Fiona Hobden - Xenophon

To family and friends.

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And so they joked and spoke in earnest, mixing it all up together.

Xenophon, Symposium 4.29

ANCIENTS IN ACTION

Boudicca, Marguerite Johnson

Callimachus, Richard Rawles

Cassius Dio, Jesper Majbom Madsen

Catiline, Barbara Levick

Catullus, Amanda Hurley

Cleopatra, Susan Walker and Sally-Ann Ashton

Hadrian, James Morwood

Hannibal, Robert Garland

Homer, Jasper Griffin

Horace, Philip D. Hills

Lucretius, John Godwin

Marius, Federico Santangelo

Martial, Peter Howell

Ovid: Love Songs, Genevieve Liveley

Ovid: Myth and Metamorphosis, Sarah Annes Brown

Pindar, Anne Pippin Burnett

Protagoras, Daniel Silvermintz

Sappho, Marguerite Johnson

Spartacus, Theresa Urbainszyk

Tacitus, Rhiannon Ash

Thucydides, P. J. Rhodes

Virgil, Jasper Griffin

The Aegean in the fourth-century BC .

The Persian Empire in the sixth century BC .

Route followed by the Greek mercenaries in 401399 BC .

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Folio from an illustrated manuscript of the translation of Xenophons Cyropaedia by Vasco da Lucena (c. 147083). British Library Royal 16 G IX fol. 169. The British Library.

It takes a long time to write a short book. So a colleague informed me, as I found myself still immersed in Xenophons works three years after the commissioning of this book. Having finally reached the end, I am grateful for this restorative insight. Thanks are also due to Roger Rees for the invitation to contribute to Bloomsburys Ancients in Action series. The patience and commitment of the editorial team Alice Wright, Lily Mac Mahon and Georgina Leighton have been invaluable in bringing this project to completion.

One of Xenophons key tenets is that the best way to learn anything is to seek out an expert. In coming to the University of Liverpool back in 2003, I inadvertently followed this advice. Not only was the university the home of Christopher Tuplin, who knows Xenophon well, but at Liverpool we are currently looking forward to welcoming old and new friends to our third international conference devoted to the author. The Further Reading list at the end of this volume does little justice to the wealth and diversity of scholarship that is happening around the world now. My own readings of Xenophons works have benefitted immeasurably from all this industry, as well as Christophers intellectual generosity and warmth. Errors, of course, remain my own.

As this book has progressed, members of the clans Hobden and Montagnes have offered encouragement, enthusiasm and escape. My most heartfelt thanks are to David, who reminds me every day that there is more fun (are more puns) to be had than Xenophon.

The following abbreviations are used in references to works by Xenophon (Xen.). Some texts are best known by their ancient Greek or Latin title, whilst some titles are more normally translated. This book follows common practice and, where necessary, gives English translations on first full introduction.

The Aegean in the fourth century BC .

The Persian Empire in the sixth century BC .

Route followed by the Greek mercenaries in 401399 BC .

Xenophon the philosopher, a man unique amongst all other philosophers for adorning philosophy in both words and deeds.

Eunapius, Lives of the Sophists 453

Of the many individuals known from ancient Greece, Xenophon of Athens might appear the most accessible. With fourteen complete works surviving on topics as diverse as the education of the Persian king Cyrus, the virtues and value of Socrates, and the practicalities of cavalry command, the interests and opinions of the man seem clear. Likewise, from these same writings, it is possible to construct elements of his biography: as a pupil of Socrates, a military leader, and a man of letters and learning. Hence, we might think of him as Xenophon the Athenian, Xenophon the General, Xenophon the Historian, or Xenophon the Philosopher. Alternatively, to follow the favourable evaluation of ancient admirers like Eunapius, quoted above (see Chapter 5), he is a man of words and deeds. Each label captures an aspect of Xenophons identity and outlook, making him readily comprehensible.

Yet, none of these assignations are as simple as they at first appear. Although he grew up in democratic Athens, Xenophon spent most of his adult life abroad, at first voluntarily and later in exile. By his own account, he was an accidental general, compelled by circumstances to take charge of a band of Greek mercenaries (known as the Ten Thousand) stranded in Persia after the coup they were hired to support failed. Indeed, the military life lasted only a decade, followed by a longer period settled in the Peloponnese. It is here that the majority of his works were probably written, and some may relate in content to his lifestyle and relationships at that time. But mostly his attention was projected backwards and outwards, his ideas and analysis honed through the construction of other people and past worlds. History and philosophy are intertwined in his imaginative explorations on topics of practical political and moral significance. Our easy categorization of Xenophon elides the complexity of his experience and outlook.

It is the purpose of this book to explore Xenophon through his writings and to get a measure of that complexity, for it is by understanding Xenophon in the round that his significance as an agent in and an observer of his contemporary world becomes clear. The remainder of this Introduction returns to Xenophons biography, building outwards from the intimations in his written works towards the more elaborate accounts of later authors. It then sets out in fuller detail the character and range of his work, with attention to the mode and topics of investigation. This preliminary sketch paves the way for more detailed chapter studies on Xenophons approach to the past, his presentation of Socrates, his political perspectives and his moral agenda. A final chapter then reflects on the impact of Xenophon beyond his death from antiquity to the present day. In many ways, Xenophon is a unique voice: a critical thinker whose distinctive life experiences facilitated a specific worldview that was elaborated through a series of innovative writing projects. And yet, he was very much of his time. By looking at the world through Xenophons eyes, ancient Greece comes into focus.