Book 1 - Persia

The book began in Babylonia with the Battle of Cunaxa. The 10,000 Greek mercenaries had been lured by Cyrus the Younger to Babylonia all the way from Greece in order to help him overthrown his brother, Artaxerxes II. During the battle, Cyrus managed to gravely injure Artaxerxes, but, ultimately, died. A young man named Davos also died and was reborn as Davos. His comrades - Hielos, Matonis, Olivos, and Giorgris - came to mistakenly believe that he had died and met Hades on the River Styx and had been allowed to return back to the land of the living. Their belief stemmed from the changed temperament of Davos after he casually awoke from a life-threatening injury.

The next day, while scavenging the battlefield for wood to use as firewood, Davos suggested that, instead of burning the javelins, each hoplite be equipped with two javelins to allow them to defend themselves against the Persian cavalry. After discussing with Hielos and the other nine squad leaders, Antonios declared that each squad could decide whether to use the javelins or not. Later, Davos used the animal intestines that would've gone to waste to cook Baodu, a dish where strips of meat are sliced and then seasoned with mutton soup. Afterwards, he turned the meat into sausage after stuffing it inside cleaned sheep intestines and slowly smoked it under the fire to avoid it from going bad due to the heat. This was a groundbreaking achievement as this made it possible for the soldiers to now have a much-longer lasting supply of food.

That night, the mercenary leaders decided to return back to Anatolia after Ariaeus, Cyrus the Younger's deputy, declined their offer to fight for the Persian throne. Davos met Mersis, Meno's supply officer, and became friends with him by solving the problem of the cattle causing a ruckus during the march at night. After a long march, the soldiers were tired and dissatisfied with having to help the supply unit. Noticing that the morale was very low, Davos recited the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (with Greek modifications) to calm them down.

The next morning, Meno arrived and heard about Davos from everyone he met. Initially, he didn't care much for him but soon became jealous when he realized that the soldiers under his command seemed to hold Davos in a much higher regard than himself. He attempted to threaten Davos into subservience, but failed. After another grueling day of march, the soldiers were forced to sleep on the cold, wet floor in the dark night which led to turmoil in the camp.

A few days later, through the use of his modern knowledge, Davos was able to treat the nephew of Antonios, Asistes, whose leg had been infected. He also gained a follower named Herpus, a student of Hippocrates. Later, he met and befriended Xenophon from Proxenus' camp. After Asistes awoke, Davos's name spread throughout the Greeks as a "Miracle Physician." Many soldiers approached him and requested him to heal their friends or subordinates. In addition, Antonios became his full-fledged supporter as later when Meno attempted to force Davos to become his guard in order to restrict his interaction with the other Greeks, Antonios, along with other captains under Meno such as Kapus and Amintas, appeared and saved him.

Afterwards, the mercenary leaders such as Clearchus, Proxenus, Agis, Sossis, and Socrates reached an agreement with the Persians wherein the Persians would guide the Greeks out of their lands as long as the Greeks promised not to pillage the villages on the way. Around 20 days later, Tissaphernes and Orontes, the satrap of Armenia, appeared with their armies to escort the Greeks out. A few days later, the Greeks crossed the Median Wall before reaching the lands previously governed by Cyrus the Younger. There, Tissaphernes allowed the Greeks to pillage the villages as a punishment for the subjects of Cyrus. There, Davos witnessed the dormant homicidal nature of his fellow Greeks who didn't hesitate to rob, rape or murder the innocent Persian peasants.

After managing to clear his from the stress of the pillage he witnessed, Davos captured a Persian merchant from whom he learned that the Persians were escorting the 10,000 Greeks northwest instead of west, which would lead them to the rough Armenian mountains instead of the flatter lands of Lydia. He also learned that the Persians most likely planned to ambush them after they crossed Nineveh and left the royal lands. Over the next few days, the Greeks continued marching, but tensions heightened between them and the Persians which led to many small-scale conflicts and even one large-scale conflict which resulted in over 10 deaths.

One morning, Davos was awakened by Antonios who informed him that Clearchus, Proxenus, Meno, Socrates, Agis and over a dozen captains were going to the Persian camp to negotiate. Anxious, Davos rushed to their camp to stop them. He told them to reconsider their decision as it was too dangerous, but Clearchus, a typical stubborn Spartan, ignored his words. Unable to stop them, Davos ran off to prepare for what was to come.

He rushed back to Clearchus' camp and informed everyone that their leaders had been captured or killed by the Persians while Antonios rushed to gather the officers in Meno's camp. Davos watched as Xenophon ran to inform Agasias, Proxenus' adjutant, after being ordered by Timaison, Clearchus' head captain. After all the adjutants were gathered, they met the Persian envoys outside their camp. Upon a breakdown of negotiations, it became evident that war was imminent, so the Greeks decided to convene a general assembly and elect new leaders. Davos also met Cheirisophus, a Spartan general who was also one of the five Ephors. Despite not being a leader within the mercenary army, Cheirisophus was highly respected as he was one of the most distinguished Spartans and a true general, unlike them.

Meanwhile, as Davos had expected, Tissaphernes and Ariaeus had hatched a plot to capture the leaders of the 10,000 Greeks. Thus, soon after the mercenary leaders entered Tissaphernes' tent, they were captured with Meno executed on the spot while the rest were to be taken back to Persopolis to be presented before Artaxerxes II.

After Davos returned to his camp, he was unanimously elected as the new leader. He then re-appointed Philesius, a well-respected officer and the former adjutant of Meno, as his adjutant while appointing Herpus as the Medical Officer, Mersis as the Supply Officer and Asistes as the Herald. Timaison, the head captain under Clearchus, became the new leader of Clearchus' camp; Xanthicles, Socrates' adjutant, became the new leader of Socrates' camp; Cleanor, Agis' adjutant, became the new leader of Agis' camp; and, surprisingly, Agasias, Proxenus' adjutant, who was the favorite to succeed Proxenus, was defeated by Hieronymus, a captain under Proxenus. In turn, Hieronymus appointed Xenophon as his adjutant.

That afternoon, Davos gave an epic speech in front of all 10,000 Greeks. The soldiers all came to praise Davos and even the mercenary leaders reluctantly accepted Davos as a worthy leader. Later, when he returned back to his camp, he was surprised to find that Cheiristoya, who had previously taken asylum under Clearchus, was inside his tent. Cheiristoya informed him that she had left Timaison's camp because she believed that he lacked prestige to be able to protect her from his lustful soldiers. Davos sent Asistes to inform Timaison and Cheirisophus about the situation. Soon, Tolmides, the army's herald, appeared and informed him that Timaison and Cheirisophus had consented to Cheiristoya living in Davos' camp.

The next morning, the mercenary army began to assemble to continue their march. The army was reorganized as the smaller phalanxes had joined the six largest phalanxes with most joining Cheirisophus' phalanx due to his fame as a Spartan Strategos. The army took a formation wherein Cheirosphus and Xanthicles became the vanguard, Timaison and Cleanor became the rearguard while Davos and Hieronymus became the left and right flanks, respectively. While marching, Mithridates, a general who formerly worked for Cyrus the Younger, appeared with 30 cavalry and offered to spare the soldiers who surrendered. 20 soldiers under Hieronymus surrendered, 10 soldiers under Cleanor surrendered while three soldiers under Timaison surrendered. Finally, Mithridates approached the left flank where Davos' phalanx was located. Davos devised a scheme wherein he disguised himself as a common solider and pretended to surrender, along with Hielos and his squad. Once they reached a distance of 30 meters, they threw the javelins that they had secretly equipped on their backs. Through this maneuver, they were able to kill close to a dozen Persian cavalry and capture Mithridates whom Davos subsequently killed.

In order to avenge his friend, Artaozus, another general formerly under Cyrus the Younger, appeared with 200 mounted archers and another 200 foot archers. Rather than engaging the Greeks in close-combat, the archers began harassing Cleanor's phalanx, knowing that the heavy-armored hoplites wouldn't be able to reach them. Even the 200 Cretan archers dispatched by Timaison were unable to match up to their Persian counterparts. Cheirosphus devised a plan to pincer Artaozus and his men from behind, but it failed. By sunset, the mercenary army reached a village and the leaders gathered to discuss countermeasures. They finally decided to arm 300 Rhodesians with slings and form a cavalry unit. Ledes, a Thessalian from Davos' camp, was chosen as the captain of the cavalry since most of the cavalry were Thessalians. Further, Davos proposed that they needed to deal a lethal blow to the Persians, or else, they would continue to harass them, forever. And so, they decided to ambush the Persians in a valley outside a narrow mountain road. Davos added that his phalanx would volunteer to hide behind and pincer the escaping the Persians.

The next day, Artaozus returned with 4,500 archers and 1,500 mounted archers. His scouts reported that the Greeks had crossed a narrow mountain road and had entered a valley. His army quickly chased after them and when they entered the valley, he realized that they had walked into a Greek ambush. Before he could order the archers to fire, Greeks slingers quickly threw two rounds of fist-sized stones, which led to complete chaos amongst the Persians. Without missing that opportunity, the Greek hoplites charged at the confused enemy.

Artaozus, located near the entrance of the narrow road, quickly ordered a retreat and rushed back to the other side of the mountain. However, right as he turned the corner of the S-shaped road, he was surprised to find that the road was blocked with a small mountain of stacked stones and wood. Unable to stop his horse in time, he and the surrounding cavalry slammed into the wall. Soon, the escaping Persians archers appeared and they, similarly, slammed into the wall, squashing him between them. Behind the wall, Davos ordered the peltasts to target the Persians that attempted to climb the wall while he ordered the hoplites to form a tight shield-wall with their spears like a giant porcupine. Ultimately, close to 3000 Persians died while the rest were injured. Artaozus' corpse was never found but it was surely amongst the pile of hundreds of corpses. Following this battle, Davos earned the respect of even Cheirisophus.

The Greeks continued their march and a few days later they reached Nineveh, capital of the once-great Median Empire. The following two days passed without suspense until Tissaphernes finally appeared on the third day. The Persian army numbered close to 50,000 divided into three wings led by Tissaphernes, Orontes and Ostanes. Despite being outnumbered 5-1, the Greeks landed significant casualties to the Persians due to them being lightly armed, low in morale and in a thick formation. Ultimately, the Persians retreated after they suffered more than 4,000 casualties. Still, the Greeks also suffered close to 1,000 casualties. Davos stressed the importance of effective treatment for the wounded, words that resonated with the soldiers. Most of the uninjured soldiers were made part of the medical camp. Soon, word of the medical camp in Davos' phalanx spread throughout the army and other leaders such as Cleanor, Timaison and Cheirisophus also approached Davos to treat their soldiers. Davos readily agreed which earned him a lot of goodwill from the leaders.

After appointing Hielos to take charge of the management of the medical camp, Davos returned to his quarters to find Olivos standing guard. Davos was surprised since Olivos had been shot in the leg by an arrow during the day's battle. Olivos assured him that he had treated and discharged by Herpus. Then, Olivos informed him that Cheiristoya was waiting for him inside his room. Cheiristoya had come to ask for permission to work as a nurse in the medical camp since she wished to contribute to the army and felt envious of the respect obtained by the nurses in the medical camp. She had been worried that Davos would deny her requests since traditional Greeks didn't allow women to work outside their home, especially women from wealthy or noble families. Davos, as a modern man, had no such prejudice and agreed to appoint her as a nurse. Overjoyed, Cheiristoya embraced him in the heat of the moment, and, as if magic, the two developed feelings for each other and spent the night together, filling the quiet room with passionate panting and moaning.

Next morning, while marching, Davos resolved himself to become a man worthy of Cheiristoya, a beautiful woman of noble birth, because he was aware that the passion she felt for him would not last forever. Of course, his main concern was to get back to Greece alive. After a few days of quiet, Tissaphernes returned. This time, instead of a frontal assault, he switched to harassment tactics with the use of his archers. The mercenaries spent five grueling days of march under harassment from the Persians before they reached the Corduene mountains south of Armenia. After climbing the first mountain, the mercenaries settled down for a rest when Persian archers from a nearby mountain shot at them. The experienced mercenaries quickly got back into formation, but the supply camp suffered significant damage. The damage would've been worse if not for Cheiristoya's quick thinking in hiding the non-combatants under the carriages.

The leaders decided that someone needed to lead their troops in order to silently climb and capture the mountains while the remaining Greeks drew the attention of the Persians. Xenophon volunteered to lead a small team and managed to climb the mountains from behind the Persians and ambush them, albeit at the cost of heavy casualties. Afterwards, the Greeks managed to capture all of the mountains and set up a base camp in the valley behind the mountains. Still, they were not out of danger yet. They now needed to deal with the mountain tribes of Corduene mountains who were known as the Caduchians by the Persians. The leaders were unable to come to a decision as to whether they should negotiate with the numerous Caduchian tribes or ambush them and quickly cross the mountains. Davos suggested an alternate: they should contact one Caduchian tribe and help them conquer the Corduene mountains in exchange for safe passage.

Next afternoon, Marigi, Davos' Persian subordinate, was accompanied by Hielos and a dozen soldiers as he went to meet Kangmoro, a leader of one Caduchian tribes with whom Marigi had previously conducted business. Marigi explained that Kangmoro was eager to expand his tribe which was why he had previously attempted to monopolize the trade channel between the mountains of Armenia, Corduene, and Medea. At dawn, Marigi returned and stated that Kangmoro was willing to meet the Greek leaders at the foot of the mountain that afternoon. Thus, that afternoon, Cheirisophus, Cleanor, Davos, Marigi and 50 Spartan warriors arrived at the agreed upon spot while the other leaders maintained a distance of 500 meters in order to avoid a repeat of the ambush by Tissaphernes.

Kangmoro, the leader of the Sokangte Caduchian tribe arrived and the two sides began the negotiations. It was decided that the Greeks would ally with the Sokangte tribe and attack any Caduchian tribe that lay in the path of their route. From the captured loot, the Greeks would be entitled to 60% while the Sokangte would get the rest. The Greek were also not allowed to indiscriminately massacre the Caduchian tribesmen that they defeat. In addition, Kangmoro added a condition that he could hire the Greeks to attack tribes that did not lay in the path of their route, granted that he paid them and obtained permission from the leaders. Within a few days, the alliance managed to defeat four tribes and an alliance of Caduchian tribes, netting the Greeks much needed supplies and helping the Sokangte tribe annex the captured. Finally, the Greeks reached the river Centrites beyond the mountains only to find a 20,000-strong Persian army led by Orontes on the opposite bank of the river. The Persians were further supplemented by Chaldean mercenaries.

After a day's search, the Greeks found a place upstream the river which could be crossed. Still, they were worried that forcibly crossing the river would lead to many casualties. Then, Davos suggested that they send the Spartans across the river at night while the rest of the army crossed during the day. When the Persians attacked the Greeks, the Spartans would ambush them from behind, thereby significantly lowering the casualties and giving them an opportunity to deal a major blow to the Persians. And so it happened. The Greek mercenaries crossed the river and the Persians rushed to hold them off when the Spartans appeared from behind and destroyed the Persian formation. In a matter of hours, the 20,000-strong Persian army was defeated. The leaders decided to allow the conscripted men such as the Chaldeans to leave while they pushed all the Persian men into the river Centrites. Alas, no Persian was left on the bank and the river was filled with thousands of corpses.