Battle of Cunaxa

Battle of Cunaxa
Retreat of the Ten Thousand, at the Battle of Cunaxa, by Jean Adrien Guignet
Date 3 September 401 BC[1] Location On the banks of the Euphrates near present-day Baghdad, Iraq 33°19′30″N 44°04′48″E / 33.32500°N 44.08000°E / 33.32500; 44.08000 Result Tactical draw Strategic victory for Artaxerxes II Thousands of Greek mercenaries march home against opposition
Belligerents
Cyrus the Younger The Ten Thousand	Achaemenid Empire
Commanders and leaders
Cyrus the Younger † Clearchus  Cheirisophus[2] Ariaeus	Artaxerxes II Gobrias Tissaphernes Orontes
Strength
Large force of Persian soldiers 10,400 mercenary Greek hoplites 700 Spartan hoplites[2] 2,500 mercenary light infantry and peltasts 1,000 Paphlagonian cavalry 600 bodyguard cavalry 20 scythed chariots	40,000[3]
Casualties and losses
Minimal, death of Cyrus	Unknown

The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in the late summer of 401 BC between the Persian king Artaxerxes II and his brother Cyrus the Younger for control of the Achaemenid throne. The great battle of the revolt of Cyrus took place 70 km north of Babylon, at Cunaxa (Greek: Κούναξα), on the left bank of the Euphrates. The main source is Xenophon, a Greek soldier who participated in the fighting.