Readying for Better Weather

During the spring oil changes, I swapped out the timing cover...

...and the Derby cover, since I had to remove it anyway to do the primary fluid.

Very soon now those dawns will be right.

Georgia Warhorse

Canadian Freedom

Courtesy of the USA, of course. Their government wasn't going to loosen regulations if left to its own devices.

Berry Diversity in North America

A pretty neat series of maps. 

Anabasis XXV: Conclusion

There's only one more adventure related to us by Xenophon in his account of his time with the Ten Thousand -- which, by the way, is estimated to have shrunk to just over half that size by this point. It's a relatively small-scale battle involving only a few hundred men, which occurred while they were awaiting their new Spartan commander Thibron and his larger force of which they were to become a quasi-independent subordinate command.

Following a sacrifice to Zeus in his aspect as the giver of wealth, which an oracle tells Xenophon he has been neglecting, the nearly-broke Xenophon finally receives some rewards for his efforts. Friends even buy back the horse he had to sell, which is good because his campaigns are not finished. They then go to Pergamon in what is now Turkey, where their hostess Hellas suggests they capture a Persian warlord and his household while they wait for the main army. Omens suggest that this will be the source of further rewards. 

Xenophon takes about three hundred men on the raid. He encounters an enemy that turns out to be fortified in a tower that is described as eight brick-layers thick. In an overnight assault, Xenophon's men break through the tower but are unable to seize the occupants who are well-armed and defended. Fearing themselves near rout due to injury and exhaustion, they form up into the hollow-square formation they used on a much larger scale in Persia and retreat with captured cattle and members of the household who were caught outside (mostly slaves I gather). 

However, this assault provoked the warlord and his family to decamp from the fortification. Intending to evacuate the area, they were instead captured by the main army of Thibron now arriving. Xenophon is awarded his choice of the captured wealth of this man and his family given that his raid was the proximate cause of the easy capture. Xenophon takes his choice and generously distributes it among his friends and supporters who have fought with him for so long. 

The book closes with Xenophon's yielding of command to Thibron, who takes the whole force to battle their old enemy Tissaphernes.

That is the last thing we learn from Xenophon about his time with the Myriad. There are a few other sources for what happened during that period, and for what happened afterwards, but for the next five years we really don't know what Xenophon was doing. Many assume he spent the whole period in Spartan service given what we know of his success, life, and position afterwards. He may have stayed with his old companions for a long time; he may have been one of the last of them still in service when he gained a new friend the Spartan King Agesilaus with whom Xenophon shared mutual admiration and support.

Despite the traditional secrecy fostered by the Spartiates, the reign of Agesilaus is particularly well-known thanks to the works of his friend Xenophon, who wrote a large history of Greece (the Hellenica) covering the years 411 to 362 BC, therefore extensively dealing with Agesilaus' rule. Xenophon furthermore composed a panegyric biography of his friend, perhaps to clean his memory from the criticisms voiced against him. Another historical tradition—much more hostile to Agesilaus than Xenophon's writings—has been preserved in the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia, and later continued by Diodorus of Sicily. Moreover, Plutarch wrote a biography of Agesilaus in his Parallel Lives, which contains many elements deliberately omitted by Xenophon.

It was Agesilaus who established Xenophon with the estate near Scillus that he mentioned earlier in the Anabasis as a pleasant place with all sorts of game. With the goodwill of the Spartans who, for the moment, controlled this region, he can enjoy the good life and have time to become the prolific writer that he did. In the introduction to the Warner edition I have been reading, George Cawkwell writes:

Like the typical Peloponnesian gentleman, he looked to Sparta as the inspiration of the good life, and sent his sons there for the best education that he deemed Greece could offer; he visited the city at its chief festivals; he was entertained by Agesilaus, meeting in his company along with other aristocratic clients.... At the Olympic festival, he was well placed to return hospitality, and we may picture him and his guests nodding sage approval of the Panhellenic speeches.... Altogether it was a time of happiness, and of leisure to reflect and to begin to write. [Xenophon, The Persian Expedition, trans. Rex Wagner (London & New York: Penguin Books, 1972), 15.]

The Anabasis was not his most famous book anywhere near his lifetime. His works pertaining to Agesilaus had more interest to his contemporaries, as did his work on horsemanship. His Education of Cyrus was far more famous during the Roman period; Caesar was said to keep a copy with him. His accounts of Socrates have been of more interest to philosophers throughout the times during which we have had access to them. The Anabasis' fame may chiefly arise, in fact, from the period when every educated man had to learn to read Classical Greek: it is fairly straightforward grammatically, and contains an interesting story to which young men could be relied upon to devote their attention. It was thus ideal for students, generations of whom followed the Ten Thousand to "The Sea! The Sea!"

I hope you've enjoyed working through this book with me. As the winter ends and the spring brings better weather for new adventures, let us bring this series to a close.

UPDATE: For those who requested that I add the series to the sidebar, this has been done.

Blood Moon

We rose last night at two-thirty to go out and witness the totality of the Blood Moon eclipse. It was a clear night here in the mountains, with both the moon and the stars sharp in the sky. 

Free Speech Arguments

I've always believed in free speech, even very nasty speech that I personally wouldn't say or enjoy hearing. There are strong arguments for protecting even jerks who say terrible things, for example, so you'll know who the jerks who think terrible things are. It's always the jerks you are supporting in this game, in fact, because they're the ones who are going to run afoul of limits. 

Thus I appreciate this thoughtful critique of some actions that the present administration is taking that arguably are unconstitutional transgressions of the First Amendment. These are not the usual suspects for whom that administration can do no right but ever wrong; rather, they're supporters more or less who are pointing out that some of this is over the line. Not all of it, though, and they try to draw out where the lines really are or ought to be.

Grimgard

This sounds like a fun project from our friends at Grimfrost.

Anabasis XXIV

Their new employer Seuthes holds a welcoming banquet; he has cleverly seeded it with a man whose job is to solicit bribes from any wealthy men among his new charges. Xenophon is embarrassed because he doesn't really have anything to offer, but he does give a generous speech pledging friendship of himself and the army. Seuthes does manage to get a nice Persian carpet, which apparently was a thing even back then; Xenophon discusses them in other of his books as well.

Seuthes is a sensible man, and so when the Greeks propose an alteration to his usual method of night-marching he is able to see the tactical sense and agree to it. Xenophon demonstrates excellence as an officer again in their initial attack: Seuthes sends him forward with his men, and then asks why Xenophon is dismounting when speed is wanted.

When they had reached the villages, Seuthes, with about thirty troopers, rode up, exclaiming: "Well, Xenophon, this is just what you said! the fellows are caught, but now look here. My cavalry have gone off unsupported; they are scattered in pursuit, one here, one there, and upon my word, I am more than half afraid the enemy will collect somewhere and do them a mischief. Some of us must remain in the villages, for they are swarming with human beings." "Well then," said Xenophon, "I will seize the heights with the men I have with me, and do you bid Cleanor extend his line along the level beside the villages." When they had done so, there were enclosed--of captives for the slave market, one thousand; of cattle, two thousand; and of other small cattle, ten thousand.

Seuthes burns the village and sends the plunder to market so that he can assure pay for the soldiers. This is indeed a more sensible approach to mercenaries than the ones the Spartans attempted at Byzantium!

The warning of burning the first village causes the villagers of others nearby to flee, thus obtaining for the army a winter camp with plenty of buildings and supplies. At first this seems good for the army because it is already bitterly cold: Xenophon remarks that they suddenly understood the Thracian fondness for fur caps. Yet Xenophon quickly realizes that the tactical position is poor: the enemy is not only still close, they are the experts on the structure of the encampment because they are the ones who built it. Sure enough, when the attack comes each party is led by the owner of the house being attacked. They know its layout and location perfectly. Xenophon and his men are in some peril of being burned alive as the parties set fire to the houses, but the Greeks manage to hold out long enough to be rescued by the cavalry.

The man who was sent to sell off the plunder returns, but only has enough to pay for twenty days' pay rather than the full month owed. He and Xenophon clash over this, and he afterwards begins slandering Xenophon (so we are assured by Xenophon!) to Seuthes. This causes a chilly relationship between Xenophon and Seuthes. The soldiers also begin to be irritated with Xenophon as they are not getting any more pay at this time.

Yet the expedition is going very well. Seuthes' basic goal is to recapture his family's old country for himself, and people are coming and pledging loyalty to him just as he desired. The army is quite successful. The only problem is what to do with them now that they've served their purpose. 

Lo and Behold, some Spartan emissaries arrive with a solution to that problem. Tissaphernes, whom you will remember as the Persian leader who murdered the Ten Thousand's first generals and led the Persian pursuit of them all the way into Kurdistan, has been appointed Satrap of Cyrus' old satrapy. That territory borders the Greek world, and runs up against the part controlled by the Spartans. They want to hire the Myriad to go to war with him. 

Initially Seuthes and his advisors thinks this is a great way to get rid of the army without paying them, but that doesn't work. The offer does provoke a dramatic dispute between Xenophon and his soldiers, but in the end he convinces them to stay and fight for their money before taking any Spartan job. The plundering of this newly-won land quickly produces enough upset among Seuthes' new citizens to convince him to pay up after all. The army is delighted to receive their back wages -- which they had definitely earned, since they fully succeeded in their mission -- and now has a new job.

Requiescat in Pace “Patch”

My friend “Patch” has died. He was a former member of the Outlaws MC turned Harley mechanic. His nickname arose from a missing eye, which he often covered in piratical fashion. 

I liked and respected him. He was a good man as well as a skilled mechanic. I respected his skill at fabrication, which is an area of mechanics that I admire because it is so much more difficult than simply replacing parts. He could machine you something that worked, and worked perfectly. 

Nor would he accept even reasonable compensation for this skill. I always had to argue with him to get him to take more than he asked, because ‘a workman is worthy of his hire,’ and I couldn’t have worked his miracle with any amount of time. He was always offering to take ‘twenty bucks’ or something like that for spending hours of his time turning something out. 

He was a good man and husband. He celebrated his turn to the latter life, which he felt was better than his youth. 

A man of honor. 

Christianity and Foreign Affairs

Two articles today that sort of tread the line on AVI's 'news or not' division. The first one is not really news, but a meditation on how St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas guide US grand strategy. It calls for a grand strategy of "Justice, Fortitude, Restraint and Temperance." 

The second article is a little more newsy because it looks at some present-day applications from the same perspective. What duties do Christians have towards the Christians being massacred in Syria and elsewhere right now? 

“Involvement does not mean military,” contended Perkins. “I don’t believe we should be sending our troops everywhere. But, as you pointed out, there are other means.”

“I would be in the front line of arguing that the neoliberal interventionism that had so possessed the United States over the course of the last 40 or 50 years — it has proved itself to be unworkable,” Mohler granted. “Our massive investments of blood and treasure all over the world, in causes that we declared won, only to have them lost again, are a grave warning against believing that we can just make our will [happen] wherever we want it around the world.”

Sadly -- tragically -- accurate as a pragmatic assessment of the last decades.  

Anabasis XXIII

Once the riot has been quelled and discipline restored, Xenophon tries to make peace with the governing authorities of Byzantium. They are not quite sure what to do with him. Finally they agree to let him come inside the town, with a view towards leaving the army and sailing home.

The army begins to break up, some men selling their arms and returning home as well. Some of the generals try to convince it to remain under new orders, either to go to Seuthes (who had bribed two of the generals, one with a horse and one with a woman) or to serve the Spartans (here "Lacedaemonians," which I assume you all know is another name for the Spartans and the root of our word 'laconic'). 

A historical note not made clear in the text: these events coincide with the end of the Spartan year, which was in the autumn, and thus there are some changes of office about to happen. Byzantium will get a new governor and admiral, for example, and they have different ideas about the Ten Thousand. Likewise, whatever remains of the army will have to find a place to winter. There are also about to be changes in the leadership of the Persians whose territory begins, as you will recall, not all that far away: Cyrus had been in charge of the satrapy bordering the Greek world.

The new Spartan governor of Byzantium begins selling former soldiers of Cyrus' into slavery. Xenophon suggests that members of the Ten Thousand may have been sold, but it isn't clear if he means all four hundred he mentions were of the Ten Thousand, or if other soldiers of Cyrus' old territories had come to Byzantium seeking refuge from the Persian King. 

The former Spartan admiral Anaxibius, finding himself cut off from support now that he no longer possesses a powerful office, summons Xenophon and gives him command of a warship and a letter of authority to retake command of the Ten Thousand. Anaxibius had been pleased to see them breaking up while he was an admiral, but now he would like to pull as many of them as possible back together to serve his own interests. Xenophon agrees, and the army celebrates his return. Xenophon begins trying to get them shipped across to Asia for their new contract.

The new Spartan admiral, whose name is Aristarchus, tells Xenophon that by no means will he allow this, and in fact will sink any ships that try to transport the Ten Thousand anywhere. 

Xenophon conducts a sacrifice whose victims apparently conveyed a way for him to get his army to Seuthes after all. Exactly how this worked is a little mysterious. Seuthes' army is nearby, also in need of a winter camp. They link up with Xenophon and the Myriad, and Seuthes and Xenophon plus their aides de camp have a celebration of friendship (i.e. they drink together as is customary, the text says in Thrace, but indeed for soldiers almost everywhere and in every era). 

Seuthes proposes to employ the Ten Thousand in trying to restore his family domain from another family that had conquered it. He promises the Ten Thousand a home in this country if they will help him regain his own command of it.

Aristarchus offers a counterproposal that they fight for him in forcing their way to "the sacred mountain" (you may think of Olympus, but it's more likely Mount Ida in what is now Turkey). The army discusses the two, asks some questions of Seuthes, and then votes to back Seuthes' effort on the strength of logistical concerns: he has the ability to help them winter before the campaign, knowing the location of many places where they can obtain resources for their army as well as his own.

We are coming to the end of this story.

* The online translation describes the Byzantine reaction to a proposal from Xenophon as them being "at sixes and sevens," as opposed to the Warner translation which merely says they are "split up into a number of hostile camps." This is not at all a Greek phrase, but does date to at least Geoffrey Chaucer and has an interesting history.

Black Danes & White Danes

In the British Isles, sometimes the Vikings were categorized as “White Danes” or as “Black Danes.” Unlike the monks who were subjected to a similar categorization scheme by the color of the robes their Order wore, the Vikings were assigned the color based on whether they tended to be blue eyed and light haired (and thus from Norway) or dark haired and eyed (and this from Denmark). 

It turns out that the White Danes were much more violent. At least this seems to be the case if measured by extrajudicial killings. Presumably this was because Norway was lawless for longer, quite a bit longer in places. The government killings don’t count. 

Social Workers and Police

You almost certainly remember the stories from back in 2020 about 'defunding the police' and replacing them with social workers -- or, in a more sober form, maybe putting some resources into having social workers who would be able to assist with certain kinds of calls. 

Locally, some of our small towns have been trying a version of that. The police aren't being defunded at all, and the social workers are college student interns or grad students from the local university. It is, however, working pretty well. They don't send the social worker instead of police, but rather on some kinds of calls a cruiser where a social worker volunteer is riding along is the one selected to respond.

Likewise, Chief David Adams said he was initially skeptical about having a social worker responding to calls when the conversation hit the mainstream in 2020; however, he admitted that he’s been “pleasantly surprised.” Despite his initial apprehension, Adams called the Sylva police chief to see how the program was working over there. When he heard how well things were going, he became intrigued and got onboard.  

Now, not only is [social worker Kasey] Curcio viewed as a valuable asset for the department, another social work intern from WCU, Tom Hines, is doing his internship with WPD and is also excelling.

It's an encouraging story, and another demonstration of how voluntary citizen non-coercive approaches can improve things. By coincidence that removes the tension around departments worrying about being 'de-funded,' and instead allows them to embrace the change rather than resisting it or feeling threatened by it.

By All Means Raise Chickens

We've got quite a few eggs at a time when eggs and egg prices are problems for many Americans.

The high point of the collection.

The reason is that my wife decided to take up raising chickens as a hobby. I was unsure about this but, as usual when my uncertainty conflicts with her determination, she got her way. For a long time I really didn't love the chickens, especially the screaming roosters (which I took satisfaction in killing and eating). However, the eggs have really won me over. I now regard at least the hens as welcome additions to our little enclave on the mountain. Even the current rooster isn't so bad, because I know he produces more hens to replace the old ones as they stop laying. 

The Washington Post doesn't like the idea, though, because they associate it with the (second?) most hated person in their world. "No harm, no fowl: Trump recommends a return to subsistence farming."

“How do we solve for something like this?” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asked on Fox News. “People are sort of looking around and thinking, ‘Wow, maybe I could get a chicken in my backyard,’ and it’s awesome.”

In no universe does it make economic sense for every American household — many of whom live in urban areas or even suburbs where it’s illegal to keep live poultry — to start farming their own food. The fact that we humans don’t have to spend all our time growing our own sustenance, and can instead specialize in other fields where we’re more productive, is a tremendous victory for our species.

Our post-agrarian society has allowed Americans to lead richer, healthier, longer, more leisure-filled lives. There’s a reason politicians a century ago promised “a chicken in every pot,” not a “chicken in every yard.”... 

It actually makes perfect sense for as many Americans as practical to begin raising some of their own food. In World War II we called that "Victory Gardens." In fact, we had one here during COVID that was quite large.

One of three raised beds; I was building a stone walkway when this was taken.

Our farming efforts have shrunk a bit since then, but it was a perfectly sound idea and even a very defensible public policy. It's a surge capacity Americans have used frequently in the past to get through hard times.

“Homesteading influencer” content might be trendy on social media, but surely the way to Make America Great Again does not involve having everyone raise their own livestock, log their own forests and galvanize their own steel wire. But that is, perhaps, the logical conclusion of Trump’s lifelong fixation with autarky, the idea that an economy should not engage in trade and instead be self-sufficient.

If countries should be economically self-supporting, why not states? If states, why not neighborhoods? If neighborhoods, why not every man, woman and child for themselves? Between bird flu and measles and other contagions, adopting the trad-wife/prepper lifestyle might sound pretty attractive right now.

I do in fact cut my own firewood to heat my own house, grow many of the vegetables we eat in warmer weather, can sauces made from tomatoes for use in colder weather, kill my own deer and butcher it too. It's hardly subsistence farming to do that, because it's coupled with a career of the sort she's talking about. It's just a way of being a little healthier, and a little more in control of my life, and a little closer to nature. 

In fact if she reflected on it, she'd probably recognize this scheme from a source she might like better: Karl Marx. 

For as soon as the distribution of labour comes into being, each man has a particular, exclusive sphere of activity, which is forced upon him and from which he cannot escape. He is a hunter, a fisherman, a herdsman, or a critical critic, and must remain so if he does not want to lose his means of livelihood; while in communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic. 

It turns out the communist society was not a necessary condition for this sort of life after all. I let the chickens out in the morning, split wood in the spring afternoon, hunt in the autumn, can in the summer, write commentaries on philosophical works in the cold winters. I'm not a professional hunter, maker of sauces, or livestock man of any kind. Occasionally I've written a book or a poem or two, but I don't make my living by it. What I do professionally is something else entirely. 

Raising chickens may or may not make sense for you, but don't let them talk you out of it if you want to -- no more than my wife let me talk her out of it! She was right about this one.

Anabasis XXII

The army crosses now to Byzantium. This is the same city that will one day become Constantinople, and later Istanbul. You may recall that Anaxibius, the admiral of Byzantium, had promised to hire the army if it came to him. Well, he does not in fact produce any pay, although he does produce orders for them to deploy -- and to feed themselves as best they may from the countryside. 

Not paying a large, disciplined army of mercenaries as promised is a terrible idea. The army riots, and even in its riot is able to take the city. This is potentially a disaster of extreme proportion, for even in those days Byzantium was a center of the trade of grains and foodstuffs throughout the region. Indeed, the Spartans had seized the city from Athens during the Peloponnesian War precisely to cut off Athens' grain supply; and while Athens later recaptured it, the Spartans are currently in control of it. The Spartan admiral who promised them money decamps from the city on a fishing boat(!), and escapes to a citadel from which he summons reinforcements.

Xenophon, gravely concerned about the future if he allows the army to plunder this city, manages to restore order and to have the whole army fall into ranks in a large square suitable for such a muster. He explains to them that they are in an inferior position to Athens' when it started its war with Sparta, and therefore can expect even worse results if they provoke open war between themselves and the Spartans. He is successful in reining them in using this rhetorical strategy, and he sends messages to the Spartan admiral to explain that the army feels it has been treated unfairly and would like some additional help in provisioning itself for the expedition he wants them to undertake. 

Xenophon has done some great things in this story, but this may be the greatest. Bringing a rioting army back to order is not an easy task. He accomplished it, got them to fall into their ranks, and then reasoned with them successfully to restrain them from the impulse to plunder. That is truly impressive to me.

When is a job important?

AP reports that some laid-off federal workers are disappointed to learn that their own family suspects their jobs weren't worth the federal tax dollars they cost. The article focuses entirely on the subjective importance of the jobs to the workers, not on the value received by the taxpayers. No doubt a case could be made for some laid-off workers that the job really benefited the public and was worth the cost, but that concept seems alien to the writers of nearly all the articles I've read in the last few weeks, with the exception of a few about necessary jobs eliminated by mistake that had to be restored.

It would be unkind, of course, to spit in the face of a friend or relative who lost a cherished federal job. Nevertheless, it doesn't change my view of the need to eliminate waste to read perspectives like this:

“It’s really hurtful for the president to insinuate that you don’t exist or that your job consisted of sitting at home doing nothing and cashing the paycheck,” he says. “I’d like to see him sifting through spiny naiad in 120-degree weather looking for parasitic snails. He’s the one that goes golfing on the government dime. I don’t even know how to golf.”

Or this:

“My life is disintegrating because I can’t work in my chosen field,” says Jenn, 47, from Austin, Texas.

She chose the field, so the taxpayer can lump it? Is the point of federal taxes to fulfill her employment dreams?

“What they tell me is it’s just cutting out the waste, the excess spending — that your job’s not that important,” says 27-year-old Stubbs. “I’m not saying it’s the most important job in the world but it’s my job. It’s important to me.”

Meanwhile, DOGE's tally indicates that their efforts have saved each American taxpayer over $1,500 already.

Anabasis XXII: Cenotaph

There are only two weeks left in astrological winter, and so we should press on to finish our winter reading, which has now only one book left. Here we encounter a word that Xenophon gifts us that he must have known, but that turns up in no other book we have from the Greeks: "cenotaph." I'll quote the note:

"Cenotaph", i.e. "an empty tomb." The word is interesting as occuring only in Xenophon, until we come to the writers of the common dialect. Compare "hyuscyamus," hogbean, our henbane, which we also owe to Xenophon. "Oecon." i. 13, see Sauppe, "Lexil. Xen." s.vv.

The word occurs when the Greeks go back to bury the dead from the encounter with the Thracians (who are not Greek, but Asiatic). They cannot find some of the bodies, so they erect a cenotaph to them which they cover with wreaths. This followed Xenophon's careful sacrifices to determine the right time for this, another demonstration of piety on his part that once again proved out for them. 

The army meets and decides that it will punish any further suggestions that it should divide itself by death. It also restores its old officers. Cheirisophus, the former supreme commander, has died. I'll quote that note too, because it's curious.

This I take to be the meaning of the words, which are necessarily ambiguous, since {pharmakon}, "a drug," also means "poison." Did Cheirisophus conceivably die of fever brought on by some poisonous draught? or did he take poison whilst suffering from fever? or did he die under treatment?

That's true: the word that is the root of "pharmacy" or "pharmaceutical" can mean either "drug" or "poison." And so it is often the case even with true drugs, where the right dosage is efficacious and the wrong one is fatal.

Now Xenophon's devotion to sacrifice causes the army to delay marching on for several days, though provisions are running out and do run out. Yet the victims of the sacrifices are not favorable to marching; and when a division goes out to seek provisions, it loses five hundred men, a quarter of its forces. The enemies that are now besetting them fall upon their camp in the night.

The Greeks move to a natural stronghold, which I gather was by the sea, and fence off the entrances. The next day a ship arrives and brings them some goods, including more sacrificial animals. The first one of these Xenophon sacrifices is favorable to moving again. 

They meet and defeat a large enemy, dividing off 'flying columns' for flanking exercises. This enemy fights the cavalry and light troops gamely, but still is not capable of withstanding the heavy infantry. The phalanx breaks them and drives them off, and Xenophon's forces end up with the field.

Shortly thereafter Cleander of Sparta arrives with ships of war, and is anxious to become the leader of these men given their clear discipline. But again, the victims of the sacrifices do not support this, so he tells them that he can't take them home: but if they get home, to come see him.

Human canonballs

The prevailing metaphor for Act Blue this week has been rats leaving a sinking ship, but the headlong flight more closely resembles people firing themselves off the deck at ballistic speeds. Eject! Eject! Eject!

The word "whistleblower" pops up in an internal Act Blue email, then is quickly deleted. The executive suite emptied out like theatre patrons of a by-gone age swarming out for a cigarette break during intermission. One executive explained that she is taking a well-deserved rest and planning her next international adventure--to a country without an extradiction treaty, I hope.

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. 

A Useful Reminder

This passage is read in Orthodox churches the Sunday before Lent:

Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand.

Romans 13:11 through 14:4

I am still new-ish to Orthodoxy and have never been good at observing the fasts, so that second paragraph has always been a comfort for me.

Cultural Revolution

NYT: "Many Chinese See a Cultural Revolution in America." 

Amazing. We've been talking about this for years. Long enough that we were still calling it "PC" instead of "woke" when we started. Finally they're seeing how, like Mao, all the old and steady structures of our culture were being destroyed by radical, ideological activists backed by young hordes of protesters who... 

Oh, wait, no: the NYT thinks it's about Trump. Trump is Chairman Mao in this story.

Never mind. 

Lent

A good Ash Wednesday to those of you who celebrate it. Now begins Lent, a long season of suffering from attempts to be even slightly better.

The Quest for the Sangrail began on Pentecost, and I won’t question the liturgical appropriateness of that: Sir Thomas Malory was much more deeply embedded in the Catholic world than almost anyone living today. It occurs to me, though, that it well fits our American approach of Mardi Gras — the appearance of the Sangrail and the Feast associated with it — followed by Lent. The Quest was a time of great trial and suffering, when the best knights of the world tried to live up to the fullness of their faith’s demands. All suffered; most died. Three succeeded in some measure. 

Good luck. 

Consensus II

The Opinion section of the Washington Post is up to 100% noncompliance and rejection of Bezos' guidance. I wonder if he can find a buyer for a newspaper whose authors refuse to accept editorial guidance from the owners? Maybe he can get pennies on the dollar for his investment from someone who is also in alignment with that viewpoint, and doesn't want it to change. 

His problem, I guess. 

Consensus

For years it has seemed that nearly every contentious issue in U.S. politics polls at 50/50. I wondered whether that meant parties were deliberately skating close to the edge, or even whether voters and poll respondents were responding entirely at random, a coin-toss. How could a country stay divided on a knife edge on so many controversies for so many years?

I still don't have any idea, but lately there appears to have been a preference cascade. The talk of 80/20 issues may have been exaggerated, but suddenly a GOP that seemed unable to break though on any issue is garnering poll responses in the 60- and 70-percent range. Even last night's quasi-SOTU speech had an astounding impact. CBS, of all outlets, reports that with an audience composed of about half Republicans and half a mix of Democrats and Independents, President Trump won over 3/4 of his viewers. Results were similarly impressive on a range of hot-button issues from immigation to government waste to tariffs to the expulsion of Rep. Green from the chamber.

Grim's Red Seasoning

Some years ago I developed a chili powder recipe using datil pepper. 

This week I was reflecting that, with just a touch of salt, it would make a good seasoning like Tony Chachere's creole seasoning, but bolder even than their bold. So I added just a bit of salt, and now you can use it to season your food -- once it's salty enough, it's seasoned enough as well.

Grim's Red Seasoning

1 oz. ground New Mexican Red Pepper  (or, alternatively, guajillo molida works well too).

1 heaping tsp. cumin 

1 level tsp. Mexican oregano 

1 tsp. ground Scotch Bonnet, Datil, -or- Habanero pepper (your choice of one, not all three, but the Datil works very well here; level to heaping tsp as you prefer) 

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

1 tsp. salt

UPDATE:

My wife made me eggs and cheese-jalapeño grits for breakfast. A little of this seasoning added a lot of delicious flavor. 

The Lord Is a Man of War

I don't plan to post systematically on God Is a Man of War, but as I find interesting things I may put them here. The beginning of the book refers to the following victory song, which is quite striking.

Exodus 15:1-18

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
    the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a man of war;
    the Lord is his name.

“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea;
    and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods cover them;
    they went down into the depths like a stone.
Thy right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
    thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
In the greatness of thy majesty thou overthrowest thy adversaries;
    thou sendest forth thy fury, it consumes them like stubble.
At the blast of thy nostrils the waters piled up,
    the floods stood up in a heap;
    the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
    I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
    I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them;
    they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

“Who is like thee, O Lord, among the gods?
    Who is like thee, majestic in holiness,
    terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
Thou didst stretch out thy right hand,
    the earth swallowed them.

“Thou hast led in thy steadfast love the people whom thou hast redeemed,
    thou hast guided them by thy strength to thy holy abode.
The peoples have heard, they tremble;
    pangs have seized on the inhabitants of Philistia.
Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
    the leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them;
    all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
Terror and dread fall upon them;
    because of the greatness of thy arm, they are as still as a stone,
till thy people, O Lord, pass by,
    till the people pass by whom thou hast purchased.
Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on thy own mountain,
    the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thy abode,
    the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
The Lord will reign for ever and ever.”

The themes of salvation of the slave and destruction of the army of the enslavers echo down the millennia, along with the theme of steadfast love for His people.

It is interesting here that God Himself destroys the Egyptian army. This sort of violence in the Old Testament never really bothered me. I feel sorry for Charioteer First Class Snuffy who was just trying to pay off his new personal hot rod chariot at the low low rate of 20% APR and have a few brews on the weekend with his army pay, but wiping out an army set on re-enslaving a people doesn't seem terribly unjust. I'm sure, though, my specific concerns will be addressed further on in the book.

Fighting Man

 What other kind of man is there? 

Prayer and Fasting

The Sunday before Lent begins is Forgiveness Sunday in the Orthodox Church. It is a day to ask everyone for their forgiveness for any offenses we may have committed against them in the past year, and a day where we also forgive everyone who has offended against us.

Ramadan began March 1st, the Eastern Church's Great Lent begins tomorrow, and Western Lent begins Wednesday. It seems that a couple billion of us will all be fasting and praying for the next month, then some of us for a bit longer. It is always a blessing to me when Eastern Pascha and Western Easter fall on the same day. Since most Christians in the US belong to the Western churches, it puts me out of synch with my Western brothers and sisters when it doesn't.

For the East, the fast is from meat, fish, dairy, and alcohol, from tomorrow until Pascha. However, in the tradition of feast days which fall on fast days, alcohol is allowed on the Sabbath and Lord's Day each week. It was suggested in services today that we also fast from controversies this Lent, and that seems a particularly good addition this year.

I have decided to read two books during this season. Some of the violence in the Old Testament has troubled me for decades, so maybe Fr Stephen De Young's short God Is a Man of War: The Problem of Violence in the Old Testament will help me at least understand it. As I love poetry, I think poet and professor Donald Sheehan's The Shield of Psalmic Prayer: Reflections on Translating, Interpreting, and Praying the Psalter will be a good balancing influence after the study of ancient wars.

There is a great deal to pray for this year. In addition to America's attempt to renew itself, which is by no means guaranteed to succeed, there are the conflicts involving Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza, and many other tribulations around the world that we don't hear as much of. And then there are our civic leaders and warriors and clergy and faithful, the sick, the old, the newborn, the catechumens, the lost, the travelers by sea and land and air, and personal prayers as well.

And so, in the short time before Great Lent begins, I ask all of you for your forgiveness for any offenses I may have committed against you this past year, and I ask your prayers for me, all of you who pray. I look forward to hearing about everyone's Lenten journey, all who care to share it.

And this, too

Victor David Hanson:

Ten bad takeaways from the Zelenskyy blow-up

1. Zelenskyy does not grasp—or deliberately ignores—the bitter truth: those with whom he feels most affinity (Western globalists, the American Left, the Europeans) have little power in 2025 to help him. And those with whom he obviously does not like or seeks to embarrass (cf. his Scranton, Penn. campaign-like visit in September 2024) alone have the power to save him. For his own sake, I hope he is not being “briefed” by the Obama-Clinton-Biden gang to confront Trump, given their interests are not really Ukraine’s as they feign.

2. Zelenskyy acts as if his agendas and ours are identical. So, he keeps insisting that he is fighting for us despite our two-ocean-distance that he mocks. We do have many shared interests with Ukraine, but not all by any means: Trump wants to “reset” with Russia and triangulate it against China. He seeks to avoid a 1962 DEFCON 2-like crisis over a proxy showdown in proximity to a nuclear rival. And he sincerely wants to end the deadlocked Stalingrad slaughterhouse for everyone’s sake.

3. The Europeans (and Canada) are now talking loudly of a new muscular antithesis, independent of the U.S. Promises, promises—given that would require Europeans to prune back their social welfare state, frack, use nuclear, stop the green obsessions, and spend 3-5 percent of their GDP on defense. The U.S. does not just pay 16 percent of NATO’s budget but also puts up with asymmetrical tariffs that result in a European Union trade surplus of $160 billion, plays the world cop patrolling sea-lanes and deterring terrorists and rogues states that otherwise might interrupt Europe’s commercial networks abroad, as well as de facto including Europe under a nuclear umbrella of 6,500 nukes.

4. Zelenskyy must know that all of the once deal-stopping issues to peace have been de facto settled: Ukraine is now better armed than most NATO nations, but will not be in NATO; and no president has or will ever supply Ukraine with the armed wherewithal to take back the Donbass and Crimea. So, the only two issues are a) how far will Putin be willing to withdraw to his 2022 borders and b) how will he be deterred? The first is answered by a commercial sector/tripwire, joint Ukrainian-US-Europe resource development corridor in Eastern Ukraine, coupled with a Korea-like DMZ; the second by the fact that Putin unlike his 2008 and 2014 invasions has now lost a million dead and wounded to a Ukraine that will remain thusly armed.

5. What are Zelenskyy’s alternatives without much U.S. help—wait for a return of the Democrats to the White House in four years? Hope for a rearmed Europe? Pray for a Democratic House and a 3rd Vindman-like engineered Trump impeachment? Or swallow his pride, return to the White House, sign the rare-earth minerals deal, invite in the Euros (are they seriously willing to patrol a DMZ?), and hope Trump can warn Putin, as he did successfully between 2017-21, not to dare try it again?

6. If there is a cease fire, a commercial deal, a Euro ground presence, and influx of Western companies into Ukraine, would there be elections? And if so, would Zelenskyy and his party win? And if not, would there be a successor transparent government that would reveal exactly where all the Western financial aid money went?

7. Zelenskyy might see a model in Netanyahu. The Biden Administration was far harder on him than Trump is on Ukraine: suspending arms shipments, demanding cease-fires, prodding for a wartime, bipartisan cabinet, hammering Israel on collateral damage—none of which Westerners have demanded of Zelenskyy. Yet Netanyahu managed a hostile Biden, kept Israel close to its patron, and when visiting was gracious to his host. Netanyahu certainly would never before the global media have interrupted, and berated a host and patron president in the White House.

8. If Ukraine has alienated the U.S. what then is its strategic victory plan? Wait around for more Euros? Hold off an increasingly invigorated Russian military? Cede more territory? What, then, exactly are Zelenskyy’s cards he seems to think are a winning hand?

9. If one views carefully all the 50-minute tape, most of it was going quite well—until Zelenskyy started correcting Vance firstly, and Trump secondly. By Ukraine-splaining to his hosts, and by his gestures, tone, and interruptions, he made it clear that he assumed that Trump was just more of the same compliant, clueless moneybags Biden waxen effigy. And that was naïve for such a supposedly worldly leader.

10. March 2025 is not March 2022, after the heroic saving of Kyiv—but three years and 1.5 million dead and wounded later. Zelenskyy is no longer the international heartthrob with the glamorous entourage. He has postponed elections, outlawed opposition media and parties, suspended habeas corpus and walked out of negotiations when he had an even hand in Spring 2022 and apparently even now when he does not in Spring 2025.

Quo vadis, Volodymyr?

That's about it

Bonchie sums it up on X:

Overnight, the discussion has shifted from "Trump ambushed Zelensky" to "Yeah, Zelensky was rude, but so what?" Progress, I guess.

But that still misses the point. Zelensky's interjection to make clear he has no intention of negotiating a ceasefire is what blew up the deal.

I don't want to see Ukrained overrun, but if Zelenskyy won't negotiate a ceasefire that calls for Russia keeping the eastern territories and Crimea, then I guess he'd better roll the dice with whatever virtue-signaling European or Europhile countries are willing to get serious with money and men.

Exactly What I Wanted!

Now that’s marketing. 

Anabasis XX: Diplomacy

Today we've had quite a display of how diplomacy can lead to an honest and forthright exchange of views, rather than the 'formalized lying in formal wear' that we more usually observe from the professionals. 

The Myriad have a great example for us in today's reading of how diplomacy was done right in the old days. I'm going to quote more of the text than usual because it is a short section that is very charming.

After this, whilst waiting, they lived partly on supplies from the market, partly on the fruit of raids into Paphlagonia. The Paphlagonians, on their side, showed much skill in kidnapping stragglers, wherever they could lay hands on them, and in the night time tried to do mischief to those whose quarters were at a distance from the camp. The result was that their relations to one another were exceedingly hostile, so much so that Corylas, who was the chief of Paphlagonia at that date, sent ambassadors to the Hellenes, bearing horses and fine apparel, and charged with a proposal on the part of Corylas to make terms with the Hellenes on the principle of mutual forbearance from injuries. The generals replied that they would consult with the army about the matter. 

This is a promising start to peace talks. Both sides are hurting to a greater or lesser degree, so both sides are motivated to consider a peace proposal. The army has a problem it needs to solve -- adequate supplies -- and their enemies have a problem they need to solve -- not being subject to raids. There's an obvious solution: provide tribute on a temporary basis until the Myriad leaves the area in return for a cessation of raiding. The generals have instituted a democracy, however, in which the officers are subject to the discipline of the enlisted as well as vice-versa (if you read through the conflicts in yesterday's reading, you'll have seen some generals being fined by vote of the assembled army for one reason and another). So this proposed treaty is a matter the army will vote upon as well.

And in the best Ancient Greek style, they do it following a symposium held with the embassy. Notice that, unlike with the Persians, the Greeks respect the truce and cause no harm to those who are under their hospitality. 

[T]hey gave them a hospitable reception, to which they invited certain members of the army whose claims were obvious. They sacrificed some of the captive cattle and other sacrificial beasts, and with these they furnished forth a sufficiently festal entertainment, and reclining on their truckle beds, fell to eating and drinking out of beakers made of horn which they happened to find in the country.

But as soon as the libation was ended and they had sung the hymn, up got first some Thracians, who performed a dance under arms to the sound of a pipe, leaping high into the air with much nimbleness, and brandishing their swords [in a theatrical dance common to that country]... 

After this some Aenianians and Magnesians got up and fell to dancing the Carpaea, as it is called, under arms. This was the manner of the dance: one man lays aside his arms and proceeds to drive a yoke of oxen, and while he drives he sows, turning him about frequently, as though he were afraid of something; up comes a cattle-lifter, and no sooner does the ploughman catch sight of him afar, than he snatches up his arms and confronts him. They fight in front of his team, and all in rhythm to the sound of the pipe. At last the robber binds the countryman and drives off the team. Or sometimes the cattle-driver binds the robber, and then he puts him under the yoke beside the oxen, with his two hands tied behind his back, and off he drives....

After this a Mysian came in with a light shield in either hand and danced, at one time going through a pantomime, as if he were dealing with two assailants at once; at another plying his shields as if to face a single foe, and then again he would whirl about and throw somersaults, keeping the shields in his hands, so that it was a beautiful spectacle. Last of all he danced the Persian dance, clashing the shields together, crouching down on one knee and springing up again from earth; and all this he did in measured time to the sound of the flute. After him the Mantineans stepped upon the stage, and some other Arcadians also stood up; they had accoutred themselves in all their warlike finery. They marched with measured tread, pipes playing, to the tune of the 'warrior's march'; the notes of the paean rose, lightly their limbs moved in dance, as in solemn procession to the holy gods. The Paphlagonians looked upon it as something truly strange that all these dances should be under arms; and the Mysians, seeing their astonishment persuaded one of the Arcadians who had got a dancing girl to let him introduce her, which he did after dressing her up magnificently and giving her a light shield. When, lithe of limb, she danced the Pyrrhic, loud clapping followed; and the Paphlagonians asked, "If these women fought by their side in battle?" to which they answered, "To be sure, it was the women who routed the great King, and drove him out of camp." So ended the night.

The next day the army accepts the peace proposal, and the embassy returns home. The Ten Thousand remain there until they feel that enough ships have been gathered, and then they take to the sea to sail away from this country (probably to the vast relief of the inhabitants). They sail to Sinope, which receives them with gifts especially of food, that being the clear lesson on how to make and keep peace with the army. 

There they are met by Cheirisophus, who had gone to his friend the admiral to get ships for the army. Well, he didn't bring them ships or anything else except fine words and a promise of future pay once they are in closer proximity. 

The army pauses for a few days after a further sailing voyage and considers a change in leadership, switching to a single general with overall command instead of several who command different sections. This is with a view toward swift action to seize a fitting prize before they reach Hellas, because they don't want to come home almost empty-handed (although given what they have been through, coming home at all is quite a prize). 

Xenophon is asked to assume the supreme command -- he tells us -- but decides not to do so following a sacrifice to Zeus in his role as the King. He is offered the command but refuses it, first on the grounds that there is a Spartan there and Spartans have proven themselves the best soldiers (i.e. in the recent Peloponnesian War). When that is not accepted, he admits that he held a sacrifice and received a vision that told him he shouldn't take the command. This argument is accepted by all. 

So instead they choose Cheirisophus, who at least has a promise of employment for them. He says they will sail on to Heraclea. Now, "Heraclea" is a city name derived from the highly popular hero Heracles, and as such is about as common a city name in the era as "Alexandria" will soon become or as "Jackson" or "Jefferson" or "Franklin" are in America. Fortunately the text mentions the legend about the mouth of Hades being reputedly near the town, so we can be sure which of the many Heracleas is intended. 

I-40 to Reopen Tomorrow

It's just going to be one lane in each direction at first, but it will accommodate standard size-and-weight tractor trailers. That will be huge for the trucking industry, which has been having to route as far north as I-81 north of Johnson City, or as far south as I-285 north of Atlanta, for loads that required interstate transit. Traversing the mountain roads with a semi is out of the question in most of this country: they're just old mule trails that have curves too tight for a big truck to make. Every now and then some cowboy tries to bring a semi across US 129, "the Tail of the Dragon," and that goes about as well as you'd imagine.

Local roads have a similar problem. I mentioned NC 107 the other day; semis run down that one, but it's a near thing sometimes if you meet one. For a long time Dollar General's navigation software was routing its trucks across NC 281 up here. The VFD would have to help them back up, sometimes for miles, to get back to a road they could retreat upon successfully. These roads were built by mules, for mules.

A Pro-Trump Washington Post Opinion?

Trump dealt Russia a 'devastating blow' with mineral deal, may have effectively ended the war.

Strange thing to see in the Washington Post of all places. It's not a ridiculous argument, although the diplomatic dishonesty being engaged to smooth the peace deal in Ukraine is astonishing to watch.

UPDATE: The Post is back to its usual self today. Just a passing fever. 

Lead opinion: Donald Trump's rapidly spreading authoritarianism is the real threat to personal liberties and free markets. (Technically satisfies Bezos' order that Post opinion backs personal liberties and free markets.)

Editorial Board: Do Canada and Mexico deserve Trump tariffs? (Answer: No.)

Second op-ed: 'Tech bro Maoists' are torching the country that made them rich. (Graphic of Elon with a chainsaw).

Latest columns: 5/7 explicitly anti-Trump, 2 neutral.

I'd say that looks like open revolt against the boss.

Whitehouse Road (with Sturgill Simpson)

Some impressive guitar work by a man who could fill the Ryman easily by himself, but chose to show up as a guest at Tyler Childers' show. 

Anabasis XIX

When last we left the Ten Thousand, they were pushing their way south along the Black Sea. They had initially found a Greek city along the coast, because the Greeks like the Anglo-Saxons or the Norse-Celtic kingdoms of Norðreyjar and Suðreyjar was a thalassocracy (a word that we have from the Greeks: Xenophon's near-contemporary Herodotus used it to explain the Minoan empire). As they push southwest, they fight their way through non-Greek peoples, but eventually reach another Greek state along the coast, Sinope. This one serves as a protector for some non-Greeks that the Ten Thousand initially encounter in terms of mutual hostility. A detachment from the Greek state arrives to negotiate terms for the army's visit. The discourse between these Greeks and the Ten Thousand becomes notably more diplomatic and friendly as the Greeks realize just how powerful the Ten Thousand would be if they decided to fight.

Xenophon considers whether it might just be sensible to found a city with the Ten Thousand as its citizens; we have talked here about how they are a sort of Republic in any case, a Republic on the march. Were they to settle and take some promising country, they could defend it and support themselves in a sufficient way exactly as other states like Sparta were doing in the same period. Xenophon commissions a sacrifice and oracular reading to understand whether or not this is as promising an idea as he thinks it might be, and receives the prophecy that someone will betray him soon.

The efficacy of this prophecy turns out to be a small wonder, as the oracle himself was alarmed by the idea of city-founding and immediately betrays Xenophon by spreading rumors about his designs. This sets off a series of hearings within the army as some internal tensions that have been building in periods of danger now have a moment of peace in which they can be brought forward and resolved. Xenophon is able to convince the army that his intention in consulting the oracle was merely to decide whether the idea was promising enough to bring forward to the group, rather than an attempt to make decisions behind their backs. Some additional internal dramatics get worked out in this period, which I find less compelling than other matters and so will leave as an exercise for interested readers. 

By the way, if you follow the link "Ten Thousand" you will learn that the Ancient Greeks had a specific word for this quantity, which is the root of our word "myriad." For us that word implies a very large but nonspecific number, but for the Greeks it was a specific figure that was written: "M". Thus, in Greek the name of the army that we give in English as "the Ten Thousand" is properly "The Myriad." 

It's a more evocative term. You can easily imagine the effect on a city state of discovering that the Myriad had suddenly materialized in their vicinity, as the citizens of Sinope did, with demands they wished to make about access to markets and resources. They bring silver and would prefer to buy, and might want to charter shipping or else purchase larger supplies for a further march; but they are perilous, numerous, and disciplined.

Revival

When I hear the word “Revival,” I think of the literal camps that dotted North Georgia when I was young. They were semi permanent buildings, sheds of wood or corrugated steel, which in the summer season sprang into revival meetings — summer while the crops grew between planting and harvest, and it was too hot in Georgia to do anything but pray anyway. 

Those were Protestant, but this band has taken a name that suggests at least a strong tie to the Catholic tradition. The endorsement of bourbon as part of the solution is more comfortable for Catholics than it is for Baptists anyway. 

Upper Bearwallow Falls

Gorges State Park, North Carolina. 

This is waterfall country. The Blue Ridge Escarpment coincides here with the Eastern Continental Divide and also an alpine rain forest where warm air moving northeast from the Gulf of Mexico hits its first real mountains. 

There are so many waterfalls here that no one knows how many there are. There are so many that no one knows how many there are even just inside Gorges State Park. 

There are so many waterfalls here that when I bought my house, after we had closed, at the very last meeting where the former owners were turning over the keys, they mentioned in passing that there was a waterfall here on the property. "There is a waterfall on the property" never even came up in the listing, in the sales meetings, in the negotiations, just kind of at the end as an aside they pointed out that we now owned one. 

On NC 107 north of Cashiers there is a beautiful one that is only visible from the road when the leaves are off the trees. It's tall and long, divides into two sections and then comes back together for a single broad fall down a rock face. Anywhere else they'd have built a park just to look at it. Here, there's not even a pull-off along the highway so you can stop to view the thing. 

Aid Exceptions

During the discussion of USAID, I mentioned that my experience with their work in the southern Philippines was broadly positive. I thought we might miss their contributions to counterinsurgency. 

Fifteen years ago when I was in the Southern Philippines, USAID had just built a water treatment plant for a local community on one of the islands where some Islamist groups were trying to recruit. (Abu Sayyaf was the more problematic one, but also Jemaah Islamiyah and the local crew, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or 'MILF' as they amusingly chose to be called.) They also funded the local schools and, importantly, provided the textbooks to those schools -- textbooks that described the American influence otherwise than as a Great Satan, but pointed out helpful things that came to everyone in the area from the relationship. 

They had relationships throughout the limited local government even in that remote corner of the world. They knew people who could get things done. And, most likely, they provided a cover for clandestine operations and officers as necessary to target the radical Islamist groups using the area.

Our new Secretary of State, Rubio, agrees with that opinion. He exempted the Philippines and Taiwan from the aid freeze after review. It sounds like he is chiefly interested in the Chinese-backed insurgency (the Maoists are indeed quite dangerous and a form of power projection by the PRC).

“Governor”

I don’t know that it’s a good thing that the President thinks he’s a comedian, but we are where we are. 

A Balmy Day

I rode down into Brevard today, where it was nearly fifty and sunny. Up at Owen’s Gap, well above the continental divide, it was still chilly. 

Anabasis XVIII

When last we left the Ten Thousand, they had come home to the Greek world -- at least to a Greek city on the Black Sea that they used as a base for raiding back into the countryside they had recently traversed. The locals made them welcome.

Nevertheless the army of Ten Thousand -- a new census shows that it is now 14% smaller than that, at 8,600, after the snow the the fighting and some illnesses -- is too large for this city's market to supply for long. They need a plan for how to sustain themselves beyond just raiding the mountainous countryside, where supplies exist but will also run out.

At a meeting of the army, they understandably decide -- exactly as infantry thousands of years later can relate -- that they have marched as much as they really prefer to do.

The first speaker was Antileon of Thurii. He rose and said: "For my part, sirs, I am weary by this time of getting kit together and packing up for a start, of walking and running and carrying heavy arms, and of tramping along in line, or mounting guard, and doing battle. The sole desire I now have is to cease from all these pains, and for the future, since here we have the sea before us, to sail on and on, 'stretched out in sleep,' like Odysseus, and so to find myself in Hellas." When they heard these remarks, the soldiers showed their approval with loud cries of "well said," and then another spoke to the same effect, and then another, and indeed all present. Then Cheirisophus got up and said: "I have a friend, sirs, who, as good hap will have it, is now high admiral, Anaxibius. If you like to send me to him, I think I can safely promise to return with some men-of-war and other vessels which will carry us. All you have to do, if you are really minded to go home by sea, is to wait here till I come. I will be back ere long." The soldiers were delighted at these words, and voted that Cheirisophus should set sail on his mission without delay.

Xenophon speaks and gets the army to adopt several sensible resolutions about the raiding: the securing of the camp, the provision for reinforcements in case a raiding party gets overwhelmed, and so forth. He also suggests letting the nearby Greek governments know they might want to march the rest of the way, in case the ship idea doesn't work out, and that those local governments might want to fix up the roads to speed the hungry army on its way. The army is not pleased with the latter suggestion, but Xenophon is wise enough to send to the local governments anyway -- and they are wise enough to see the wisdom of fixing the roads so the army can get quickly out of their territory.

So when, sure enough, Cheirisophus' idea doesn't work out, the army tries to buy or source ships of its own. They end up only with one, which they can put support units on but not nearly the whole body of troops. Thus, a march is in the offing after all. 

They sell all the slaves they had taken -- I think sadly upon the 'beloved' Kurdish women (and boys) that Xenophon mentioned being smuggled along, although perhaps some of them really were beloved and remained with the army. We have noticed their piety and its efficacy; it should be noted here that they set aside a portion of the profits from the slave sale to Apollo and Artemis of the Ephesians. We learn that Xenophon gave a sum to be managed also by the priests of Apollo, which they used for a long time but later returned to him. A surprising fact mentioned in passing is that Xenophon later bought an estate and lived peacefully in this country that the Ten Thousand ravaged later during his time of exile from Sparta. 

Then the army starts marching west towards Hellas, their ship following offshore with the support troops, those above forty years' age, the sick, and noncombatants. They march upon nicely repaired roads at first, because of the wisdom of local city fathers in wanting to speed them along. 

There is then some very stiff fighting as they force their way through non-Greek lands again. At times they are able to win allies among the local populations, just as we did in Iraq: even within a tribe, let alone a people, you can usually find minor cousins who would prefer to be the major cousins. Some tough wars against fortified positions that are heavily guarded ensue, the Greeks pulling through thanks again to what Xenophon describes as divine intervention: a fire breaks out, inspiring the Greeks' use of additional fires they set on purpose. 

The Minority

The extremely Asheville Citizen Times (not a typo) is trumpeting this piece on how to resist Trump’s administration. Did you know that less than 32% of eligible voters voted for Trump in last year’s election? Sure, a clean majority of those who voted chose to vote for him; but if we assume that everyone who didn’t vote also preferred not to have Trump over Biden/Harris, that gives us a strong supermajority of eligible voters who didn’t endorse Trump. 

Once you have made that leap of logic, the rest is easy!

Zeitgeist

The comments sections for various NYT puzzles gives me a daily peek into a certain demographic's hot takes on the political stories of the day. On quiet days, people discuss the puzzles. Every few days there's a little desultory virtue-signaling about the sad state of affairs in the U.S., with commiseration from the world-wide audience.

Predictably, they've been riled up this week over the cruel and inexplicable budget cuts that are separating U.S. federal workers from jobs they rightfully own for life. They're just slashing blindly! They're not even commissioning half-billion-dollar efficiency studies that will last for years and be studied for years longer! But today there's an unprecedented flood of outrage over the very concept of workers having to state in a few simple words what they accomplished during the past week. They're lying awake stewing over it; they're trying to decide whether they should refuse to answer out of principle. They can't imagine who this upstart is who is demanding to know what they do that even they consider of any value. How could this childish clown possibly comprehend the subtle worth of their efforts, even if they could bring themselves to jot them down?

On Twitter, someone working on a DOGE-associated task posted a tongue-in-cheek inquiry about how he would begin in describing the incredible progress of his last week. Musk responded that he'd be fine, and that in any case DOGE was setting a low bar: he really hoped primarily to identify a small group that could respond in comprehensible English demonstrating a grasp of the point of the inquiry.

In many online venues, most of what I read is bemoaning the sad fate of federal workers with mortgages they can barely handle. They don't even bother explaining what they're doing that anyone would miss. Why is my job important? Because of my paycheck, of course.

Medieval Trade Routes

This map of Medieval trade routes is very detailed and interesting. It also may be of interest to compare with the route of the Ten Thousand, as its mention of mountain passes gives a pretty good indication of how they probably traveled. They are currently in Trebizond, near the center of the map on the Black Sea. They probably came through Baghesh Pass, and fought the last battle that was detailed at Zigana Pass.

Anabasis Interlude III: James' Remarks

James posted some insightful remarks at his blog, to which I would like to draw your attention and some of which I would like to discuss further.

One [thing that stood out for him] is how important sacrifices and studying omens was in their activity. At one point they delay action for an almost disastrously long time because the omens weren't favorable. The recorded speeches emphasize how important it is to be honest, because the gods hated evil oathbreakers. 

In yesterday's post I mentioned this insight, and added that what really impresses me is the efficacy of these religious practices. Anabasis is a prose work and a kind of public history, but it does contain a lot of Ancient Greek ritual. I am impressed by their apparent efficacy.

There is something about the process itself that may be effective. They’re praying to Zeus and Heracles and Apollo, whom very few today believe are real; but it works. There’s something about the process, and maybe it’s in the ritual or the attitude of prayer or of gratitude, that seems effective. 

Or it could be that, somehow, their understanding of virtue "tuned" their prayers to the right listeners, in a way we wouldn't understand. Jewish, Indian and Chinese history also contain various -- quite varied, actually -- methods of communing with the divine, and all of them have at times produced good results. That's strange given how different their metaphysical claims ultimately are, especially the Hindu and Buddhist claims about the basic reality that differ quite widely from either the Ancient Greek or Christian ones.

Major decisions have to be voted on by the soldiers, not just the generals--who can be similarly gotten rid of. I don't mean to disparage Xenophon, but that brought to mind the not entirely dissimilar democracy on pirate ships. (I don't know if privateers, who'd be more like mercenaries, were run along lines similar to pirates.)

Some were, and some weren't; a lot of privateers in the Golden Age of Piracy were pirates sometimes and privateers other times, like Henry Morgan or Stede Bonnet. Morgan ran his crew like a pirate, but Bonnet paid his crew wages rather than plunder (and also paid for the construction of his ship). Other privateers were businessmen who were in the service of a country to which they were loyal all the time, particularly American privateers. There was a joint stock company or a wealthy man who outfitted the vessel, hired a captain, and ran it like a business. 

However, the analogy between pirates and Greek soldiers is not novel. 

When we are going to talk about pirates, well, we already are: most of those early Vikings were in fact pirates, and not kings in their own land. We will return to how little a distinction there is between piracy and "legitimate government" in a while, but the concept was not new even then: no less than St. Augustine relates a story about a pirate captured by Alexander the Great, who asked the pirate how he dared molest peaceful shipping. The pirate asked him, "How dare you molest the whole world?"

It is a much fairer point than people admit. If we look at our own American notions of legitimacy in government, the pirates look far more legitimate than the kings: they made compacts to which the people who joined those compacts actually gave their consent. Iceland's government looks like the only one that we would find legitimate on anything like the American model; even Scotland's doesn't have the legitimacy of the Declaration of Arbroath until 1320, much later.

Xenophon's army started as a force of mercenaries, and after the death of their employer they became an unemployed force who initially just tried to see if one of the Persians would like to hire them instead. After the deaths of their generals through Persian treachery, however, they became something else. 

The Ten Thousand are at this point in the story a kind of marching Republic. They elected their leaders and could replace them; and they no longer serve any higher authority but themselves. Their purpose is indeed like a nation's purpose: to protect their citizenry against the dangers of the world, while keeping each other as free as possible. 

Now that they have returned to a Hellenic city, they have to decide what to do. At first they continue to act like a Republic, waging war against the neighbors who had chosen to wage war against them during their passage. (How much wiser the Macrones' decision to trade with them and help them pass looks now!) 

They are no longer in the Wild, or what was the Wild to them. They have to now figure out how to come to terms with their society of Hellenic fellows. The city they came to gave them gifts and let them use it as a base for raiding, but in time they will need to do something else. They could dissolve and all sail home, keeping such money and slaves as they took on the march. Or they could retain this power that they built by coming together and building mutual trust and camaraderie. They have loyalty to each other now, which as James notes they didn't at first. That's powerful too.

The SECDEF Speaks

Mr. Hines dropped this address in the comments below, but it's aimed directly at American citizens so I wanted to put it on the front page.