Anabasis XXI

Once at Heraclea, they are greeted kindly and given fairly rich gifts -- including grain, wine, twenty cattle and a hundred sheep. However, the amount of food needed to feed such an army makes these gifts appear trivial to the men. Xenophon quotes one man, Lycon the Achean: 
I am astonished, sirs, that the generals do not endeavour to provide us more efficiently with provisions. These gifts of hospitality will not afford three days' victuals for the army; nor do I see from what region we are to provide ourselves as we march. My proposal, therefore, is to demand of the Heracleots at least three thousand cyzicenes.*
Another suggested they demand ten thousand. There is a division in the army over this point. They are not now among the barbarians, but are talking about threatening a Greek city to shake it down. Overall Leader Cheirisophus as well as Xenophon were opposed, as are others. So the faction that wanted to do it sent Lycon and a couple of other minor leaders in the place of the generals, and made the demand anyway. Heraclea drew its herds inside and put up its defenses, and the Ten Thousand found themselves opposed to a Greek city with Greek soldiers manning the walls. 

The army is incensed by this rebuff and divides itself, the majority choosing to follow Lycon and his deputies. Xenophon wryly notes that Cheirisophus' overarching command was terminated in only one week. 

The army ends up divided into three, Lycon's Arcadian heavy infantry, Cheirisophus' loyalists, and Xenophon's division -- the smallest, but the only one that ended up with cavalry, although only forty troopers.

The Heracleots wisely sold ships to the largest faction, in order to encourage them to sail away sooner. The Arcadians sail to Thrace, where they begin raiding the Greek countryside. This does not go nearly as well as it had in the areas without Greek arms and discipline, and they begin to lose serious numbers in the raids.

Xenophon's contingent hears of this and Xenophon decides to ride to their rescue, figuring that salvaging them will give him numbers that will better ensure his own passage. Using his cavalry as skirmishers and to secure lines of communication for his light peltasts, he quickly moves up and is able to save some of the Arcadian forces. The Thracians break and withdraw at the unexpected new front. The Arcadians slip off, but Xenophon is able to link up with them the next day. As he anticipated, all was forgiven and they embraced him and his again like brothers. 


* The local currency of Cyzicus, a notable city in the area at that time. It is more famous for a feature of architecture, a north-facing hall that opened onto gardens that was a favorite of the Greeks of the city. The Romans were impressed with the design, and so Cyzicene Halls became a thing in the later period. 

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