March Of The Ten Thousand

In the aftermath of the Peloponnesian war
A young Persian prince with a ruthless aim
Cyrus assembled a vast host of mercenaries
Thinking good pay and rich booty they'd gain

Ten thousand Greek hoplites ready for war
They set out eastward in March 401 B.C.
Expecting to suppress some dissident tribes
The true goal of the endeavour they didn't see

In a sudden skirmish one hundred were lost
Unrest among the men soon started to grow
Spartan Clearchus managed to keep them in line
But their true purpose they still didn't know

On the banks of the Euphrates Cyrus did speak
Revealing his plan to overthrow his elder sibling
To forcefully seize the throne of Persia for himself
The army indeed a formidable threat to the king

On towards Babylon [4x]

Across Northern Syria into the Arabian desert
Until they were confronted with the king's might
A cloud of dust first appeared on the horizon
Then helmets and armour flashed in the sunlight

The sides drew up in battle-order near Babylon
Combat was engaged close to Cunaxa on a plain
The Greeks fought against numerical supremacy
But all became irrelevant once Cyrus was slain

Before the Greeks could return a ploy unfolded
Tissaphernes lured their five generals into a tent
And slaughtered them and all their attendants
On vengeance the treacherous satrap was bent

The Ten Thousand now aimless and leaderless
Seeming to be lost in these vast and hostile lands
But one of the men received an omen from Zeus
Xenophon rose to take matters into his hands

He advised the officers to choose new leaders
To all the forces a rousing speech he made
So they decided not to lay down their arms
But to persist against odds that were great

The retreating army's progress was slow, arduous
In the mountains of Kardouchia they had to fight
Vulnerable they were to mounted Persian archers
But cavalry and slingers demonstrated their might

In the Armenian mountains the weather was the foe
By hunger and frostbite the troops disheartened
But through personal example Xenophon led on
And upon reaching the sea the men were elated

There were more adventures on the long road home
Before many of them at last to Greece returned
Xenophon was then banished from his city Athens
A friend of Sparta by the democratic rabble spurned

The Ten Thousand's march was a significant feat
Their journey showed what the Greeks could gain
The possibility of conquest seen for the first time
The wealth and weakness of the Persian domain