ice before they march against the king. To-day it suits his
purpose to induce us to stop here, because his army is scattered; but
as soon as he has got together another armament, attack us most
certainly he will. How do we know he is not at this moment digging
away at trenches, or running up walls, to make our path impassable. It
is not to be supposed that he will desire us to return to Hellas with
a tale how a handful of men like ourselves beat the king at his own
gates, laughed him to scorn, and then came home again." Clearchus
replied: "I too am keenly aware of all this; but I reason thus: if we
turn our backs now, they will say, we mean war and are acting contrary
to the truce, and then what follows? First of all, no one will furnish
us with a market or means of providing ourselves with food. Next, we
shall have no one to guide us; moreover, such action on our part will
be a signal to Ariaeus to hold aloof from us, so that not a friend
will be left to us; even those who were formerly our friends will now
be numbered with our enemies. What other river, or rivers, we may find
we have to cross, I do not know; but this we know, to cross the
Euphrates in face of resistance is impossible. You see, in the event
of being driven to an engagement, we have no cavalry to help us, but
with the enemy it is the reverse--not only the most, but the best of
his troops are cavalry, so that if we are victorious, we shall kill no
one, but if we are defeated, not a man of us can escape. For my part,
I cannot see why the king, who has so many advantages on his side, if 7
he desires to destroy us, should swear oaths and tender solemn pledges
merely in order to perjure himself in the sight of heaven, to render
his word worthless and his credit discreditable the wide world over."
These arguments he propounded at length.

Meanwhile Tissaphernes came back, apparently ready to return home; he
had his own force with him, and so had Orontas, who was also present,
his. The latter brought, moreover, his bride with him, the king's
daughter, whom he had just wedded. The journey was now at length
fairly commenced. Tissaphernes led the way, and provided a market.
They advanced, and Ariaeus advanced too, at the head of Cyrus's
Asiatic troops, side by side with Tissaphernes and Orontas, and with
these two he also pitched his camp. The Hellenes, holding them in
suspicion, marched separately with the guides, and they encamped on
each occasion a parasang