decline upon the death of Cyrus. By this example, Xenophon sought to show that empires lacked stability and could only be maintained by a person of remarkable prowess, such as Cyrus.[36]
Xenophon displays Cyrus as a lofty, temperate man. He is depicted as not subject to the foibles of others. He used the example of the Persians to decry the attempts at empire made by Athens and Sparta.[37] Having written theCyropaedia after the downfall of Athens in thePeloponnesian War, this work criticizes the Greek attempts at empire and "monarchy".
Another passage that Johnson cites as criticism of monarchy and empire concerns the devaluation of thehomotīmoi ("equal", or "same honours", i.e., "peers").Homotīmoi were highly educated and thus became the core of the soldiers as heavy infantry. Their band (1000 when Cyrus fought theAssyrians) shared equally in the spoils of war.[36] However, in the face of overwhelming numbers against the Assyrians, Cyrus armed the commoners with similar arms instead of their normal light ranged armament (Cyropaedia 2.1.9).
Argument ensued as to how the spoils would now be split, and Cyrus enforced ameritocracy. Manyhomotīmoi found this unfair because their military training was no better than the commoners, only their education, and hand-to-hand combat was less a matter of skill than strength and bravery. As Johnson asserts, this passage decries imperial meritocracy and corruption, for thehomotīmoi now had to ingratiate themselves to the emperor for positions and honours;[36] from this point, they were referred to asentīmoi, no longer of the "same honours" but having to be "in" to get the honour.
The Spartans wrote nothing about themselves, or if they did it, it is lost. Xenophon, in the Constitution of the Spartans, wrote:
It occurred to me one day that Sparta, though among the most thinly populated of states, was evidently the most powerful and most celebrated city in Greece; and I fell to wondering how this could have happened. But when I considered the institutions of the Spartans, I wondered no longer.[38]
Xenophon goes on to describe in detail the main aspects ofLaconia.
A short treatise on theConstitution of the Athenians exists that was once thought to be written by Xenophon was probably written when Xenophon was about five years old. The author, often called in English the "Old Oligarch" or Pseudo-Xenophon,[39] detests thedemocracy of Athens and the poorer classes, but he argues that the Periclean institutions are well designed for their deplorable purposes.
Xenophon's works include a selection of Socratic dialogues; these writings are preserved. Except for the dialogues ofPlato, they are the only surviving representatives of the genre ofSocratic dialogue. These works include Xenophon'sApology,Memorabilia,Symposium, andOeconomicus. TheSymposium outlines the character ofSocrates as he and his companions discuss what attributes they take pride in. One of the main plots of theSymposium is about the type of loving relationship (noble orbase) a rich aristocrat will be able to establish with a young boy (present at the banquet alongside his own father). InOeconomicus, Socrates explains how to manage a household. Both theApology and theMemorabilia defend Socrates' character and teachings. The former is set during the trial of Socrates, while the latter explains his moral principles and that he was not a corrupter of the youth.
Although Xenophon claims to have been present at theSymposium, he was only a young boy at the date on which he proposes. Xenophon was not present at the trial of Socrates, having been on campaign inAnatolia andMesopotamia. It seems that Xenophon wrote hisApology andMemorabilia as defences of his former teacher and to further the philosophic project, not to present a literal transcript of Socrates' response to the historical charges incurred.[40]
Xenophon was a student of Socrates. In hisLives of Eminent Philosophers, the Greek biographer Diogenes Laërtius (who writes many centuries later) reports how Xenophon met Socrates. "They say that Socrates met [Xenophon] in a narrow lane, and put his stick across it and prevented him from passing by, asking him where all kinds of necessary things were sold. And when he had answered him, he asked him again where men were made good and virtuous. And as he did not know, he said, 'Follow me, then, and learn.' And from this time forth, Xenophon became a follower of Socrates."[41] Diogenes Laërtius also relates an incident "when in thebattle of Delium Xenophon had fallen from his horse" and Socrates reputedly "stepped in and saved his life."[42]
Both Plato and Xenophon wroteApology concerning the death of Socrates. Xenophon and Plato seem to be concerned with the failures of Socrates to defend himself. Xenophon asserts that Socrates dealt with his prosecution in an exceedingly arrogant manner, or at least was perceived to have spoken arrogantly. Conversely, while not omitting it completely, Plato worked to temper that arrogance in his ownApology. Xenophon framed Socrates' defense, which both men admit was not prepared at all, not as a failure to argue, but as striving for death even in the light of unconvincing charges. As Danzig interprets it, convincing the jury to condemn him even on unconvincing charges would be a rhetorical challenge worthy of the great persuader.[40] By contrast, Plato argued that Socrates was attempting to demonstrate a higher moral standard and teach a lesson.[40]
Xenophon's lessons on leadership have been reconsidered for their modern-day value.[43] TheCyropaedia, in outlining Cyrus as an ideal leader, is the work that O'Flannery suggests be used as a guide or example for those striving to be leaders. The linking of moral code and education is a quality subscribed to Cyrus that O'Flannery believes is in line with modern perceptions of leadership.[43]
Xenophon dictating his history, illustration from 'Hutchinson's History of the Nations', 1915King's Peace, promulgated byArtaxerxes II, 387 BC, as reported by Xenophon.
Xenophon's entire classical corpus is extant.[44] The following is a list of his works.
Anabasis (also:The Persian Expedition orThe March Up Country or TheExpedition of Cyrus): Provides an early life biography of Xenophon.Anabasis was used as a field guide byAlexander the Great during the early phases of his expedition into theAchaemenid Empire.
Cyropaedia (also:The Education of Cyrus): Sometimes seen as the archetype of the European "mirror of princes" genre.
Hellenica: HisHellenica is a major primary source for events in Greece from 411 to 362 BC, and is the continuation of theHistory of the Peloponnesian War byThucydides, going so far as to begin with the phrase "Following these events...". The Hellenica recounts the last seven years of the Peloponnesian War, as well as its aftermath, and is a detailed and direct account (however partial to Sparta) of the history of Greece until 362 BC.
Agesilaus: The biography of Agesilaus II, king of Sparta and companion of Xenophon.
These works were probably written by Xenophon when he was living inScillus. His days were likely spent in relative leisure here, and he wrote these treatises about the sorts of activities he spent time on.
On Horsemanship: Treatise on how to break, train, and care for horses.
Hipparchikos: Outlines the duties of a cavalry officer.
Hunting with Dogs: Treatise on the proper methods of hunting with dogs and the advantages of hunting.
Ways and Means: Describes how Athens should deal with financial and economic crisis.
^Theodore Ayrault Dodge,Alexander: A History of the Origin and Growth of the Art of War from Earliest Times to the Battle of Ipsus, B.C. 301, Vol. 1,Houghton Mifflin, 1890,p. 105.
^Gray, Vivienne J., ed. (2010).Xenophon (Oxford Readings in Classical Studies). Xenophon's works and controversies about how to read them: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0199216185.
^Tuplin 2012, p. 1580: "Xenophon, son of Gryllus, from the Athenian deme of Erchia, born into a rich but politcally inactive family around 430 BC".
^Sacks & Murray 1995, p. 268: "Born into a rich, aristocratic family at Athens [...] he married an Athenian woman, Philesia, and had two sons, Gryllus (named for Xenophon's father) and Diodorus".
^Steven W. Hirsch, "1001 Iranian Nights: History and Fiction in Xenophon'sCyropaedia", inThe Greek Historians: Literature and History: Papers Presented to A. E. Raubitschek. Saratoga CA: ANMA Libr, 1985, p. 80.
^Pritchard, James B., ed. (1969).Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (3rd ed.). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. pp. 562–63.
^Olmsted, A. T. (1948).History of the Persian Empire. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. p. 37.
^abcdefJohnson, D. M. 2005. "Persians as Centaurs in Xenophon's ‘Cyropaedia'",Transactions of the American Philological Association. Vol 135, No. 1, pp. 177–207.
^Johnson, D. M. 2005. "Persians as Centaurs in Xenophon's ‘Cyropaedia'",Transactions of the American Philological Association. Vol 135, No. 1, pp. 177–207
^abcDanzig, Gabriel. 2003. "Apologizing for Socrates: Plato and Xenophon on Socrates' Behavior in Court." Transactions of the American Philological Association. Vol. 133, No. 2, pp. 281–321.
^Laertius, Diogenes. "Socrates".Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.
^abO'Flannery, Jennifer. 2003. "Xenophon's (The Education of Cyrus) and Ideal Leadership Lessons for Modern Public Administration." Public Administration Quarterly. Vol. 27, No. 1/2, pp. 41–64.
^See for example theLandmark edition of Xenophon's Hellenika. In the preface Strassler writes (xxi), "Fifteen works were transmitted through antiquity under Xenophon's name, and fortunately all fifteen have come down to us".
Bradley, Patrick J. "Irony and the Narrator in Xenophon's Anabasis", inXenophon. Ed. Vivienne J. Gray. Oxford University Press, 2010 (ISBN978-0199216185.
Brennan, Shane.Xenophon's Anabasis: A Socratic History. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022 (ISBN978-1474489881)
Buzzetti, Eric.Xenophon the Socratic Prince: The Argument of the Anabasis of Cyrus. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014 (hardcover,ISBN978-1137333308).
Xénophon et Socrate: actes du colloque d'Aix-en-Provence (6–9 novembre 2003). Ed. par Narcy, Michel and Alonso Tordesillas. Paris: J. Vrin, 2008. 322 p. Bibliothèque d'histoire de la philosophie. Nouvelle série,ISBN978-2711619870.
Dodge, Theodore Ayrault. “Alexander. A History of the Origin and Growth of the Art of War, from the Earliest Times to the Battle of Ipsus, b.c. 301”. Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company: 1890. pp. 105–112
Dillery, John.Xenophon and the History of His Times. London; New York: Routledge, 1995 (hardcover,ISBN041509139X).
Gray, V.J.The Years 375 to 371 BC: A Case Study in the Reliability of Diodorus Siculus and Xenophon,The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 2. (1980), pp. 306–326.
Gray, V. J.,Xenophon on Government. Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics. Cambridge University Press (2007).
Higgins, William Edward.Xenophon the Athenian: The Problem of the Individual and the Society of the "Polis". Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977 (hardcover,ISBN087395369X).
Hirsch, Steven W.The Friendship of the Barbarians: Xenophon and the Persian Empire. Hanover; London: University Press of New England, 1985 (hardcover,ISBN978-0874513226).
Hutchinson, Godfrey.Xenophon and the Art of Command. London: Greenhill Books, 2000 (hardcover,ISBN1853674176).
The Long March: Xenophon and the Ten Thousand, edited by Robin Lane Fox. New Heaven, Connecticut; London: Yale University Press, 2004 (hardcover,ISBN0300104030).
Kierkegaard, Søren A.The Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992 (ISBN978-0691020723)
Moles, J.L. "Xenophon and Callicratidas",The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 114. (1994), pp. 70–84.
Nadon, Christopher.Xenophon's Prince: Republic and Empire in the "Cyropaedia". Berkeley; Los Angeles; London: University of California Press, 2001 (hardcover,ISBN0520224043).
Norwood, Gilbert (1930). "The Earliest Prose Work of Athens".The Classical Journal.25 (5).
Nussbaum, G.B.The Ten Thousand: A Study in Social Organization and Action in Xenophon's "Anabasis". (Social and Economic Commentaries on Classical Texts; 4). Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1967.
Phillips, A.A & Willcock M.M.Xenophon & Arrian On Hunting With Hounds, containsCynegeticus original texts, translations & commentary. Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1999 (paperbackISBN0856687065).
Pomeroy, Sarah,Xenophon, Oeconomicus: A social and historical commentary, with a new English translation. Clarendon Press, 1994.
Rahn, Peter J. "Xenophon's Developing Historiography",Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 102. (1971), pp. 497–508.
Rood, Tim.The Sea! The Sea!: The Shout of the Ten Thousand in the Modern Imagination. London: Duckworth Publishing, 2004 (paperback,ISBN0715633082); Woodstock, New York; New York: The Overlook Press, (hardcover,ISBN1585676640); 2006 (paperback,ISBN1585678244).
Strassler, Robert B., John Marincola, & David Thomas.The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika. New York: Pantheon Books, 2009 (hardcover,ISBN978-0375422553).
Strauss, Leo.Xenophon's Socrates. Ithaca, New York; London: Cornell University Press, 1972 (hardcover,ISBN0801407125); South Bend, Indiana: St. Augustines Press, 2004 (paperback,ISBN1587319667).
Stronk, J.P.The Ten Thousand in Thrace: An Archaeological and Historical Commentary on Xenophon's Anabasis, Books VI,iii–vi – VIII(Amsterdam Classical Monographs; 2). Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 1995 (hardcover,ISBN905063396X).
Tuplin, Christopher J. (2012). "Xenophon". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.).The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN9780191735257. Retrieved29 August 2024.
Usher, S. "Xenophon, Critias and Theramenes",The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 88. (1968), pp. 128–135.
Witt, Prof. C. “The Retreat of the Ten Thousand”. Longmans, Green and Co.: 1912.
Waterfield, Robin.Xenophon's Retreat: Greece, Persia and the End of the Golden Age. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006 (hardcover,ISBN0674023560); London: Faber and Faber, 2006 (hardcover,ISBN978-0571223831).
