Here they halted three days for the sake of the wounded chiefly, while a further inducement was the plentiful supply of provisions which they found, wheat and wine, and large stores of barley laid up for horses.  These supplies had been collected by the ruling satrap of the country.  On the fourth day they began their descent into the plain; but when Tissaphernes overtook them, necessity taught them to camp in the first village they caught sight of, and give over the attempt of marching and fighting simultaneously, as so many were hors de combat, being either on the list of wounded themselves, or else engaged in carrying the wounded, or laden with the heavy arms of those so occupied.  But when they were once encamped, and the barbarians, advancing upon the village, made an attempt to harass them with their sharp-shooters, the superiority of the Hellenes was pronounced.  To sustain a running fight with an enemy constantly attacking was one thing; to keep him at arm’s length from a fixed base of action another:  and the difference was much in their favour.

But when it was late afternoon, the time had come for the enemy to 34 withdraw, since the habit of the barbarian was never to encamp within seven or eight miles of the Hellenic camp.  This he did in apprehension of a night attack, for a Persian army is good for nothing at night.  Their horses are haltered, and, as a rule, hobbled as well, to prevent their escaping, as they might if loose; so that, if any alarm occurs, the trooper has to saddle and bridle his horse, and then he must put on his own cuirass, and then mount—­all which performances are difficult at night and in the midst of confusion.  For this reason they always encamped at a distance from the Hellenes.

When the Hellenes perceived that they were preparing to retire, and that the order was being given, the herald’s cry, “Pack up for starting,” might be heard before the enemy was fairly out of earshot.  For a while the Asiatics paused, as if unwilling to be gone; but as night closed in, off they went, for it did not suit their notions of expediency to set off on a march and arrive by night.  And now, when the Hellenes saw that they were really and clearly gone, they too broke up their camp and pursued their march till they had traversed seven and a half miles.  Thus the distance between the two armies grew to be so great, that the next day the enemy did not appear at all, nor yet on the third day; but on the fourth the barbarians had pushed on by a forced night march and occupied a commanding position on the right, where the Hellenes had to pass.  It was a narrow mountain spur[9] overhanging the descent into the plain.

[9] Lit. “a mere nail tip.”