Xenophon: Hellenica (Books I-V)

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JOHN M. KELLY LIBDADY ^\

r

DONATED DR.

St.

IN

MEMORY

0(>

GEORGE HEIMA^

University of Michael's College, Toronto

y Juiyt^\^(2A\

^-

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB,

LL.D.

EDITED BY fT. E.

PAGE,

fE. CAPPS,

PH.D., LL.D.

L. A.

L.H.D. E. H.

POST,

C.H., LITT.D.

fW. H.

D.

WARMINGTON,

ROUSE,

litt.d.

m.a., f.r.hist.soc.

XENOPHONS hellp:nica

XENOPHON HELLENICA, BOOKS 1— V WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY

CARLETON COLLEGE or

L.

THIS CITY

BROWNSON OF NEW VORK

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON

WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD MCMLXl

J-'irst

printed 1918

Reprinted 1930, 1947, 1961

Printed in Great Britain

CONTENTS TAOH

INTRODUCTION

MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS

vii

xiii

BOOE

I

BOOK

II

BOOK

III

173

BOOK IV

263

BOOK V

38b

1

87

INTRODUCTION The

is Xenophon's history of his own Beginning in the autumn of 411 B.C., when the author was probably about twenty years of age,

Hellenica

times.

it

covers the

events of the

following

fifty

years,

down to 3G2 b.c. The Peloj)onnesian War, which was

primarily a struggle for supremacy between Athens and Sparta but which involved the entire Greek world, besran in 431 and ended in 404 b.c. The historian of this war

was Thucydides, himself at one time a general on the Athenian side. Thucydides died, however, without completing his task, and it is at the point where breaks off that Xenophon begins. The part of the Hellenica accordingly brings the story of the Peloponnesian War to a conclusion (411-404 B.C.); Xenophon then goes on to describe his history

first

the

internal

disorders

which

ensued

in

Athens

(404-401 B.C.); the war undertaken by the Spartans, now the undisputed " leaders of all Hellas," against the Persian Empire (399-387 b.c.); the indecisive contest in

known

as the Corinthian

War (394-387

which various Greek states united

in

b.c),

an attempt vii

INTRODUCTION to curb the

the inglorious whereby the Persian

growing power of Sparta

;

Peace of Antalcidas (387 B.C.), title as mistress of king assumed to confirm Sparta's the Greek world the later years of Spartan leadersometimes ship (387-371 B.C.), marked especially by but ultimately futile, harsh, sometimes treacherous, efforts to check the rise of Thebes ; the humiliation ;

Thebes in the battle and the following period

of Sparta and the triumph of

of

Leuctra (371

of

e.c);

Theban supremacy (369-362 B.C.), brought to a close by the battle of Mantinea (362 b.c), in which the Thebans were victorious but lost their great commander, Epaminondas. The Hellenica, then, is the over her old enemy, story of Sparta's triumph Athens, of her day of power, and of her overthrow by a new enemy, Thebes. A historian who should set himself the task of narrating the

events of

his

own

lifetime

might

naturally be expected to write his history part by of waiting till toward part, as time went on, instead life to tell the whole story in its In the investigations of many scholars fact, entirety. have shown that the Hellenica falls into three main

the close of his

divisions, written at considerable intervals

:

Part

I.

completing Thucydides' account oi the Peloponnesian War; Part II. (ii. iii. 11-v. i. 36). from the close of the Peloponnesian War to the (i.

i.

l-ii.

iii.

10),

Peace of Antalcidas and Part III. (v. ii. 1-the end), from the Peace of Antalcidas to the battle oi Mantinea. The dates of the composition of these ;

viii

INTRODUCTION approximately fixed as or a very little later; I., and Part III., Part II., between 385 and 380 b.c. between 362 and 354 b.c. various

parts

have

l)eeii

393

Part

follows:

B.C.

;

Xenophon was

in many respects admirably fitted historian of the epoch which he describes. the be to An Atiienian by birth and training, he was still

a citizen of the world.

He

not only lived for con-

siderable periods in various other states of Greece

Sparta,

Ells,

and

Corinth — but

he

had

—

become

Avith the acquainted through personal experience Greeks of Asia and with the Persian Empire. In follower of Socrates, early life he had been a devoted

while in later years he was an intimate friend ot

King Agesilaus of Sparta, whom he accompanied on several of the campaigns described in the Hellenica. He might have been presumed to possess the temper to write an impartial history and the information and capacity to write an accurate one. Nevertheless, the Hellenica is neither accurate nor

Not that Xenophon

impartial.

is

guilty of errors of

from these the Hellenica is notably but his omissions are so frequent and so con-

commission, for free

;

is either sadly puzzled or in given an utterly wrong impression. is clear that the primary purpose of the

siderable that the i-eader

many

cases

is

Thus, while it Hellenica was to complete Thucydides' interrupted is by no means careful to secure the closing chapters of between precise continuity and he is and his own opening chapters Thucydides

narrative,

Xenophon

;

ix

INTRODUCTION solicitous about securing precise conjust as little the different chapters of the Hellenica between tinuity to events as itself; instead, we find him alluding

has told us though already described of which he to a nothing or introducing us without explanation

More serious is is unknown to us. some important omissions appear to be intentional and dictated by the author's partiality. He is not prejudiced in favour of Athens because it was his native city, nor yet against Athens because it had banished him. It is between Sparta and Thebes personage

who

the fact that

In his ardent

that he cannot hold the scales true.

admiration for defeats and

fails

in his almost

things Spartan, he excuses Sparta's while to mention her humiliations

all

;

unconcealed hatred toward the Thebans,

he puts wrong constructions upon their acts and abridges the record of their achievements. It is necessary to dwell more upon Xenophon's imperfections as a historian than upon his excellences in order to correct the wrong impression which a

reading of the Hellenica might otherwise produce. His excellences, however, ai*e not few nor slight.

He

is

clear-sighted, straightforward,

judgments of

men and

events

;

and

and sound in his he sometimes,

if

especially when his Spartan sympathies are involved, fails to tell the whole truth or opens the way to

wrong

inferences, he

misstatement.

still is never guilty of direct His narrative, often plain to the point

of bareness, possesses the great merits of clearness, directness, and entire freedom from exaggeration or

X

INTRODUCTION •i

and his style is not only striving after effect at all times by grace and ease, but ;

characterized

All in all, not infrequently by beauty and power. his history is much the best authority we have for

the half century which

it

covers.^

* The other more important authorities for the history of this period are : (1) Diodorus Siculus, who lived during the age of Augustus and compiled from various sources a rhetorical and uncritical history of the world (Books xiii.-xv. treat-

ing of the period covered by the Hellenica) and (2) Plutarcli, in his lives of Alcibiades, Lysander, Agesilaus, Pelopidas, and Artaxerxes. Aristotle, in his Conslilidion of the Atlienians, and Lysias, in two orations dealing with the rule of the Thirt}' T^-rants at Athens, contiibute additional information of great value to supplement the earlier portion of Xenophon'a narrative.

XI

MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS 1.

Among

—Manuscripts

the numerous

]\ISS.

of

the

generally recognised as of superior ranked in the following order :

B.

—

Hellenica

excellence,

six

and

are are

Parisinus 1738, in the National Library at Paris, dating from the beginning of the fourteenth century.

A 4, at Milan, dated 1.344. Parisinus 1642, in the National Library at Paris, of tlie fifteenth century. V. Marcianus .368, in t!\e Library of St. Mark at Venice, written in the fourteenth or fifteenth century'. C. Parisinus 2080, in the National Library at Paris, dating from the beginning of the fifteenth century. F. Perizonianus 6, in tlie Library of the University of M. Ambrosianus D.

Leyden, dated 1456.

A recently discovered papyrus fragment, now in the Imperial Library at Vienna and assigned to the third century a.d., has been found valuable in confirming the readings of the best IMS., B, and in preserving correct It includes portions spellings where the MSS. are in error. of the first book, and is designated n. 2.

{a)

•TuNTA .Junta

—Principal Editions

Com])le(e

Florence, Florence, P. Juntae. :

:

1.'516.

1527.

Works of Xciiophon.

Ediiio Prhirrp.-^.

Second

edition,

By

V..

per

Boninus. llaeredes

Aldus Venice, 1525. By F. Asulanus. Stepiianus, H. Geneva, 1581, 2 vols. Siephaxus, H. Geneva, 1581. Second edition. Leunclavius, J. Frankfort, 1504, 2 vols. :

:

:

:

xiii

MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS : Leipzig (Tauchiiitz), 1865-7 (new edition, 1867-70), 5 vols. Marchant, E. C. Oxford, 1900—, 5 vols., of which 4 have

Sadppe, G.

:

thus far appeared.

London, 1890—, 4 vola., of which 3 have English Translation of Xenophon.

Dakyns, H. G.

:

appeared.

Separate Editions of the Hellenica.

{b)

Aldus

:

Venice, 1502.

IMitio Princeps of the Helltnica.

DtNDORF, L. Oxford, 185.S. Amsterdam, 1862 (second edition, Leydcn. CoBET, C. G. :

:

1880).

BccHSENSCHUTZ, B. Leipzig (Teubner), 1860-91, 2 vols. KuRZ, E. Munich, 1873-4, 2 vols. Breitenbacu, L. Berlin (Weidtnann), 1873-84, 3 vols. Grosser, R. Gotha (Perthes), 1885-93, 3 vols. Keller, 0. Leipzig (Teubner), 1890. Editio major. The :

:

:

:

:

best critical edition. Editio minor (Teubner text), 1890. 0. SoROF, F. G. Leipzig, 1899-1901. Selections. Manatt, I. J. Boston, 1888. Books I-IV. Bennett, G. E. Boston, 1892. Books V-VIL Blake, R. W. Boston, 1894-6. Books I-II. Underiiill, G. E. : Oxford, 1900. Commentary accompany the text of Marchant). 1908. Selections. Brownson, C. L. : New York,

Keller,

:

:

:

:

:

A

(to

The present edition adopts the text of Keller, all departures therefrom, as well as important emendations made or accepted by Keller, being mentioned in the critical notes.

XIV

XENOPHON'S HELLENICA BOOK

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