Xenophon belongs to the ranks of great writers of classical Greece. After Herodotus, the father of History, and Thucydides, the greatest historian of all time, Xenophon rightfully ranks third in the hierarchy of historians.

The "Hellenica" of Xenophon is the continuation of the account of Thucydides' "Histories," which abruptly cuts off its narration with the events of 411 BC. However, it finds a worthy successor in Xenophon, with a wealth of information about the events from 411 to 403 BC, including major occurrences in classical Greece, from the return of the "fateful" figure in the history of Athens, Alcibiades, to the description of the dramatic naval battle at Arginusae, and then the crushing defeat of the Athenians at the River Aegeus...

[Excerpt from the text of the preface]