Achaemenid prince Cyrus the Younger had been called to his father's deathbed in 404, when Arsaces became king as Artaxerxes II.

Cyrus, though he attended the coronation, was accused by Tissaphernes, satrap of Caria, of plotting his brother's murder.

On the intercession of Parysatis, however, Cyrus was pardoned and sent back to his satrapy.

On his return, Cyrus begins preparations to seize the Achaemenid throne.

Clearchus, who takes refuge with Cyrus the Younger in 403 after his expulsion from Byzantium, recruits the Greek mercenary army called the Ten Thousand in support of Cyrus's claim to the Persian throne.

Cyrus uses a quarrel with Tissaphernes over the Ionian cities as a pretext for gathering a large army and pretends to prepare an expedition to Pisidia, in the Taurus Mountains.