Xenophon of Athens was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies of the Achaemenid Empire, the Ten Thousand, that marched on and came close to capturing Babylon in 401 BC. As the military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge wrote, "the centuries since have devised nothing to surpass the genius of this warrior". Xenophon established precedents for many logistical operations, and was among the first to describe strategic flanking maneuvers and feints in combat.
Bust of Xenophon
Route of Xenophon and the Ten Thousand (red line) in the Achaemenid Empire. The satrapy of Cyrus the Younger is delineated in green.
Xenophon leading his Ten Thousand through Persia to the Black Sea. 19th-century illustration
Xenophon's Anabasis.
Ancient Greek mercenaries
There is evidence of mercenaries being hired in Ancient Greece from the 6th century BC. The tyrants of that time hired bodyguards from other city-states. It is not known if earlier Aegean armies and navies, such as the Minoans and Mycenaeans, used mercenaries.
A Greek mercenary (left) in the service of an Achaemenid Dynast of Hellespontine Phrygia (center) attacking a Greek psiloi (right) at the time of Pharnabazus II, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.
