The March Up Country: A Translation of Xenophon's Anabasis (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Xenophon (Author), W.H.D. Rouse (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Ann Arbor Paperbacks | Publication Date: March 1, 1958

The famous chronicle of the wealthy Athenian leader Xenophon, brought to life for the modern reader

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press (March 1, 1958)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472060953
• ISBN-13: 978-0472060955
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting literary expedition, May 9, 2003

By 

Charlton Griffin "Charlton" (Thomasville, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The March Up Country: A Translation of Xenophon's Anabasis (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This is one of those books you have on your list of "books-I-am-going-to-read-someday." Okay, someday arrived. I should have read it decades ago. This is a fairly good translation and the story is written, as was the custom at that time, from the third person point of view. The story begins with a bang and immediately carries us into the expedition itself. When a Greek mercenary army attempts to help Cyrus overthrow his relative, (his brother, Artaxerxes, was the Persian King), it marches all the way to Babylon to give battle...and wins! But Cyrus is killed in the battle and the Greeks find themselves stranded. After the Greek generals are killed in a treacherous parley, the army does not disintegrate, as Artaxerxes and the Persians expect. Instead, they elect new officers, Xenophon among them, and proceed to march out of the Persian Empire across 1,500 miles of hostile terrain teeming with savage adversaries. Xenophon employs a straightforward, soldierly style as he describes people, places and events. It is a wonderful narrative and the action keeps you turning pages until the end. By a happy coincidence, history has preserved this enchanting adventure story. If you prefer to hear a recorded version of it, I recorded it for Audio Connoisseur and you can find it here at Amazon.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very literal translation from the Greek, December 17, 2010

By 

Yoda (Hadera, Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The March Up Country: A Translation of Xenophon's Anabasis (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Xenophon's "March Up Country" tells the tale of one truly incredible epic. It starts off with a Greek contingent supporting a Persian pretender to the throne, Cyros, in a victorious battle that goes sour as the pretender is killed and the reason for the expedition comes to an end with that contingent being stuck deep in Persia surrounded by enemies. It then follows the contingent's trek across bad terrain, exotic lands, horrendous weather and a state of constant harassment by enemy forces (Persian and otherwise). It took this force about 1 year and 3 months to make its way back to safety.

To some extent the tale is analogous to Napoleon's retreat from Moscow but much more difficult for a number of reasons. One is that Napoleon (or an appointed Marshal, depending on the time of the retreat) was the unchallenged leader of the French and allied armies. With the death of Cyros there was no legitimate leader of the Greek forces. Hence a further complication was the in-fighting for leadership and among leaders that differentiated it from Napoleon's retreat. In addition, Napoleon was retreating back over his lines of communication across nominally "allied" territory. The Greek contingent, on the other hand, had to pass through countries that were predominately unfriendly, to put it mildly. In addition many of the countries they had to pass through were quite "exotic", at least by Greek standards. This further differentiated the trek from Napoleon's retreat. Despite the added impediments, most of the Greek contingent force eventually escaped, unlike Napoleon's that was basically annihilated (only about 6,000 of Napoleon's original force of about 500,000 survived the ordeal). All the more epic. This is definitely one book where the word "epic" as a description is not an exaggeration.

With respect to this tale there have been many translations and editions. A quick review of Amazon shows that there are, literally, dozens. What, exactly, differentiates Professor Rouse's edition from that of others? The primary factor is that the translation from the Greek is very literal. Hence both the book's strength and weakness. Strength in that it is very true to the original. If someone is looking for an English translation that is as close as possible to the meaning that that Xenophon intended this is the edition to read. The edition's weakness is that, as a result of its very literal translation, it makes for a very rough read in that the sentences tend to be very abrupt. This is definitely not a "smooth" translation like so many others. Professor Rouse also provides a fairly basic introduction to the book that, although not as thorough as that found in the Penguin Classics edition, still does the job of providing the reader with a basic introduction to Xenophon's work. All and all an excellent work and far better than most translations and editions available of Xenophon's work.