bullocks.

These bullocks enabled the Greeks to discharge the vow which they had
made, on the proposition of Xenophon, to Zeus the Preserver, during that
moment of dismay and despair which succeeded immediately on the massacre
of their generals by Tissaphernes. To Zeus the Preserver, to
Herakles[71] the Conductor, and to various other gods, they offered an
abundant sacrifice on their mountain camp overhanging the sea; and after
the festival ensuing, the skins of the victims were given as prizes to
competitors in running, wrestling, boxing, and other contests. The
superintendence of such festival games, so fully accordant with Grecian
usage and highly interesting to the army, was committed to a Spartan
named Drakontius; a man whose destiny recalls that of Patroklus and
other Homeric heroes--for he had been exiled as a boy, having
unintentionally killed another boy with a short sword. Various
departures from Grecian customs however were admitted. The matches took
place on the steep and stony hill-side overhanging the sea, instead of
on a smooth plain; and the numerous hard falls of the competitors
afforded increased interest to the by-standers. The captive non-Hellenic
boys were admitted to run for the prize, since otherwise a boy-race
could not have been obtained. ["Horses also ran; and they had to gallop
down the steep, and, turning round in the sea, to come up again to the
altar.[72] In the descent, many rolled down; but in the ascent, against
the exceedingly steep ground, the horses could scarcely get up at a
walking pace. There was consequently great shouting, and laughter, and
cheering from the people."[73]] Lastly, the animation of the scene, as
well as the ardor of the competitors, was much enhanced by the number of
the women present.

Sec. 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward the Ten
Thousand.

We now commence a third act in the history of this memorable body of
men. After having followed them from Sardis to Kunaxa as mercenaries[74]
to procure the throne for Cyrus--then from Kunaxa to Trapezus as men
anxious only for escape, and purchasing their safety by marvellous
bravery, endurance, and organization--we shall now track their
proceedings among the Greek colonies on the Euxine and at the Bosphorus
of Thrace, succeeded by their struggles against the meanness of the
Thracian prince Seuthes, as well as against the treachery and arbitrary
harshness of the Lacedaemonian commanders Anaxi