People / group

Ten Thousand

401–399 BCE · 5th century BCE · Also known as Xenophon's Ten Thousand

The Ten Thousand were Greek mercenaries hired by the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger in 401 BCE to seize the throne from his brother Artaxerxes II. After Cyrus fell at Cunaxa and their generals were treacherously killed, they fought their way north through Mesopotamia and Armenia to the Black Sea, a march recorded by Xenophon in the Anabasis. Some then served the Thracian ruler Seuthes II.

Ten Thousand
Image: P.J. Mulder, Leiden · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

Odrysian KingdomMilitary, Summary

Mentioned in 2 state histories

TrapezusArcadian League

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ten Thousand. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/ten-thousand
MLA
“Ten Thousand.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/ten-thousand. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ten Thousand.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/ten-thousand.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ten Thousand’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/ten-thousand (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻