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Anabasis — cover
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Aeneas Press edition Victorian First published 1859

Anabasis

by Xenophon

The book, and the century it came out of.

Translated by Henry Graham Dakyns

Ten thousand Greek mercenaries march into Persia for a prince who is killed in his first battle; their generals are seized under a flag of truce; and the survivors, leaderless in hostile country, elect a young Athenian to lead them home. Xenophon wrote the account himself, in the third person, and the shout when they reach the water — the sea, the sea — is one of the oldest thrills in literature. Illustrated with 49 full-page plates — paintings by Scheyerer, Calame and Koekkoek among them.

Darius and Parysatis had two sons: the elder was named Artaxerxes, and the younger Cyrus.
The first sentence of Anabasis
A note on this edition

Anabasis, by Xenophon, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.

It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.

The edition
Format
Ebook
Extent
about 272 pages
Reading time
about 5 hours
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Translation
Henry Graham Dakyns
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785501067028
The plates

49 paintings are bound into this edition

Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.

Loggers at a Mountain Torrent, Franz Scheyerer
Loggers at a Mountain Torrent Franz Scheyerer 1837
View on the Catskill Early Autumn, Thomas Cole
View on the Catskill Early Autumn Thomas Cole 1837
Windmill by the Sea, Ivan Aivazovsky
Windmill by the Sea Ivan Aivazovsky 1837
The Merchant Ship Flevo, Hendrik Vettewinkel
The Merchant Ship Flevo Hendrik Vettewinkel 1837
Bolesław the Brave Entering Kiev,, Piotr Michałowski
Bolesław the Brave Entering Kiev, Piotr Michałowski 1837
market of horse, Wouterus Verschuur
market of horse Wouterus Verschuur 1837
The setting

A page from this edition

Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.

A page of Anabasis as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of Anabasis as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

Anabasis, first published 1859, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Adventure & the Sea shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.

Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785501067028, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.

Before you buy

Questions readers ask

Is this the whole of Anabasis?
Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
What exactly did you change?
The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. Xenophon's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
Are the pictures really in the book?
Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
How long is it?
About 272 pages, which is roughly about 5 hours of reading.
What do I actually get?
An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
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Anabasis
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