So they went off, and Clearchus awaited their return; meanwhile the troops provided themselves with food as best they could, by slaughtering oxen and asses of the baggage train. As for fuel, they went forward a short distance from their line to the place where the battle was fought and used for that purpose not only the arrows, many in number, which the Greeks had compelled all who deserted from the King to throw away, but also the wicker shields and the wooden Egyptian shields; there were likewise many light shields and wagons that they could carry off, all of them abandoned. These various things, then, they used for fuel, and so boiled meat and lived on it for that day. 1
Anabasis. Xenophon. Carleton L. Brownson (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1921-1922.
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