Page:History of Greece Vol IX.djvu/157

INTRIGUES AGAINST XENOPHON. 135 loudly accused Xenophon of underhand manoeuvring to cheat the army into remaining against their will, that the latter rose to repel the imputation ; saying, that all that he had done was, to consult the gods whether it would be better to lay his project be- fore the army or to keep it in his own bosom. The encouraging answer of the gods, as conveyed through the victims and testified even by Silanus himself, proved that the scheme was not ill- conceived ; nevertheless, (he remarked) Silanus had begun to lay snares for him, realizing by his own proceedings a collateral indi- cation which he had announced to be visible in the victims. " If (added Xenophon) you had continued as destitute and unprovided as you were just now, I should still have looked out for a resource in the capture of some city which would have enabled such of you as chose, to return at once ; while the rest stay behind to enrich themselves. But now there is no longer any necessity ; since Herakleia and Sindpe are sending transports, and Timasion promises pay to you from the next new moon. Nothing can be bet- ter ; you will go back safely to Greece, and will receive pay for going thither. I desist at once from my scheme, and call upon all who were favorable to it to desist also. Only let us all keep together until we are on safe ground ; and let the man who laga behind or runs off", be condemned as a wrong-doer." 1 Xenophon immediately put this question to the vote, and every hand was held up in its favor. There was no man more discon- certed with the vote than the prophet Silanus, who loudly ex- claimed against the injustice of detaining any one desirous to depart. But the soldiers put him down with vehement disappro- bation, threatening that they would assuredly punish him if they caught him running off. His intrigue against Xenophon thus recoiled upon himself, for the moment. But shortly afterwards, when the army reached Herakleia, he took his opportunity for clan- destine flight, and found his way back to Greece with the three thousand darics. 2 If Silanus gamed little by his manoeuvre, Timasion and his partners gained still less. For so soon as it became known that the army had taken a formal resolution to go back to Greece, and that Xenophon himself had made the proposition, the Sinopians 1 Xen. Anab. v, 6, 30-33 2 Xen. Anab. v, 6, 34 ; vi, 4. 13.