Xenophon's March: Into the Lair of the Persian Lion

The year is 403 B.C. The Athenian philosopher Xenophon finds himself with an army of Greeks marching to what is now Turkey. Their mission: to aid the Persian pretender Cyrus in a war against his brother Artaxerxes. At a great battle, Cyrus is killed and his army destroyed--except for the Greeks holding his right flank. Xenophon and the Greeks are now stranded in the heart of the Persian Empire, outnumbered a hundred to one. The story of Xenophon's march to escape the Persian noose is an intensely personal and human tale, replete with clashes of arms and desperate hardships. It is also the tale of two civilizations at mortal odds with each other. With their turbulent mix of anarchy and democracy, Xenophon's men resembled a mobile Greek city, cutting both a military and a cultural slash through the Persian Empire. Though Xenophon's journey would end badly, his experience in the East would prove invaluable for those who followed, for sixty years later, the Greeks would return to Persia under Alexander. John Prevas brings this epoch-shaping story to life with a compelling narrative vivified by his personal retracing of much of the route trod by Xenophon and his men in one of history's great adventures.

Author: John Prevas
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 01/04/2002
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.26h x 6.27w x 0.91d
ISBN: 9780306811173

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2002 pg. 336

About the Author
John Prevas is a New York Times bestselling author whose first book, Hannibal Crosses the Alps, ignited the debate among academics over which pass Hannibal used -- a debate which continues today. He has been featured in a documentary about Hannibal filmed in the Alps by the BBC and has spoken on Hannibal as a leadership figure to United Nations ambassadors, the Smithsonian Institute, the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, and at Forbes CEO conferences. Prevas has appeared on the History Channel, CNN, CNN International, NPR, C-Span's Book TV, and Fox Television.