The work of Xenophon describes the expedition of Cyrus the Younger to his brother Artaxes II, King of Persia, in order to seize the Persian throne; Retirement to the Eux Star Sea; the story of their return at last to the west of Asia Minor. Cyrus launched this ominous campaign in 401 BC.Before that, he was already a rather prominent and important figure in Greek history.From 431 to 404 BC, when Athens and Sparta fought for hegemony, which was called the Peloponnesian War, the Spartans had already fought with the Persian governors of Lydia and Ionia, Asia Minor The commander of the Persian army in the west, Tissaphernis, formed an alliance.Tisaphornes hoped to use the power of the Spartans to restore rule over the Greek cities on the coast of Asia, formerly under the Persians, but now under the Athenian Empire; the Spartans would receive his funding to maintain their fleets.But Tisaphonis was a double-faced character by nature, and he listened to the words of the Athenian Alcibiades, thinking that it would be beneficial to Persia to make both Greek opponents invincible, tired of long battles, and exhausted.So he soon curtailed, and finally stopped altogether, the financial support he had promised to the Spartans.When the Spartans protested against this breach of trust to Darius II, the reigning Persian king at the time, Darius appointed his second son, Cyrus, as the governor of Lydia, Great Phrygia, and Cappadesia. Military commander in western Asia Minor.In this way, Cyrus actually replaced Tisafonis and relieved his military power, leaving only a small part of his original jurisdiction-Ionia.

Cyrus took up various important positions in 407 BC, when he was only seventeen years old.Adhering to the will of Darius, he wholeheartedly supported Sparta, which seemed to have the most bad luck at that time.In carrying out this task, he was capable, enthusiastic and straightforward.The assistance he gave to the Spartans was undoubtedly an extremely important, perhaps indispensable, factor in their final victory over Athens. Shortly before the end of the Peloponnesian War, in 405 BC, Cyrus was called out of his post in Asia Minor to be at the bedside of his dying father.Because of his participation in the war, he had the opportunity to learn that Greek soldiers and Greek tactics were far superior to Persian soldiers and Persian tactics, and established friendship with many officers in the Peloponnesian army.In addition, thousands of soldiers were discharged from the military when the war, which lasted a quarter of a century, ended in 404 BC.They have no other expertise and are reluctant to move into peaceful industries.These circumstances explain why Cyrus was not only willing, but able, to enlist the Greeks to the great enterprise which he was shortly after undertaking, the attempt to usurp the throne of his brother Artaxerxes.

After the death of Darius, Artaxes succeeded to the throne (405 BC).He listened to the slander of Tisafnes that Cyrus conspired against him, and arrested him.Cyrus was humiliated and resentful, and this was the only reason Xenophon offered in his book for the long march to seize power. From other sources we know that Cyrus had hoped that Darius would designate him as heir to the throne.Firstly, because he was the queen's favorite, but more because he was born after Darius ascended the throne, but Artaxersis was not.In fact, it was on this occasion that Zars was chosen eighty years ago to be King of Persia, to the exclusion of one of his older brothers.

Xenophon was a personal participant and eyewitness to the events he describes in .He participated in this long march, "not as general or captain or soldier," but at the strong invitation of a Greek general under Cyrus' tent, his friend Proxinus.Xenophon was probably not yet thirty years old at that time. The original meaning of the title of this book is the itinerary of the coast in previous years, especially the famous journey from the coast of Asia Minor in Greece to Susa, the capital of Persia.In fact this word is only suitable for the first part of Xenophon's narrative. ——English translator's note

Although he was relatively young, and an Athenian in a Peloponnesian army, he did play a major part in the famous retreat of ten thousand men.His descriptions are direct, straightforward, modest and natural. There has been debate as to when it was written.But there can hardly be any doubt that this chronicle is based on the detailed account of events as Xenophon made on the march.The internal evidence, namely, the stylistic features of an early work by Xenophon, confirms the natural supposition that it was finalized at a time when these events were fresh in the minds of the author and the nation.On the other hand, a personal biographical episode in Book V may have been written as late as 370 BC.

Another point is that Xenophon, in his History of Greece written about 380 B.C., refers to Cyrus' Long March, referring his readers to "Themistogenes of Syracuse" on the The history of the Long March.This obviously means that his own has not yet come out.A reasonable reconciliation of these contradictory points leads to the following view: Xenophon's was written in a form nearly close to the present, shortly after the author's return to Greece from Asia in 394 B.C. It was not published until 370 BC.It is thought that it is likely that Xenophon wanted to postpone the publication of a work that highlighted himself until later in life.

The 10,000-strong Greek army marched from Sardis to the gate of Babylon, and then returned to the Greek coast of the Eux Xing Sea. This is an extremely important event in history.They easily defeated the Persian army, which was several times larger than them, and they were able to return safely despite Arta Zesis' efforts to stop them.This showed everyone the utter impotence of the once ostentatious and much-feared Persian empire. Greek statesmen and military dignitaries were quickly inspired.As Francis Bacon said: "The young scholar and philosopher [Xenophon], after all the chiefs had been perfidiously slain in negotiations, led this army of ten thousand men on land through the heart of the vast kingdom. region, safely returned to Greece from Babylon. This shocked the world, and inspired the subsequent invasion of the Persian kingdom by the Greeks. As Josen the Thessaly later proposed, and Archesyrus of Sparta attempted, All that Alexander of Macedon accomplished was inspired by the actions of this young scholar."

On the one hand, the long march of an army of 10,000 people showed the weakness of Persia to the Greeks, but Xenophon’s narration of the move showed us very clearly the excellent qualities of these Greek mercenaries who were chasing fame and wealth—they were brave and brave. Perseverance, piety and love, independence and reason.True soldiers who feared no danger, they were still Greeks who loved freedom.They can only be governed with their consent, and their opinions must be listened to and negotiated with in matters of common concern.They are called "democracy on the move" and "republic on the move" as they are called. Such characters, that is, are enough to illustrate the strength, character and temperament of this nation.

It is also valuable because it provided the Greeks with knowledge of the art of war and made a real contribution to military science.Xenophon was, or one might say in the course of his retirement, a very able strategist and tactician.Every problem is explored in the spirit of a scholar and a thinker, and then his deliberate decisions are embodied in the art of war.Always resourceful, with new tactics to deal with new situations, never fall into the fetters of routine.His originality and inventive genius had a profound influence on the later Greek art of war.This influence has been passed down to modern times.A modern military science researcher① wrote: "In Asia

Before Alexandria, the most instructive soldier for us was undoubtedly Xenophon...  It was he who pointed out to the world what the tactics of the retreat should be, and how to command a rearguard force.has given us more tactical ingenuity than several other books...  After twenty-three centuries, there is no better military instruction. " Finally, Xenophon's narration of historical facts is concise and elegant, attractive and vivid, which makes it occupy a very high position in the narrative department of travel and exploration.When talking about it, Tyne even said, "The beauty of its stylistic style surpasses the movingness of its storyline." Indeed, Xenophon's reputation as a literati depends to a large extent on this book.