n.
born 431, Attica, Greece
died shortly before 350 BC, Attica
Greek historian.
Born of a well-to-do Athenian family, Xenophon was critical of extreme democracy and for a time was exiled as a traitor. He served with the Greek mercenaries of the Persian prince Cyrus, an experience on which he based his best-known work, the Anabasis . Its prose was highly regarded in antiquity and exerted a strong influence on Latin literature. His other works include On Horsemanship ; On Hunting ; Cyropaedia , a historical novel about Cyrus II ; Oeconomicus , a treatise on estate management; and his completion of a work by the historian Thucydides .