The soldiers were informed of the decision arrived at, and desired to be ready for a fresh start immediately after the morning meal. Then the generals placed themselves at a narrow part of the road, and as the army marched past, took away from the men anything that they might have tried to carry off in defiance of the order.
The day did not pass without several skirmishes with the Carduchians, but for the most part they were able to march on steadily without serious fighting.
XXX
SEIZING A PASS
On the following day a great snow-storm made it difficult for the Hellenes to continue their march. Nevertheless they were obliged to go forward, as they had not a sufficient supply of food. The Carduchians now beset them in greater numbers than before, and harassed them with showers of stones and arrows, especially whenever they were hindered by coming to a part of the road that was particularly narrow.
Xenophon, who led the rear-guard, was several times obliged to halt and drive back the enemy, giving as he did so, a signal with the trumpets, in order that Cheirisophus and the van might wait for him. No sooner did the Hellenes turn and prepare to charge, than the Carduchians disappeared as if by magic, but in a very short time they were again in the rear, shooting at them as before.
At first Cheirisophus waited for the hoplites, so that they had no great difficulty in keeping up with the rest of the army, but after a time he took no more notice of the signals, and the distance between the van and the rear became greater and greater, until at last the march of Xenophon and his men was more like a flight than a retreat, whilst all the time they were exposed to the arrows and missiles of the enemy.
When in the evening they rejoined their comrades, Xenophon complained to Cheirisophus of the want of consideration he had shown in obliging the men to run and fight at the same time. In consequence of this, several of them, he said, had fallen, amongst whom were two of the best, and moreover it had been impossible to rescue their bodies.
Among the Hellenes it was regarded as a terrible calamity if anything interfered to prevent the dead from receiving funeral honours. If nothing else could be done, the corpse must at least be solemnly sprinkled with earth in the name of the gods, or the shade of the dead man would find no rest in the Lower World.
But it was not without urgent necessity that Cheirisophus had hurried forward during the latter part of the march, and he answered, ‘We were told by the guides that the mountains in front of us are almost impassable, and that there is but one steep road—that which you see yonder—leading to the only pass by which we can cross them. I hoped that by hurrying we might be able to seize this pass before the enemy should occupy it, but unhappily they have reached it first. They are posted there in great numbers, and I do not see how we are to drive them from it.’
