What a fascinating statement. The commenter assumes, for some reason, that Cyrus' mercenary contingent of some 11,000 Greeks consisted "mainly of Spartans". I'm afraid the source material (Xenophon's Anabasis ) does not back up that assumption. Perhaps the commenter has confused the command of Clearchus – a Spartan "in exile" and Chirisophus – with the notion that this was a Spartan army of some description.

Xenophon (Anab. 1.1 – 1.2.4) records the contingents of this mercenary force and how it came together. There is little room in that description for this army to comprise of "mainly Spartans".

Cyrus was Sparta's estwhile finacier – at the pleasure of the Great King. Sparta might well have allowed the occasional "advisor" to join this army but it would – at this moment – shy at the prospect of breaking the alliance with Persia that had won it the Peloponnesian War. That would come later with Thibron, Dercilidas and Agesilaos. The Great King, always holding the whip hand, would smack Sparta back into line by finacing Athens via Conon and bringing his forgetful Greek policeman back to the negotiating table through Antalcidas.

The writer might inaccurately describe Xenohon as "Spartan". What is certain is that Xenophon was no Athenian. He might more accurately be described as "Peloponnesian" for that was certainly his outlook and, indeed, his world. His sons underwent the Spartan agoge and his Peloponnesian idyl was rudely cut short by Epaminondas, Pelopidas at Leuctra. He neither forgave nor forgot – to scrub them as far as possible from his history that is.

Interesting, but a distillation of secondary sources. Writing does not flow well. Exempt the obviuosly academic and arcane prose, this works as a primer for Hellenistic warfare.