Cyrus was a noble who made war against his brother and he wanted to be the Persian king. Nothing would stop Cyrus, no matter how desirous, and he wanted everything. Artaxerxes the second, and the forces that he beckoned, would be his reckoning. Cyrus gathered men for hire, and to further his desire, of the crown he would acquire, garnered horse and elephants, and paid them recompense, but kept them in suspense as to what they would achieve, or the plan he did conceive, and that none of them would leave, till the crown he did receive, was rested on his head, whether all the men were dead, no matter what he said, and of those he did deceive would lay there as they bled. March Up Country March Up Country March Up Country Like modern-day marines, an army of Hellenes, the hoplites and the soldiers, that marched to Babylon through corpse and carrion, Cyrus and his army, stormed in like a tsunami. They all prayed to Apollo and the other gods they follow, and went into the battle as one Hellenic rabble. The battle did proceed, to pursue the final deed, but Cyrus was defeated before the job completed. When told they should surrender and become the king’s defender, they totally refused. But, now were so confused. Since now with Cyrus dead, they’d turn around instead. The March Up Country The March Up Country The March Up Country And, now the Hellene men were summoned by the king, but they don’t trust his forces or the promises he’d bring. The king killed all the generals, beheaded in betrayal. The fate the soldiers dreaded came true in their trevail. The Hellenes losing sleep over getting home alive, keeps them up at night, and how they will survive. When they saw that things went wrong, they chose a leader, Xenophon, who couldn’t justify. Their mission was a lie. March Up Country March Up Country March Up Country What Xenophon did first, 10,000 men with thirst, count on his decisions, to find them more provisions. The soldiers felt the curse, their fortunes in reverse. The bones beneath their feet, from lies and crass deceit. But, Xenophon had said we can’t go the way we came, the path that we will take, it cannot be the same. A million Persians in our way, so we will go to Nineveh, then north to face the Kurds, where tragedy occurs. March Up Country March Up Country March Up Country The soldiers getting weary, but onward they had marched. Crossing many rivers, but, still their mouths were parched. Coming to Armenia, with mountains yet to climb, the men were feeling homesick, and running out of time. Xenophon was worried, and desperate for food. The freezing snow before them would kill them, he’d conclude. Plagued by angry bees and some unknown disease, their future they all doubted. Till one day, those who scouted, “The sea! The sea!,” they shouted. Onward now to Thrace, and still more foes to face. The fighting never ends, with the message that it sends. This is the tale they’d tell, at the time that Athens fell, told to us with candor. Then came Alexander!