act account of a long and eventful period than
any other contemporary history, whether ancient or modern, of an
equally long and important aera. The style of Thucydides is brief and
sententious, and whether in moral or political reasoning, or in
description, gains wonderful force from its condensation. But this
characteristic is sometimes carried to a faulty extent, so as to render
his style harsh, and his meaning obscure.

XENOPHON, the son of Gryllus, was also an Athenian, and was probably
born about B.C. 444. He was a pupil of Socrates, who saved his life at
the battle of Delium (B.C. 424). His accompanying Cyrus the younger in
his expedition against his brother Artaxerxes, king of Persia, formed a
striking episode in his life, and has been recorded by himself in his
ANABASIS. He seems to have been still in Asia at the time of the death
of Socrates in 399 B.C., and was probably banished from Athens soon
after that period, in consequence of his close connexion with the
Lacedaemonians. He accompanied Agesilaus, the Spartan king, on the
return of the latter from Asia to Greece; and he fought along with the
Lacedaemonians against his own countrymen at the battle of Coronea in
394 B.C. After this battle he went with Agesilaus to Sparta, and soon
afterwards settled at Scillus in Elis, near Olympia. He is said to
have lived to more than 90 years of age, and he mentions an event which
occurred as late as 357 B.C.

Probably all the works of Xenophon are still extant. The ANABASIS is
the work on which his fame as an historian chiefly rests. It is
written in a simple and agreeable style, and conveys much curious and
striking information. The HELLENICA is a continuation of the history
of Thucydides, and comprehends in seven books a space of about 48
years; namely, from the time when Thucydides breaks off, B.C. 411, to
the battle of Mantinea in 362. The subject is treated in a very dry
and uninteresting style; and his evident partiality to Sparta, and
dislike of Athens, have frequently warped his judgment, and must cause
his statements to be received with some suspicion. The CYROPAEDIA, one
of the most pleasing and popular of his works, professes to be a
history of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian monarchy, but is in
reality a kind of political romance, and possesses no authority
whatever as an historical work. The design of the author seems to have
been to draw a picture of a perfect state; and though the scene is