Customer Reviews

Xenophon's March: Into The Lair Of The Persian Lion

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Xenophon's March: Into the Lair of the Persian Lion by John Prevas was a very enjoyable read about a splendid corner of history. At the end of the fifth century B.C. an army of fourteen thousand Greek mercenaries joined an army of a usurper to the Persian Throne. When the usurper was killed and his army almost destroyed, the Greeks were trapped more than a thousand miles from their homeland and outnumbered almost a hundred to one. To make matters worse, their leader, and most of their captains, had been murdered and they were without significant cavalry.

If any were able to return to Greece that would have been remarkable. The fact that more than half returned is beyond description. However, the way in which it occurred is even more amazing. The Army that marched through the heart of Persia was not one led by a strong, experienced leader who had a firm control of a Army. The Greeks were led by an inexperienced commander, and the major decisions were made by the army as a whole, and only after a thorough public discourse. After the decisions were made, the soldiers would take issue with the leaders and punish those leaders, who in the view of the soldiers, had not acted properly. One can hardly imagine the American Army voting on tactics or the future of its leasers.

The book is a very cursory overview of the "March of the Ten Thousand." At times Prevas seems to move between a travel log and a history. With these limitations, the book is well worth reading. It is well written, and tells a remarkable story. However, if one wants a more thorough history I would suggest Xenophon own writings.

Back in the day, one had to learn Latin and or Greek to be considered an "educated man" and Xenophon's "Anabasis" was one of the 'industry-standard' books of the Greek curriculum. Most, if not all, higher educated men had to read this classic work and probably knew it by heart - making the story common knowledge.

Well times have changed, and with it Xenophon's work has entered the realm of obscurity for most people today, even those with college educations.

Xenophon's story thus, not only should, but actually demands a new introduction for modern audiences who are completely unaware of it. This overview by John Prevas is that work! Not only does the author give a fabulous birds-eye summary to the situation of this extraordinary tale, but he does so in an easy-to-read and entertaining fashion which modern readers have come to expect and demand.

I recommend this work to fellow amateur history buffs everywhere. After you read this work, then you should go on and read the Penguin Classics translation by Xenophon himself, (which thankfully has survived to this day).

If you don't know of this fascinating story from the Ancient world, then read this book - there's one heck of a killer adventure story waiting for you my friend!

I must confess that my knowledge of classical Greek history is rather weak, so I was very pleased to purchase this book. The author takes Xenophon's "Anabasis" and tells the interested reader about the famed "March of the Ten Thousand" through the Persian Empire and the Anatolian area. It's quite an interesting work, and although at times the author puts out facts that don't really appear to be accurate, he is merely letting us know what Xenophon wrote those many centuries ago. As with all ancient Greek histories, there are extended speeches that were probably never made, but the author does explain that in his afterward, to my satisfaction. Brush up on your Greek history, and read this work.

I was excited at first to see that John Prevas, who had done such a commendable job, I thought, recounting Hannibal's march into Italy with his previous work, had tackled a reconstuction of Xenophon's march into central Persia and back out again with "the Ten Thousand." Excitement did not hold up under close investigation, however (i.e., actual reading of the work). Prevas has done little more than paraphrase Xenophon's work, and sometimes weakly at that. He has made an attempt to travel along the route of the Ten Thousand, but was obviously blocked from the more treacherous and unreachable portions of Asia Minor, and his work suffers drastically as a result. Prevas apologizes for his inability to reach certain areas, but the end result is that as a reader you get more out of reading a good transation of Xenophon's work instead (assuming you have not the wherewithal to delve into the actual classical Greek).

What I personally was looking forward to and expecting was more commentary to help modernize the story and bring the ancient narrative to life in our world, so to speak. For instance, many questions remain about the details of the battle of Cunaxa itself, and Xenophon's own description is confusing in places. Prevas does nothing to elucidate the progress of the battle, and gives it less room than Xenophon did himself. He does not even seem to understand how the battle progressed! Also notably absent from the work are ruminations on the logistics and other problems of moving an army of 8-10 thousand soldiers across a distance of 1200 miles. Prevas did a fairly good job of this, I thought, in his book on Hannibal. In Xenophon there is nothing, which is a true shame. Some of the obvious gaps in his research could have been veiled by sections discussing how "markets" worked for armies at the time (a unique detail of what Xenophon and the soldiers had to put up with) and the basic economic considerations of how much soldiers could expect to be paid, and how that translates into modern terms. But don't expect an exchange rate for the Persian daric, much less the Thracian cyzecene, from Prevas! He mentions them, but he doesn't seem to know what they are. I got much more detailed information from the notes accompanying the translation in the Loeb edition.

Even stylistically the book is a severe disappointment. At times Prevas' style lapses into clipped, short, dismembered sentences which read like a poorly-written book for children. My overall impression as I toiled through the last chapters was that Prevas had managed to publish a rough draft of what he intended his book to become, rather than the book itself. This is a shame; Prevas' goal, namely to bring back to life some of the excitement to be found in the classical pieces of literature, is admirable, but it deserved a better effort. Given the chance to do this over, I think I would have skipped Prevas' work entirely this time and gone straight for the Penguin translation. If you still feel inclined to purchase this book, do yourself a favor and wait until it's out in paperback. I wish I had!

My excitement when I first saw this book was matched only by my disappointment when I read it. I was looking forward to reading about the author's travels on Xenophon's route, and his "expert military historical analysis." Instead, Mr. Prevas seems to have done nothing more than combine a free (and sometimes misleading) translation of Xenophon's Anabasis with an out-of-date schoolbook summary of Greek history and some random observations about being a tourist in modern Turkey.

If Xenophon were alive today, he would not be happy with what Mr. Prevas has done to his text. For instance, the Anabasis includes numerous speeches made by officers and soldiers in the course of the army's march. For some reason, Mr. Prevas turns the majority of these into dull summaries. He fills in gaps in Xenophon's account with his own dubious, largely baseless reconstructions (his characterization of Epyaxa on pages 71-73 is downright offensive).

Indeed, much of Mr. Prevas' "research" seems to have consisted of making casual inquiries here and there. He also makes a number of inexplicable errors, especially for personal ("Agias of Arched" for Sophainetos of Stymphalos?) and place ("Phyrigia" for Phrygia) names.

Sometimes the errors get downright silly. In the photographs section, the building captioned "Palace of Cyrus" is actually part of a Roman gymnasium dating from the third century AD!!!

If you're a general reader interested in Xenophon and the expedition of Cyrus, don't waste your time with this book. Xenophon himself tells the story far better. His memoir, the Anabasis, is available in several excellent translations (try the Loeb Classical Library or Penguin editions), with introductions and notes.

I enjoyed this book. Prevas's elaboration on Xenophon's history is highly readable. The book's narrative flows well and adds some drama. This book is well worth a look for anyone interested in classical or military history, but it is not academic. The volume has a good index and a significant bibliography but no notes. There is a chronology at the beginning of the text that is a useful tool to set the historical stage, especially if one is unfamiliar with ancient history. Prevas also includes several black and white photographs that lend a visual perspective of the ground the Greeks covered, a map describing their route and some borrowed illustrations that unfortunately depict Greek hoplite infantry from roughly 100 years earlier than the described events.

In his introduction, Prevas says that the march of the 10,000 (there were actually over 14,000 Greek mercenaries in the attempted coup by Cyrus the Younger) is "one of the greatest adventures ever told." I think he is right. The story of the 10,000 is a history lesson packed with political, social and cultural implications, and in that sense, it is a saga that demands to be retold and reread over and over again. This should be a high school text, but the West gave up on classical history in high school long ago.

Coming from a place of little to no understanding of this period in history, I found this book exactly what I needed to spark my interest to explore further into Greek history. It was an exciting read and difficult to put down. Prevas did well to capture the motion of the story and keep the reader on track with the movement of the troops and how Xenophon reacted to various situation. I also thought the description of the geography and local cultures were fascinating. For a novice like myself I thought it was a great read, both informative and exciting.

I have enjoyed the blend of history and travel in other books by John Prevas, but this one doesn't measure up. "Xenophon's March" is clumsy and lifeless, like a college student's first attempt at narrative. Xenephon's history is available from a variety of sources, and a novel by Steven Pressfield would be more entertaining. What has made Prevas' work unique is the incorporation of his travel experiences into the historical story, providing the reader with a tangible connection to ancient history. In "Xenophon's March", though, Prevas' travel insights are thrown in haphazardly, contributing nothing to the story. Prevas even includes descriptions of locales in Turkey that have nothing to do with Xenophon, as if Prevas had taken extensive notes while on vacation there and felt that he had to use them.

Prevas does not succeed in bringing Xenophon to life; Xenophon's "10,000" are an anonymous mob of miscreants, and Asia Minor of the fifth century B.C.E. feels like...nothing. This is too bad, because Xenophon's story would have been great had it been told with the same interest and investment of "Hannibal Crosses the Alps".

And why did this book cost $35.00?

For those looking for an introduction to Greek/Persian history, or for those who have already read the Anabasis and wanted more historical context, this is the book to have.

The beginner will find a guiding hand in the politics and intrigue of what Prevas calls the "tumultuous 5th century." This fascinating era of Western history witnessed a clash of civilizations and ethos that still reverberates today--a look at the contrasts between dictatorships and democratic countries is equally prevalent then and now. Prevas does an excellent job appealing to readers to see these parallels. Often he acts like the schoolteacher he is, imploring those unfamiliar with these classic stories to give them a second chance. His handling of Xenophon certainly merits such a return to the study of Greek culture.

Xenophon's march is truly a harrowing adventure set among barbarians and tribal warfare. Prevas' ability to create a sense of forboding each time the Greek soldiers form into their war phalanx, raising their war paean in unison, helps to transport the reader to those long-lost battlefields. Coupled with the author's own travels to the area, the reader is left with a clear vision of what those vast, treacherous plains may have looked like to an ancient warrior. In particular, one should buy this book for the Olympic-like rivalry between the two foes that at one point turns a foot race to the top of a mountain into a race for life and death. The sheer brutality of these cultures is continually, and rightfully, brought to bear upon their contributions to our lives today.

The reader already familiar with the Anabasis will find more than a simple retelling and synopsis of Xenophon's work. The conflicting forces that helped shape Xenophon's decisions along the path out of Persia are discussed as each event arises. One can see why this proven leader wishes to return to Athens despite his successes--and then why he returns to his army when they need him, time and again. Xenophon becomes a complex individual figure 2500 years removed from his own lifetime. That Prevas is able to so deftly show how one man affects and is affected by history is a testament to the strength of Xenophon's March.

I'd heartily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in ancient warfare. Also, for those with only patchwork knowledge of ancient Greece, this will help fill in a few mental lacunae.

An incredible narrative that entertains those who read it. Retelling the Anabasis with great talent and thorough research. Recommended for those who have not read Xenophon in the original Greek.