XVI
THE BATTLE OF CUNAXA
The eventful battle which was now fought between the rival brothers, was called after some villages which were then in the neighbourhood, but which have long since disappeared, the battle of Cunaxa.
Cyrus had desired Clearchus to charge the centre of the enemy’s line, where the King was stationed. ‘For,’ he said, ‘if we win there, the whole battle is ours.’
But Clearchus was afraid that if the Hellenes were to advance against the centre, they would find themselves surrounded by the innumerable host of the enemy and attacked on all sides at once. He therefore thought it better to attack the troops of the left wing, immediately opposite to him, and he assured Cyrus that his plan would succeed. But, judging from the result, he would have done better to follow the instructions of Cyrus.
The troops of the left wing consisted of a body of cavalry under the command of Tissaphernes; a company of archers who carried shields of basket-work fastened to poles which they stuck into the ground for protection while discharging their arrows; and a company of Egyptian infantry, armed with great wooden shields that covered their whole body. Contrary to the expectation of Cyrus, they advanced, behind their scythe-chariots, in silence, and with a firm, even step.
When they had come within a distance of five or six hundred yards, the Hellenes sang the pæan, or battle-hymn, and began to move forwards, at first slowly, but by degrees faster and faster, until their pace was like a whirlwind.
At the mere sight of them, the Barbarians turned and fled. Before they had come within arrowshot, the enemy’s line was broken, and in wild confusion, the archers thinking of nothing but saving their lives by running away. The drivers of the scythe-chariots sprang from their seats and left the horses to go where they pleased. The horses rushed pell-mell over the plain, some to the right, some to the left; many of them ran back into their own ranks adding to the confusion there; only a few went in the direction of the Hellenes, and these did no harm.
The only part of the line that made any resistance was the cavalry of Tissaphernes. These troops rode rapidly forward against the light-armed Hellene archers. But they, at the approach of the cavalry, opened their ranks and let them pass through, and then hurled javelins and arrows at them as they went by. The whole injury sustained by the Hellenes in this charge consisted in the loss of one man shot by an arrow, and another disabled through being caught by one of the scythe-chariots.
It was only at the end of several hours that the Hellenes returned from the pursuit of the flying Barbarians. On their way back they met with another detachment of the enemy’s troops, but these they defeated, if possible, even more easily than the first.
They were now very anxious for their long-delayed meal, for as yet they had eaten nothing that day. But Cyrus had arranged that all the food should be stored in the Barbarian camp, which had been plundered by a body of the enemy’s troops. The Hellenes were consequently obliged to go supperless to bed, only a few of them having been able to find something to eat. Yet they were cheered by the thought of the victory they had won, and by the hope that Cyrus had in like manner triumphed over the cowardly Barbarians opposed to him. They had not indeed heard anything of him, but supposed that he had gone far in pursuit of his foes, and was therefore at a distance from the camp.