This volume recounts the political aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, including Spartan ascendancy and the installation of oligarchical decarchies, and then narrates Cyrus the younger’s campaign that drew Greek auxiliaries into Persia. It follows the march inland, the engagement at Cunaxa where Cyrus is killed despite Greek battlefield success, and the subsequent year-long retreat of the Ten Thousand across hostile territory to safety. Interwoven are examinations of Persian court intrigues and satrapal revolts, analyses of the military and cultural contrasts between Greeks and Persians, and reflections on how the expedition influenced Greek confidence and subsequent affairs.