The March Up Country

The Anabasis is one of the Classics, a personal account of a 3000 mile march through Asia Minor by a Greek mercenary company after the king that they’re supporting gets killed in battle. Xenophon was a wealthy Athenian and one of the commanders.

This is inherently a fascinating story of personal bravery, endurance, and diplomacy, full of juicy nuggets about how the ancient Greeks fought and lived. The translation, however, is not to my liking. While accurate (as far as I can tell), it tends to blur everything into the same tone. A march of 15 leagues by three stages is described just as a battle over a pass or a conference of captains that might end with Xenophon being stoned to death for treason. I can’t tell how much of that is in the original and how much is a translator’s artifact, but this is not the most accessible book.