Chapter 39 Volume Five VII

At this time, the soldiers found out that this plan was brewing.Neon said that Xenophon had persuaded the other generals to deceive the soldiers and lead them back to the Phasis River.Hearing this, the soldiers were very angry. They held many meetings and gathered many people, fearing that they might do what they had done to the Colcean messengers and market clerks.When Xenophon learned of this situation, he decided to call a general assembly of soldiers as soon as possible, so as not to let them gather by themselves.So he sent a herald to call a meeting.The soldiers assembled as soon as they heard the herald's words.At this time Xenophon did not mention the matter of the generals who came to see him, but spoke as follows:

"My brethren, I have heard that I am being accused of deceiving you and taking you to the Phasis. Then, by the gods, listen to me, and if I make a mistake, I will not You shall leave this place with impunity. But if you see that my accusers have made a mistake, they shall receive what they deserve." He continued, "You all know, no doubt, where the sun rises and where it sets. Likewise Also know that if a man goes to Greece, he must go west; but if he wants to go to the land of the Gentiles, he must go in the opposite direction, that is, to the east. Then, someone can deceive you in this matter, and insist that the land of the rising sun Is the place where the sun sets, and the place where the sun goes down is the place where the sun rises? Also, you must also know that the north wind takes you out of the Euxian Sea to Greece, and the south wind takes you into Phasis - as the saying goes , 'A northerly wind blows, just heading for Greece.'

Can anyone in this matter trick you into getting on board when the south wind blows?But you may say that I will put you on board when there is no wind.Well then, I will take one boat, and you must take at least a hundred boats.How, then, can I compel you to sail with me, or trick you into going with me, if you will not?But suppose you were deceived by me, and I waited until I reached Fascia, and disembarked, you would very likely find that you were not in Greece.At that time, I who deceived was alone, and you deceived nearly ten thousand people, armed with weapons.How, then, must a man suffer for himself and not for himself and for the sake of your plans?

"There is another layer, these are rumors made by villains, jealous of my reputation among you. They should not have this jealousy, because I hinder them. Who speaks a kind word before you, or fights for you and himself, or cares for your safety?Well, then, did I hinder and influence anyone when you elected your command?I step aside and let him be in command, as long as he acts to serve you well.For my part, what has been said on the above points seems to suffice.But if any of you thinks that he might himself be deceived by such a rumour, or be able to deceive others with it, let him speak and explain.When you feel that this is enough, don't go, please listen to me what kind of bad things have started to happen in the army.For it has happened to us, and if it is as serious as it appears to be, it is time for us to counsel ourselves, lest we appear to be the worst and meanest of men, abandoned by god and man, friend and foe . "

Hearing this, the soldiers wondered what was going on, so they asked Xenophon to continue. Then he began again: "As you may know, there is a foreigner's fort in the mountains that is friendly with the Celasus, and from there some people come down to sell you cattle and other things. I think some of you have gone to the fort to buy some things and then go to the fort." Come back. Captain Colliertus heard that the place was not only small and defenseless, but because the inhabitants thought they were friendly, he went to attack at night, intending to plunder, and did not say hello to any of us. His intention was : If you take this fort, you will not return to the army, but board a ship that your accomplices are sailing along the coast, load everything you have plundered on board, and sail out of the Euxian Sea. Now I know , his fellow shipmates had made such an agreement with him beforehand. So he commanded all he persuaded, and led them to march against the fort. But while he was still marching, day broke. He was terrified. The local The men gathered together, bombed and struck from the vantage point, and killed Colliertus and many of his servants, though some of them did return to Celasus. All this happened on the day we set out from land to come here Some of those who traveled by sea are still at Celasus, and have not set sail yet.

"Afterwards, the Celasus said that three elder residents of the fort came to Celasus and wanted to come to our meeting. But because they couldn't find us, they spoke to the Celasus and said they didn't know why we thought we should attack They. However, it is said that when the Sailasu people replied that this happened without the permission of the leader, the envoy was overjoyed and planned to come here by boat to tell what happened and urged us to take over and bury the dead body. It so happened that some of the Greek soldiers who had fled were still at Celasus, and when they learned where the strangers were going, they not only had the audacity to stone them, but others also joined in doing so.The three messengers were stoned to death.

"After the incident, the Sairazus came to see us and told us about it. Our generals were very sad about what had happened, and discussed with the Sairazus how to bury the dead bodies of the Greek army. When we were outside the camp During the meeting, I suddenly heard a loud shout, 'Hit! Hit! Hit, hit!' After a while, I saw a group of people rushing towards us with stones in their hands, and others were picking up stones. Look, the Sailasu people Shocked, of course, to see such a thing happen in their own town, they hastened back to their ship. By Zeus, our own souls are shaken by this.However, I went up to them and asked what was the matter.Some of them don't know what's going on, but they are holding stones in their hands.When I asked an insider, he told me that the market administrators treated the troops very roughly.At this moment one of the market-keepers saw Zelarchus receding to the sea, and shouted loudly, and the others, hearing the cry, rushed towards him, like hunters who spot a wild boar or a mountain deer.Then the Celasus, seeing that they were running near them, thought they were undoubtedly running towards themselves, and fled, throwing themselves into the sea.Our people also jumped into the sea with them, and those who happened to be unable to swim were drowned.What do you think of these Celasus?They are not at fault, but they are afraid that we will go mad like dogs.

"Well, if this sort of thing goes on like this, see what will become of your army. You collectively will not be able to undertake a war against the enemy or a truce, but any individual will be free to lead his troops to whatever end he wishes.If anyone comes to you as an envoy, wanting to talk about peace or something, anyone can kill them at will, so that you can't listen to what the person who comes to talk to you has to say.Furthermore, the people you generally elect to command will be irrelevant.Anyone can proclaim himself a general and shout 'beat! hit! ’, he will have the power to kill generals or privates at will, whoever he wants, without trial, as long as he is listened to, as is happening this time.You have to think about what these self proclaimed generals are actually doing to you.Take Zelarcus, the market manager, if he had done you wrong, he would have sailed away with impunity; Killed innocently.Take again those who stoned the messenger, and what they incurred was that you alone among the Greeks could not go safely to Celasus, except under the escort of strong soldiers.As for the dead, those who killed them later suggested burying them; and you have made it so that even envoys with envoys are now unable to collect them safely.Who would be willing to be an envoy who has the blood of the envoy on his hands?So we ask the Celasus to bury them.

"Then, if you think that such a thing is right, that it must be done that way, you may decide so. Do this on your own defense, and try to get a solid upper right handhold while camping.But if you think that this kind of practice is not the behavior of man, but the practice of wild beasts, you must stop it.However, in the name of Zeus, why should we worship the gods with sincerity if we break the laws of the gods?They will kill each other again, why fight the enemy?Seeing our lawlessness, which friendly city will be willing to receive us?Who would dare to provide us with a market if we were to make such mistakes in matters of vital importance?And if we behave so miserably, who will praise us in that kingdom where we imagine all to praise?I believe we ourselves would call those who behave like this villains. "

At this time they all arose to propose that the man who started it should be properly punished, and that he should not be allowed to do it again; and that if anyone did it again, he should be tried and killed.The generals were to bring to trial all transgressors; and those who committed any other wrong after Cyrus' death would also be tried.They appointed captains as jurors.Then, based on Xenophon's suggestion and the persuasion of the fortune teller, it was decided to rectify the morale of the army.So the envoy carried out the etiquette of rectification.