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The March of the Ten Thousand: Sourcing Xenophon

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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.

1.
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.

2.
Based on paragraph 4, what is the best reason a historian should use the Anabasis with care?
Question 2 options

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.

3.
Circle the sentence from Part 1 that shows the people of the desert plain depended on contact with a city.

4.
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?
Question 4 options
5.
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?
Question 5 options
6.
Based on Part 2, how could the Carduchians do so much harm to a much larger army?
Question 6 options
7.
Based on Part 3, how did Armenian villagers' homes fit their snowy mountain land?
Question 7 options
8.
Sort each event from the background and the excerpt. Is it an example of peaceful contact and trade, or of conflict?

Weigh the evidence

Use the background and the excerpt.

9.
Use paragraph 3 of the background and Part 4. Why did the sight of the sea bring the soldiers to tears?
Question 9 options
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?
Question 10 options
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.