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The Ten Thousand were a group of mercenary
Mercenary

A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict, who is not a national or a party to the conflict, and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or p...
 units, mainly Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
, drawn up by Cyrus the Younger
Cyrus the Younger

Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a History of Persia prince and general. The time of his birth is unknown, but he died in 401 BC....
 to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
 from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Battle of Cunaxa
Battle of Cunaxa

The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in 401 BC between Cyrus the Younger and his elder brother Arsaces, who had inherited the Persian Empire throne as Artaxerxes II in 404 BC....
 and back to Greece (401 BC-399 BC) was recorded by Xenophon
Xenophon

Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens and Xenophon of Thebes, was a soldier, mercenary and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates....
 (one of its leaders) in his work, The Anabasis
Anabasis (Xenophon)

Anabasis is the most famous work of the Ancient Greece professional soldier and writer Xenophon. The journey it narrates is his best known accomplishment and "one of the great adventures in human history," as Will Durant expressed the common assessment....
. According to Xenophon, the Ten Thousand were composed of:



In addition, they were backed up by a fleet of 35 triremes under Pythagoras the Spartan and 25 triremes under Tamos the Egyptian
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
, as well as 100,000 Persian troops under Ariaeus
Ariaeus

Ariaeus was a Persian Empire general who fought alongside Cyrus the Younger at the Battle of Cunaxa and later was involved in the assassination of Tissaphernes....
 the Persian (although Xenophon lists them as 100,000, most modern historians believe Ariaeus' troops were only around 20,000).

Until shortly after the Battle of Cunaxa, the Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
n general Clearchus
Clearchus of Sparta

Clearchus or Clearch , the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary.Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus was sent with a fleet to the Hellespont in 411 and became governor of Byzantium, of which town he was proxenus....
 was recognized as the commander of the army.






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The Ten Thousand were a group of mercenary
Mercenary

A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict, who is not a national or a party to the conflict, and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or p...
 units, mainly Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
, drawn up by Cyrus the Younger
Cyrus the Younger

Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a History of Persia prince and general. The time of his birth is unknown, but he died in 401 BC....
 to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
 from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Battle of Cunaxa
Battle of Cunaxa

The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in 401 BC between Cyrus the Younger and his elder brother Arsaces, who had inherited the Persian Empire throne as Artaxerxes II in 404 BC....
 and back to Greece (401 BC-399 BC) was recorded by Xenophon
Xenophon

Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens and Xenophon of Thebes, was a soldier, mercenary and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates....
 (one of its leaders) in his work, The Anabasis
Anabasis (Xenophon)

Anabasis is the most famous work of the Ancient Greece professional soldier and writer Xenophon. The journey it narrates is his best known accomplishment and "one of the great adventures in human history," as Will Durant expressed the common assessment....
. According to Xenophon, the Ten Thousand were composed of:

  • 4000 hoplites under Xenias the Arcadia
    Arcadia

    Arcadia, Arkad?a , or Arcady is a region of Greece in the Peloponnesus. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas....
    n, until he left the army in Syria
  • 1500 hoplites and 500 light infantry under Proxenus the Boeotia
    Boeotia

    Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
    n, until he left the army in Syria
  • 1000 hoplites under Sophaenetus the Stymphalian
  • 500 hoplites under Socrates
    Socrates of Achaea

    Socrates was a Greek mercenary general from Achaea who traveled to Persian Empire to fight at the Battle of Cunaxa. Xenophon describes him as brave in war and a reliable friend....
     the Achaea
    Achaea

    Achaea is an ancient province and a present prefectures of Greece of Greece, on the northern coast of the Peloponnese, stretching from the mountain ranges of Erymanthus and Cyllene on the south to a narrow strip of fertile land on the north, bordering the Gulf of Corinth, into which the mountain Panachaicus projects....
    n (not to be confused with the philosopher)
  • 300 hoplites and 300 peltasts under Pasion
    Pasion

    Pasion was an ancient Greek slave from the 4th century BC. He was owned by the bankers Antisthenes and Archestratus, located at Piraeus, the harbor five miles out of Athens....
     the Megara
    Megara

    Megara is an ancient city in Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by Athens....
    n
  • 1000 hoplites, 800 Thracian
    Thrace

    Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
     peltasts, and 200 Cretan
    Crete

    Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
     archers (and more than 2000 men who came from Xenias and Proxenus when they deserted) under Clearchus of Sparta
    Clearchus of Sparta

    Clearchus or Clearch , the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary.Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus was sent with a fleet to the Hellespont in 411 and became governor of Byzantium, of which town he was proxenus....
    ,
  • 300 hoplites under Sosis the Syracusan
    Syracuse, Italy

    Syracuse is a historic city in southern Italy, the Capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is noted for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture and association to Archimedes, playing an important role in ancient times as one of the top powers of the Mediterranean world; it is over 2,700 years old....
     (Anabasis book 1, chp 2, IX)
  • 1000 hoplites under Sophaenetus the Arcadia
    Arcadia

    Arcadia, Arkad?a , or Arcady is a region of Greece in the Peloponnesus. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas....
    n
  • 700 hoplites under Chirisophus the Spartan
  • 1000 hoplites and 500 Thessalian peltasts under Menon
    Menon III of Pharsalus

    Menon , son of Alexidemus, was a Thessaly, probably from Farsala and is famous for appearing in Plato's dialogue the Meno and for being among the generals killed by Artaxerxes II of Persia after the Battle of Cunaxa as detailed in Xenophon's Anabasis ....
     (Anabasis book 1, chp 2, XI)
  • 400 Greek deserters from Artaxerxes' army


In addition, they were backed up by a fleet of 35 triremes under Pythagoras the Spartan and 25 triremes under Tamos the Egyptian
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
, as well as 100,000 Persian troops under Ariaeus
Ariaeus

Ariaeus was a Persian Empire general who fought alongside Cyrus the Younger at the Battle of Cunaxa and later was involved in the assassination of Tissaphernes....
 the Persian (although Xenophon lists them as 100,000, most modern historians believe Ariaeus' troops were only around 20,000).

Until shortly after the Battle of Cunaxa, the Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
n general Clearchus
Clearchus of Sparta

Clearchus or Clearch , the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary.Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus was sent with a fleet to the Hellespont in 411 and became governor of Byzantium, of which town he was proxenus....
 was recognized as the commander of the army. When Tissaphernes
Tissaphernes

Tissaphernes was a History of Persia soldier and statesman, grandson of Hydarnes.In 413 BC he was satrap of Lydia and Caria, and commander in chief of the Persian army in Asia Minor....
 arrested and executed Clearchus, Proxenus, Menon, Agias (possibly the same person as Sophaenetus), and Socrates, their places were taken by Xenophon, Timasion, Xanthicles, Cleanor, and Philesius, with the Spartan Chirisophus as the general commander.

When the Ten Thousand start their journey in 401, Xenophon tells us that they number somewhere around 10,400. At the time Xenophon leaves the Ten Thousand in 399, their numbers had dwindled to nearly 6000.

Cultural influences

The book The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford
Michael Curtis Ford

Michael Curtis Ford is an American historical novelist, writing novels about Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. He has worked variously as a laborer, a ski patrolman, a musician, a consultant, a banker, a Latin teacher, and a translator....
 is a fictional account of this group's exploits.

The 1979 film The Warriors transposed Xenophon's story to the gang scene of New York. After a gang meet ends with an assassination, the falsely accused nine man Warriors gang have to get home to Coney Island by travelling through territory controlled by hostile gangs like The Orphans, The Baseball Furies, The Boppers, The Hi-Hats and even The Hoplites.

Harold Coyle
Harold Coyle

Harold Coyle is an American author of historical, speculative fiction and war novels. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1974 and spent seventeen years on active duty with the U.S....
's 1993 novel The Ten Thousand shows the bulk of the US Forces in modern Europe fighting their way across and out of Germany instead of laying down their weapons when the Germans stole nuclear weapons that were being removed from Ukraine. The operational concept for their move was based on Xenophon's Ten Thousand.

Shane Brennan's In the Tracks of the Ten Thousand: A Journey on Foot through Turkey, Syria and Iraq (London: Robert Hale, 2005) is an account of his 2000 journey to re-trace the steps of the Ten Thousand.

Paul Kearney
Paul Kearney

Paul Kearney is a Northern Ireland fantasy author....
's 2008 novel The Ten Thousand is set in fantasy world which is based on Xenophon's record of the historical Ten Thousand.

Further reading

  • at The University of Adelaide


External links