Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries

E371747

Greek military unit mercenary army

The Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries were a large force of Greek hoplite soldiers who famously marched deep into the Persian Empire and then fought their way back to Greece, an ordeal recounted by Xenophon in his work Anabasis.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Ten Thousand (Greek mercenaries)	2
Greek mercenaries of Cyrus the Younger	1
Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3590725 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries
Context triple: [Anabasis, mainGroup, Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries]

A. Plataean army
The Plataean army was the small but crucial Greek city-state force that fought alongside Athens to help defeat the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.
B. Athenian army
The Athenian army was the land-based military force of ancient Athens, composed largely of citizen-soldiers who defended the city-state and fought in its numerous wars across classical Greece.
C. Boeotian army
The Boeotian army was the collective military force of the cities of Boeotia in ancient Greece, noted for its heavy infantry and decisive role in regional conflicts such as the Peloponnesian War.
D. Theban Sacred Band
The Theban Sacred Band was an elite ancient Greek military unit of 300 hoplite soldiers, famed for its battlefield effectiveness and composed of pairs of male lovers whose bonds were believed to strengthen their courage and cohesion in combat.
E. Athenian cavalry
The Athenian cavalry was the mounted military force of ancient Athens, used primarily for reconnaissance, skirmishing, and supporting the city-state’s infantry-dominated armies.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries
Target entity description: The Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries were a large force of Greek hoplite soldiers who famously marched deep into the Persian Empire and then fought their way back to Greece, an ordeal recounted by Xenophon in his work Anabasis.

A. Plataean army
The Plataean army was the small but crucial Greek city-state force that fought alongside Athens to help defeat the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.
B. Athenian army
The Athenian army was the land-based military force of ancient Athens, composed largely of citizen-soldiers who defended the city-state and fought in its numerous wars across classical Greece.
C. Boeotian army
The Boeotian army was the collective military force of the cities of Boeotia in ancient Greece, noted for its heavy infantry and decisive role in regional conflicts such as the Peloponnesian War.
D. Theban Sacred Band
The Theban Sacred Band was an elite ancient Greek military unit of 300 hoplite soldiers, famed for its battlefield effectiveness and composed of pairs of male lovers whose bonds were believed to strengthen their courage and cohesion in combat.
E. Athenian cavalry
The Athenian cavalry was the mounted military force of ancient Athens, used primarily for reconnaissance, skirmishing, and supporting the city-state’s infantry-dominated armies.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Greek military unit ⓘ mercenary army ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	the Ten Thousand ⓘ surface form: The Ten Thousand hoi myrioi ⓘ
approximateDate	401 BC ⓘ
commandedBy	Cheirisophus ⓘ Clearchus of Sparta ⓘ Menon of Thessaly ⓘ Proxenus of Boeotia ⓘ Socrates of Achaea ⓘ Xenophon ⓘ
commandStructureChange	lost senior generals after treachery by Tissaphernes ⓘ
composedOf	Greek hoplites ⓘ light infantry ⓘ peltasts ⓘ
culturalImpact	became a classic example of a fighting retreat ⓘ central subject of Xenophon’s Anabasis ⓘ
destination	Northern Black Sea Greek colonies ⓘ surface form: Black Sea Greek cities Byzantium ⓘ
documentedIn	Anabasis ⓘ
enemyOf	Artaxerxes II ⓘ surface form: Artaxerxes II of Persia Persian army ⓘ surface form: Persian royal army
foughtIn	Battle of Cunaxa ⓘ
goal	help Cyrus the Younger seize the Persian throne ⓘ
historicalSignificance	demonstrated vulnerability of the Persian Empire to Greek hoplites ⓘ influenced strategic thinking of Alexander the Great ⓘ influenced strategic thinking of Philip II of Macedon ⓘ
language	Ancient Greek ⓘ
legacy	symbol of Greek military professionalism abroad ⓘ
militaryRole	served as mercenaries for a Persian prince ⓘ
nationality	Greek ⓘ
notableEvent	cry of "Thalatta! Thalatta!" on sighting the sea ⓘ march from Cunaxa to the Black Sea ⓘ
operatedIn	Anatolia ⓘ Armenia ⓘ Mesopotamia ⓘ Achaemenid Empire ⓘ surface form: Persian Empire
primarySourceAuthor	Xenophon ⓘ
recruitedBy	Cyrus the Younger ⓘ
returnJourneyLength	over a year ⓘ
routeFeature	crossing of the Euphrates River ⓘ crossing of the Tigris River ⓘ traverse of Armenian highlands ⓘ
servedIn	army of Cyrus the Younger ⓘ
statusAfterCunaxa	stranded deep in hostile territory ⓘ
strength	approximately 10,000 men at outset ⓘ
strengthType	primarily heavy infantry ⓘ
tactics	disciplined hoplite warfare against numerically superior foes ⓘ
timePeriod	late 5th century BC ⓘ
usedFormation	phalanx ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Anabasis → mainGroup → Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries ⓘ

the Ten Thousand → hasAlternativeName → Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries ⓘ

subject surface form: Ten Thousand

this entity surface form: Greek mercenaries of Cyrus the Younger

Xenias of Parrhasia → associatedWith → Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries ⓘ

this entity surface form: Ten Thousand (Greek mercenaries)

Proxenus of Boeotia → associatedWith → Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries ⓘ