86. Q. Of what is the book an account? A. Of an expedition by Cyrus the Younger into Central Asia, and the retreat of the Greek part of his army.
87. Q. Who accompanied Cyrus on this expedition? A. An oriental army of about 100,000, and a body of Greeks numbering about 13,000.
88. Q. What was the object of this invasion on the part of Cyrus? A. To obtain possession of the Persian throne, occupied by his brother, Artaxerxes.
89. Q. In what does the main interest of the Anabasis as a narrative lie? A. Rather in the retreat than in the advance.
90. Q. From what does the whole matter of the famous advance and retreat of the ten thousand derive grave secondary importance? A. From the fact that it resulted in revealing to Greece the essential weakness and vulnerability of the imposing Persian empire.
91. Q. When was Xenophon, the author, born, and with whom was he not far from contemporary? A. He was born about 431 B. C., being thus not far from contemporary with the Hebrew prophet Malachi.
92. Q. What did Xenophon’s presence of mind and practical wisdom give him in the retreat? A. A kind of leadership which he maintained until a prosperous issue was reached on the shores of Greece.
93. Q. Among the other chief works of Xenophon what one is prominent? A. The “Cyropædia.”
94. Q. What was the starting point of the expedition related in the Anabasis? A. Sardis.
95. Q. During the march what city did the army plunder where four hundred years later the Apostle Paul was born? A. Tarsus.