Editing Battle of Cunaxa (section)

==Preparations==
Cyrus gathered an army of Greek [[mercenary|mercenaries]], consisting of 10,400 [[hoplites]] and 2,500 light infantry and [[peltasts]], under the [[Sparta]]n general [[Clearchus of Sparta|Clearchus]], and met Artaxerxes at Cunaxa. He also had a large force of levied troops under his second-in-command [[Ariaeus]]. The strength of the Achaemenid army was 40,000 men.<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/>

[[File:Artaxerxes II relief portrait detail.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of [[Artaxerxes II]].]] 
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When Cyrus learned that his elder brother, the Great King, was approaching with his army, he drew up his army in battle array. He placed the Greek mercenaries on the right, near the river. In addition to this they were supported on their right by some cavalry, 1,000 strong, as was the tradition of battle order in that day. To the Greeks, this was the place of honor. Cyrus himself with 600 body guards was in the center, to the left of the Greek mercenaries—the place where Persian monarchs traditionally placed themselves in the order of battle. Cyrus' Asiatic troops were on the left flank.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RcwAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA102 | title=Alexander: A History of the Origin and Growth of the Art of War from Earliest Times to the Battle of Ipsus, B. C. 301| last1=Dodge| first1=Theodore Ayrault| year=1890| publisher=Houghton, Mifflin & Comp.| isbn=9781105602504}}</ref>

Inversely, Artaxerxes II placed his left on the river, with a unit of cavalry supporting it also. Artaxerxes was in the center of his line, with 6,000 units of Persian cavalry (which were some of the finest in the world) which was to the left of Cyrus, his line being so much the longer. Artaxerxes line overlapped Cyrus' line quite significantly, since he was able to field many more troops.<ref name="front">{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RcwAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA103 | title=Alexander: A History of the Origin and Growth of the Art of War from Earliest Times to the Battle of Ipsus, B. C. 301| last1=Dodge| first1=Theodore Ayrault| year=1890| publisher=Houghton, Mifflin & Comp.| isbn=9781105602504}}</ref>

Cyrus then approached Clearchus, the leader of the Greeks, who was commanding the phalanx stationed on the right, and ordered him to move into the center so as to go after Artaxerxes. However, Clearchus, not desiring to do this—for fear of his right flank—refused, and promised Cyrus, according to Xenophon, that he would "take care that all would be well".<ref name="front"/> Cyrus wanted to place him in the center as the Greeks were his most capable unit, and were thereby most able to defeat the elite Persian cavalry and in the process kill the Great King, thereby gaining the Persian throne for Cyrus. Clearchus refused this owing to the insecurity that the Greeks had for their right flank, which tended to drift and was undefended, as the shields were held in the left hand. That Clearchus did not obey this order is a sign of the lack of control that Cyrus had over his army, as a couple of other occasions throughout this campaign prior to the battle reveal also.

Before the final attack began, Xenophon, the main relater of the events at Cunaxa, who was probably at the time some kind of mid-level officer, approached Cyrus to ensure that all the proper orders and dispositions had been made. Cyrus told him that they had, and that the sacrifices that traditionally took place before a battle promised success.<ref name="front"/>