YOU ARE READING

XENOPHON

Historical Fiction

Novelisation of the true story of Xenophon the Athenian and his part in the march of The Ten Thousand. Part two includes what was written in part one, now revised and edited. Please move straight to part two to begin reading. Thanks

#battle #fantasy #fiction #history #novel

Xenophon: Book 1. Cyrus: Prince of Persia

367 1 5

by Davver

by Davver

Foreword/ Introduction

For 28 years war had raged across the lands of the Hellenes, City against City, Greek against Greek. The fires of war spared no one. The Spartans and the Athenians were the main protagonists. These two great cities battled each other for the right to lead all of Hellas, though neither side could strike a mortal blow. Like two wounded animals caught in death grips Athens and Sparta fought, their struggles weakening each other slowly but surely, their lifeblood draining onto the dusty arena floor as they wrestled for their pyrrhic victory .

The Spartan’s, with their unrivalled might in the phalanx, controlled the land. The Athenians, with their mighty navy, were supreme at sea. The two cities were deadlocked, neither unable to force a final victory for nearly three decades.

The war was only ended when Sparta, using Persian gold, managed to cause civil unrest amongst Athens’s subject states in the Aegean Sea and Ionia, the very same states who kept the walled city supplied during times of invasion and siege. Without food from these states Athens faced the stark choice, surrender or face starvation.

The Athenian populace, its leading classes and warrior elite in particular, felt this defeat keenly. The City, which had led Greece for hundreds of years and established the powerful Athenian Empire, was now a broken shadow of its former self; forced to tear down her walls and submit to Spartan rule.

The Spartans, for whom Leonidas led the Three Hundred to Thermopylae, had fallen prey to the golden arrows of the Persian Empire. Sparta’s might had won out, but at what cost?

The Persians now ruled Greece from the shadows, manipulating and buying loyalty, dictating Spartan policy from the throne in Susa.

It would be another 65 years until Phillip and Alexander united Greece and turned their eye towards the conquest of Persia and in the meantime Persia’s hand was felt heavily in Greece and whilst many great thinkers at the end of the Peloponnesian war believed the Greeks should have peace between themselves there will always be those who look to turn any situation to their advantage. There will always be those who can capture men’s hearts and set the drums of war pounding through their veins. One such man was Cyrus the Younger, Son of Darius II, Cyrus the Noble, Cyrus – The Prince of Persia.

Prologue:

The Road Home

The sound of their mount’s hooves echoed far too loudly into the night, the compact dirt road providing a hollow boom for every footfall that seemed to thunder into the surrounding hills, announcing their presence to all with ears to hear.

Xenias flogged his horse and urged it to greater speed, heedless of the danger such speed would entail at night, their escape was not complete yet. He knew they must have a good distance between themselves and pursuit before the alarm was raised, for their destination would be known and their pursuers would have the benefit of fresh mounts at every town or imperial garrison. Beside him rode his lord and master, Cyrus. The Persian Prince rode his horse well, better than Xenias, which was to be expected of course. The Persian Royal, tall and lithe, with shoulder length golden hair, a pronounced nose giving him a noble aspect and the grizzled Greek infantry veteran, short as he was broad, a nose that had been broken too many times and several scars that where so large and white they were visible in the early morning dusk. The two men made an odd pairing as they raced across the Persian countryside.

XENOPHON

Xenophon: Book 1. Cyrus: Prince of Persia

Promoted stories

You'll also like