Xenophon
zen'o-fon (434-355 B. C.), a Greek historian and general. He was a native of Athens, a disciple of Socrates. He followed his teacher to war, and his life was saved by Socrates in the battle of Delium, 424 B. C. He was a member of the expedition of Cyrus the Younger in 401. After the battle of Cunaxa and murder of the Greek generals he led the 10,000 Greeks in their march to the Black Sea. Later he wrote an account of this expedition, known in literature as the Anabasis. He engaged in other military operations and acquired considerable wealth. For siding with the Spartans he was banished from Athens. Though subsequently permitted to return, he is said to have died at Corinth. His chief writings are the Anabasis, describing the march of the ten thousand; the Memorabilia or recollections of Socrates; the Cyropaedia, an alleged life of Cyrus the Elder; and the Symposium, an imaginary banquet at which Socrates is made to talk. He also wrote several works on war, hunting, agriculture, and politics. His style is simple and interesting. Greek critics called him the "Attic Muse."
The following quotation from Xenophon shows that division of labor was a live topic in his time: "In small cities the man who makes beds may make doors, plows, tables, and perhaps houses. He is glad, if, even so, he can find customers enough to provide a living; and it is plainly impossible that a man practicing many crafts should be good at them all. But in great cities, because there is a large demand for each article, a single craft is enough for a living, or sometimes, indeed, no more than a single branch of a craft. We find one man making men's boots only; and another women's only. One man lives by cutting garments; another by fitting together the pieces, the smaller, the greater the skill in the craftsman."