Scillus is a location in Elis, south of Olympia where Xenophon retired after his exile from Athens. It had been under Spartan control at the end of the Peloponnesian War, and the Spartans had given Xenophon some land in it. It is near the modern villages of Chrestena and Mazi. Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district within the modern prefecture of Ilia. ... Olympia (Greek: Ολυμπία Olympía or Ολύμπια Olýmpia, older transliterations, Olimpia, Olimbia), a city of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. ... Xenophon (circa 427-355 B.C.) was an Athenian citizen, an associate of Socrates, a Philodorian and is known for his writings on Hellenic history and culture. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Sparta (Grk. ... Map of the Greek world at the start of the Peloponnesian War Temple of Apollo at Corinth The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BC between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League which included Sparta and Corinth. ...
The Spartans provided a home for him at Scillus in Elis, about two miles from Olympia; there he settled down to indulge his tastes for sport and literature.
The Anabasis (composed at Scillus between 379 and 371) is a work of singular interest, and is brightly and pleasantly written.
Xenophon, like Caesar, tells the story in the third person, and there is a straightforward manliness about the style, with a distinct flavour of a cheerful lightheartedness, which at once enlists our sympathies.
His time during his long residence at Scillus was employed in hunting, writing, and entertaining his friends; and perhaps the Anabasis and part of the Hellenica were composed here.
The treatise on hunting and that on the horse were probably also written during this time, when amusement and exercise of this kind formed part of his occupation.
He is said to have retired to Corinth after his expulsion from Scillus, and as we know nothing more, we assume that he died there some time around 357.
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