Darius and Parysatis had two sons
 born to them, of whom the elder was Artaxerxes and the younger
 Cyrus . In
 regard to the persons mentioned and the events sketched in
 sections 1-4, see Introduction, pp. 231 sqq. Now when
 Darius lay sick and suspected that the end of his life was near, he
 wished to have both his sons with him. The elder, as it chanced, was with him already; but
 Cyrus he summoned from the province over
 which he had made him satrap, and he had also appointed him
 commander of all the forces that muster in the plain of
 Castolus. Castolus was the
 mustering place for all the Persian forces of western Asia Minor . See Introd. p.
 232. 
 Cyrus accordingly went up See Introd. p. vii, note 1. to his father,
 taking with him Tissaphernes as a friend and accompanied by three
 hundred Greek hoplites, i.e.
 heavy-armed infantrymen, the regular troops of
 the line in Greek warfare. In this instance, of course,
 they are serving Cyrus as a
 bodyguard. under the command of Xenias of Parrhasia . When Darius had died and Artaxerxes
 had become established as king, Tissaphernes falsely accused
 Cyrus to his brother of plotting against
 him. And Artaxerxes, believing the accusation, arrested
 Cyrus , with the intention of putting him to
 death; his mother, however, made intercession for him, and sent him
 back again to his province. Now when Cyrus had thus returned, after his
 danger and disgrace, he set about planning that he might never again
 be in the power of his brother, but, if possible, might be king in
 his stead. He had, in the first place, the support of Parysatis, his
 mother, for she loved him better than the son who was king,
 Artaxerxes. Again, when any of the King’s court came to visit him, he treated
 them all in such a way that when he sent them back they were more
 devoted to him than to the King. He also took care that the
 barbarians Barbarians is a convenient, but not an
 accurate, translation for βάρβαροι, which was simply the name the Greeks
 gave, without implying reproach, to all peoples who were not
 Greeks. In general, then, it meant foreigners ; in
 most cases in the Anabasis (as here) it could be
 translated Persians. of his own province
 should be capable soldiers and should feel kindly toward him.