Anabasis, Book 6, no. 49, Part I summary

What happens

1. At Pharnabazus’s request, Anaxibius promises payment to bring the army across to Byzantium, while Xenophon postpones his departure.
2. Anaxibius orders the unpaid soldiers outside and directs them toward Thracian provisions and service under Cyniscus.
3. The angry soldiers break back into Byzantium, frightening its inhabitants and sending Anaxibius fleeing to the acropolis.
4. Xenophon restores formation and persuades the soldiers that attacking a Greek city risks disastrous war against their own people.
5. The soldiers send envoys, accept Coeratadas as commander, and leave the city; Xenophon obtains permission to return inside and depart.
6. Coeratadas fails to provide rations, faces a challenge from three commanders, and abandons command when his supplies prove inadequate.

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What to notice

Xenophon proposes this message to Anaxibius instead of retaliation. It turns the army’s forced entry into a demand for help followed by an orderly withdrawal.

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