Xenophon's parasangs

Abstract

This paper analyses one aspect of Xenophon's representation of space, focusing on the famous stages-and-parasangs formula employed by Xenophon in the Anabasis. It starts by discussing the meaning of his terms, and then explores patterns of repetition and variation in his account of the march, split into three sections (the marches upcountry, to the sea and along the coast). Rather than explaining Xenophon's usage in terms of sources, it suggests that variations in the marching formula elaborate the successive stages of the Greeks' encounter with the spaces of the Achaemenid Empire.

Connectivity and Communication in the Achaemenid Empire

“…The evidence from Persepolis can be applied directly only to its administrative remit, which would have included much of Fars (Henkelman 2008a: 110-8), but it is not unreasonable to think that similar officials existed throughout the empire. The misleadingly precise and frequently inaccurate distances cited by Herodotus and Xenophon, for the Susa-Sardis road and the route taken by the army of Cyrus the Younger respectively, might be evidence for this, if, as has often been suggested, they made use of maps, itineraries, or, in Xenophon's case, milestones (Tuplin 1997: 404-9;Rood 2010). Indeed, according to Photius's epitome (ninth century CE), Ctesias provided a "calculation of the staging-posts, and distances in day-journeys and parasangs from Ephesus to Bactra and India" {FGrH 688 F33; trans.…”

Xenophon's Route Through Babylonia and Assyria

“…The significance of Xenophon's parasangs has been the subject of an entire paper (Rood 2010). As for their actual length, Lendle (1986: 194), in a thorough study of part of the route, opted for 4 kilometres, but this is too low for general use.…”