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The March of the Ten Thousand: Sourcing Xenophon

Grade 6 geography: source an adapted excerpt from Xenophon's Anabasis to see how desert, mountains and sea shaped a Greek army's march.

Grade 6Social StudiesInteractive · Printable

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11 questions
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Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 6
Subject: Social Studies
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students source an adapted eyewitness account by its author, date and purpose.
Students explain how a desert, mountains and the sea shaped contact, trade and conflict on an ancient journey.

How to use

Read the background together, then have students read the excerpt part by part and mark each landform before answering. Discuss the sourcing questions before students write the claim.

Curriculum

C3 Framework standard covered

GEO.6.2

Explain how mountains, seas and deserts shaped contact, trade and conflict among ancient peoples, such as in Greece and along the Silk Road.

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The March of the Ten Thousand: Sourcing Xenophon

Source an eyewitness account to see how desert, mountains and sea shaped a Greek army's journey.

Background

Read the background. Then answer the questions.

Ten Thousand Greeks Far from Home

1In 401 BCE, an army of about 10,000 Greek soldiers marched deep into the Persian Empire. They were mercenaries, soldiers paid to fight. They had been hired by Cyrus the Younger, a Persian prince who wanted to take the throne from his brother, King Artaxerxes II. Most of the soldiers came from Greek cities on or near the Aegean Sea.

2Cyrus led the army east across Asia Minor and then down the Euphrates River toward Babylon. At the Battle of Cunaxa, not far from Babylon, Cyrus was killed. Soon afterward, Persian commanders invited the Greek generals to a meeting and seized them. The soldiers, now more than 1,000 miles from home, chose new leaders. One of them was a young Athenian named Xenophon.

3Instead of going back the way they had come, the Greeks turned north. They followed the Tigris River into the mountains of the Carduchians and then crossed the high, cold land of Armenia. Their goal was the Black Sea. Greek settlers had founded colonies along its southern shore, such as Trapezus, and ships from these ports traded with cities around the Aegean. The army reached Trapezus in 400 BCE.

4Years later, Xenophon wrote an account of the march called the Anabasis, or "The March Up Country." He wrote about himself as "Xenophon," as if another person were telling the story. Historians value the Anabasis because its author was there. Still, many historians think he wrote it about 30 years after the march, and he often shows his own choices in a good light.

Use paragraphs 3 and 4. BCE years count down toward year 1, so a later year has a smaller number. Subtract the years.

If Xenophon wrote about 30 years after the march ended in 400 BCE, he wrote in about BCE.

Based on paragraph 4, what is the best reason a historian should use the Anabasis with care?

A. Xenophon wrote it long afterward and was a leader.
B. A Persian commander who hated the Greeks wrote it.
C. It was carved on stone, so it leaves most events out.
D. Xenophon stayed home in Athens and used rumors.

Source the excerpt

Read the source note and the excerpt. Then answer the questions.

About the source: The excerpt below is adapted from a translation of Xenophon's Anabasis. Part 1 comes from the march toward Babylon, before the battle. Parts 2 to 4 come from the march north to the Black Sea.

From the Anabasis (adapted)

Part 1. Beside the Euphrates. In this region the land was a plain, as level as the sea and covered with wormwood. Every shrub or reed that grew there smelled sweet, like spices, but there were no trees. Wild asses and ostriches lived on the plain. Many of the pack animals died of hunger, because there was no grass or any other plant for them to eat. The people who lived here cut millstones from the riverbank and carried them by boat down to Babylon, where they sold them and bought grain to live on.

Part 2. The land of the Carduchians. Prisoners told the Greeks that the Carduchians lived in the mountains, were fierce fighters and did not obey the King. Once, the prisoners said, a royal army of 120,000 men had marched into these mountains, and not one man came back, because the ground was so difficult. For seven days the Greeks marched through the Carduchians' land, fighting the whole time. The Carduchians gathered on the heights above the narrow paths, shot arrows, slung stones and rolled great boulders down the slopes. In those seven days the Greeks suffered more than in all their troubles from the King and his commanders.

Part 3. Armenia in winter. Snow fell about six feet deep. Many pack animals and enslaved servants died, and about thirty soldiers. Some men lost their sight from the glare of the snow, and others lost their toes to the cold. In the villages the houses were underground, with an opening at the top like a well. Goats, sheep, cattle and chickens lived inside with the families. There were stores of wheat, barley and beans, and barley drink in bowls, with reeds for drinking it.

Part 4. The sea. When the men at the front reached the top of a mountain, they began to shout. Xenophon thought enemies were attacking. But the shouting grew louder as more men arrived, and at last he heard what they were crying: "The sea! The sea!" Then everyone ran up, and soldiers, generals and captains embraced one another with tears in their eyes. A few days later they reached Trapezus, a Greek city on the Black Sea. Its people set up a market for the army and gave the soldiers gifts of cattle, barley meal and wine. The army stayed about 30 days and held athletic games.

Circle the sentence from Part 1 that shows the people of the desert plain depended on contact with a city.

Wild asses and ostriches lived on the plain.Many of the pack animals died of hunger, because there was no grass or any other plant for them to eat.The people who lived here cut millstones from the riverbank and carried them by boat down to Babylon, where they sold them and bought grain to live on.

Use paragraph 3 of the background and Part 1. What was most likely one reason the Greeks did not go back the way they had come?

A. Cyrus had ordered them to march north to Armenia.
B. The desert plain had little food for their animals.
C. The northern mountains were easier to cross than the plain.
D. The Carduchians had invited them into their mountains.

Part 2 says a royal army of 120,000 once marched into the mountains and "not one man came back." How should a historian treat this claim?

A. As proof the Carduchians had the largest army in Asia
B. As a number copied from the Persian king's records
C. As a count Xenophon made himself on the march
D. As a story from prisoners that may be exaggerated

Based on Part 2, how could the Carduchians do so much harm to a much larger army?

A. They had more soldiers than the Greeks had.
B. They attacked from heights above narrow paths.
C. They cut off the river water the Greeks drank.
D. They surrounded the Greeks on a level plain.

Based on Part 3, how did Armenian villagers' homes fit their snowy mountain land?

A. Families lived in tents and followed herds to warm valleys.
B. Families and animals shared underground houses.
C. Families lived on boats, where the snow could not pile up.
D. Families built tall stone towers to watch for snowstorms.

Sort each event from the background and the excerpt. Is it an example of peaceful contact and trade, or of conflict?

Desert people sell millstones in Babylon and buy grain.Persian commanders seize the Greek generals at a meeting.Carduchians roll boulders onto the Greeks on narrow paths.The people of Trapezus set up a market for the army.A royal army marches into the Carduchians' mountains.Ships from Black Sea ports trade with Aegean cities.

Peaceful contact or trade	Conflict

Weigh the evidence

Use the background and the excerpt.

Use paragraph 3 of the background and Part 4. Why did the sight of the sea bring the soldiers to tears?

A. The Persian king had promised to pay them there.
B. Most of them were seeing a sea for the first time.
C. Greek cities and ships on its shores meant a way home.
D. They believed the sea would stop the Armenian snow.

10.

In Part 4, Xenophon tells of his own fear and the men's tears. What is this part of the source most useful for?

A. Learning how the soldiers felt as the march ended
B. Finding the route that later trade ships sailed
C. Learning the Persian king's plans for the Greeks
D. Counting how many soldiers were still alive

11.

Claim: For the Ten Thousand, the land itself was a greater danger than the Persian army. Do you agree, disagree or partly agree? Use evidence from at least two parts of the excerpt, explain your reasoning, and name one reason to be careful with Xenophon as a source.