Pausanias also will be found in harmony with this statement, as
to the time of the banishment. Ἐδιώχθη δὲ ὁ Ξενοφῶν ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων,
ὡς ἐπὶ βασιλέα τῶν Περσῶν, ~σφίσιν εὔνουν ὄντα~, στρατείας
μετασχὼν Κύρῳ πολεμιωτάτῳ τοῦ δήμου (iv, 6, 4). Now it was not
until 396 or 395 B.C., that the Persian king began to manifest
the least symptoms of good-will towards Athens; and not until the
battle of Knidus (a little before the battle of Korôneia in the
same year), that he testified his good-will by conspicuous and
effective service. If, therefore, the motive of the Athenians
to banish Xenophon arose out of the good feeling on the part of
the king of Persia toward them, the banishment could not have
taken place before 395 B.C., and is not likely to have taken
place until after 394 B.C.; which is the intimation of Xenophon
himself as above.
Lastly, Diogenes Laërtius (ii, 52) states, what I believe to
be the main truth, that the sentence of banishment was passed
against Xenophon by the Athenians on the ground of his attachment
to the Lacedæmonians—ἐπὶ Λακωνισμῷ.
Krüger and others seem to think that Xenophon was banished
because he took service under Cyrus, who had been the bitter
enemy of Athens. It is true that Sokrates, when first consulted,
was apprehensive beforehand that this might bring upon him the
displeasure of Athens (Xen. Anab. iii, 1, 5). But it is to be
remembered that _at this time_, the king of Persia was just as
much the enemy of Athens as Cyrus was; and that Cyrus in fact
had made war upon her with the forces and treasures of the king.
Artaxerxes and Cyrus being thus, at that time, both enemies of
Athens, it was of little consequence to the Athenians whether
Cyrus succeeded or failed in his enterprise. But when Artaxerxes,
six years afterwards, became their friend, their feelings towards
his enemies were altered.
The passage of Pausanias as above cited, if understood as
asserting the main cause of Xenophon’s banishment, is in my
judgment inaccurate. Xenophon was banished _for Laconism_, or
attachment to Sparta against his country; the fact of his having
served under Cyrus against Artaxerxes counted at best only as a
secondary motive.
[290] Xen. Anab. v, 3, 13. Καὶ στήλη ἔστηκε παρὰ τὸν ναὸν,
γράμματα ἔχουσα—Ἱερὸς ὁ Χῶρος τῆς Αρτέμιδος· τὸν δὲ ἔχοντα καὶ
καρπούμενον τὴν μὲν δεκάτην καταθύειν ἑκάστου ἔτους, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ
περίττου τόν ναὸν ἐπισκευάζειν· ἐὰν δέ τις μὴ ποιῇ ταῦτα, τῇ θεῷ
μελήσει.
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