The March Up Country (Anabasis) by Xenophon of Athens was originally written around 370 BC. The book narrates the journey of a large army of Greek mercenaries (hired by Cyrus the Younger, and partly led by Xenophon himself) across Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, to help Cyrus take the throne of the Persian empire from his brother Artaxerxes II. The army that marched was known as the Ten Thousand, and the book is a self-reflective account of what ultimately ended as a failed military expedition when Cyrus was killed in Babylon. Stranded in Persia, Xenophon, one of three remaining leaders elected by the soldiers, and his men headed back to their Greek cities. Anabasis is Xenophon's most famous work and has been described as 'one of the great adventures in human history'.