ANABASIS by Xenophon

The May-August 2026 subscription book for Castalia History

Castalia Library is very pleased to belatedly announce that after some internal debate, the May-August 2026 subscription book for Castalia History is the ANABASIS of Xenophon, one of the great military histories of all time.

Anabasis is the most famous work of the Ancient Greek professional soldier and writer Xenophon. It gives an account of the expedition of the Ten Thousand, an army of Greek mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger to help him seize the throne of Persia from his brother, Artaxerxes II, in 401 BC.

The seven books making up the Anabasis were composed c. 370 BC. The story of the army’s journey across Asia Minor and Mesopotamia is Xenophon’s best known work and “one of the great adventures in human history”.

Traditionally, Anabasis is one of the first unabridged texts studied by students of classical Greek, because of its clear and unadorned prose style in relatively pure Attic dialect.

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In other news, History subscribers will be pleased to know that DE BELLO GALLICO is being bound this week. The pigskin leather cases have already been made, they are now being stamped and hubbed, and there should be about 40 spare ones that will be available for purchase by non-subscribers.

Below is a mockup made with the actual front stamp design, the correct color of the leather, and the French groove that we are now adding to the books bound at the bindery. We should have photographs of the real books available early next week.

THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE book blocks are already in the bindery and will be one of the next books bound.