Now Epyaxa, the wife of Syennesis, had
 reached Tarsus five days
 ahead of Cyrus , but in the course of her
 passage over the mountains to the plain two companies of Menon’s
 army cp. 20, above. had
 been lost. Some said that they had been cut to pieces by the
 Cilicians while engaged in a bit of plundering; another story was
 that they had been left behind, and, unable to find the rest of the
 army or the roads, had thus wandered about and perished; at any
 rate, they numbered a hundred hoplites. And when the rest of Menon’s troops reached Tarsus , in their anger over the
 loss of their comrades they plundered thoroughly, not only the city,
 but also the palace that was in it. As for
 Cyrus , after he had marched into the city
 he more than once summoned Syennesis to his presence; but Syennesis
 said that he had never yet put himself in the hands of anyone who
 was more powerful than he was, and he would not now put himself in
 the hands of Cyrus until his wife had won him
 over and he had received pledges. When the two men finally met one another, Syennesis gave
 Cyrus a large sum of money for his army,
 while Cyrus gave him gifts which are regarded
 at court i.e. such gifts as could
 be bestowed only by the Persian king. Cyrus 
 is already assuming royal prerogatives. as tokens of
 honour—a horse with a gold-mounted bridle, a gold necklace and
 bracelets, a gold dagger and a Persian robe—promising him, further,
 that his land should not be plundered any more and that they might
 take back the slaves that had been seized in case they should chance
 upon them anywhere. Cyrus and his
 army remained here at Tarsus twenty days, for the soldiers refused to go
 any farther; for they suspected by this time that they were going
 against the King, and they said they had not been hired for that.
 Clearchus was the first to try to force his men to go on, but they
 pelted him and his pack-animals with stones as often as they began
 to go forward. At that time Clearchus narrowly escaped being stoned to death; but
 afterwards, when he realized that he could not accomplish anything
 by force, he called a meeting of his own troops. And first he stood
 and wept for a long time, while his men watched him in wonder and
 were silent; then he spoke as follows: