70 XENOPHON ON HORSEMANSHIP. 



ably before the expedition, and certainly after 

 it, he saw service in the cavalry. 



We know very little of the life of Xeno- 

 phon before the year 401 B. C, in which he 

 joined the army of Cyrus. He was an Athe- 

 nian, and from a very early age was the 

 follower and friend of Socrates. Whether at 

 the time of the Anabasis he was forty years 

 old or only a little over thirty, is a question 

 which not all the wisdom of the learned has 

 yet been able to settle. After the disastrous 

 failure of Cyrus's enterprise, it was Xenophon, 

 until then a mere honorary staff-officer, who 

 aroused his companions from their dejection ; 

 the remainder of the Anabasis tells the story 

 how his courage and skill brought them back 

 to Greek lands from among the Persians. 

 But his success was not appreciated at 

 Athens, and he was banished for serving with 

 Spartans and against the Persians, with whom 

 the Athenians had latterly allied themselves. 

 Becoming again a soldier of fortune, he 

 joined the king of Sparta, Agesilaus, and 

 followed him against Athens and Thebes in 

 the battle of Coronea, 394 B. c. For his ser- 

 vices the Spartans presented him with an 



