On the third night, believing the battle to be imminent, he distributed the commands and laid down a plan of operations.

But morning brought no appearance of the enemy, and the whole day passed tranquilly.

In the course of it, he came upon a wide and deep trench cut through the plain for a distance of above forty miles--a recent work, which Artaxerxes had intended as a barrier to stop the progress of his enemy.

But the trench was undefended and incomplete, a space of twenty feet being left between its termination and the Euphrates.

Cyrus, having passed it, began to be convinced that his brother would not risk a battle in the plain, but would retreat to the mountains and make his stand at Persepolis or Ecbatana.