In 404 B.C., soon after the disaster of Ægospotami, Darius, king of Persia, died. His eldest son Artaxerxes succeeded to his father’s throne.
Cyrus, the younger son, who was present at his father’s death, was accused by Tissaphernes of trying to secure the throne for himself.
Artaxerxes believed Tissaphernes, and Cyrus was arrested, and would have been put to death had not his mother pleaded that his life might be spared.
The king listened to his mother’s request and set his brother free. He even allowed him to govern the provinces that had been his in his father’s lifetime.
But Cyrus felt no gratitude to his brother, he hated him, and was determined if it were possible to seize his throne.
So he hired a large number of Greek soldiers, for now that there was peace between Athens and Sparta, many of them were idle and glad to take service under Cyrus.
The prince pretended that he was going to fight against Tissaphernes, and no one save himself and the Spartan, Clearchus, who was the leader of the Greeks, knew that the army was going to Babylon to fight against Artaxerxes, king of Persia.
Among the Greek soldiers was Xenophon, a scholar and a pupil of Socrates, who wrote the story of this expedition.
Early in 401 B.C., Cyrus assembled his troops at Sardis. When they arrived at Tarsus, a city on the coast of Cilicia, the soldiers began to suspect that Cyrus was going to lead them against Artaxerxes. They were not afraid of the great king, but they were afraid to leave the sea behind them, for that was ever a terrible thing to the Greeks. So they refused to march farther.
Clearchus, who was a stern commander and no favourite with his men, tried in vain to quell their rebellion, but all his efforts were vain. Not a step forward would they march.