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A review by wunder
The Anabasis of Cyrus by Xenophon
4.0
Not a page-turner, but a real document. Maybe a 2 for readability, but a 5 for the real experience of a Greek army in desperate circumstances.
The final sentence of the book is, "The distance of the entire journey, ascent and descent, was two hundred fifteen stages, one thousand one hundred fifty parasangs, or thirty-four thousand two hundred fifty-five stadia; and the the amount of the time of the ascent and descent, a year and three months." That captures the detail and the difficulty of the narrative. The distance is roughly 4500 miles, almost all on foot.
But the meat is in the speeches. Almost at the end, Xenophon says, "But I, Seuthes, do not believe that any possession is more noble or more brilliant for a man, and especially, a ruler, than virtue, justice, and generosity." That is why you read this.
The final sentence of the book is, "The distance of the entire journey, ascent and descent, was two hundred fifteen stages, one thousand one hundred fifty parasangs, or thirty-four thousand two hundred fifty-five stadia; and the the amount of the time of the ascent and descent, a year and three months." That captures the detail and the difficulty of the narrative. The distance is roughly 4500 miles, almost all on foot.
But the meat is in the speeches. Almost at the end, Xenophon says, "But I, Seuthes, do not believe that any possession is more noble or more brilliant for a man, and especially, a ruler, than virtue, justice, and generosity." That is why you read this.