Several histories of 4th-century Greece, written in the mould of Thucydides or straying from it, have borne the conventional Latin title Hellenica.

[1] Many consider this a very personal work, written by Xenophon in retirement on his Spartan estate, intended primarily for circulation among his friends, for people who knew the main protagonists and events, often because they had participated in them.

[2] There is virtually no transition between the two works, to the extent that the opening words of Hellenica, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, are translated as After this, or sometimes Following these events.

[3] Xenophon's Hellenica is a Classical Greek historical narrative divided into seven books that describe Greco-Persian history in the years 411–362 BC.

The first two books narrate the final years of the Peloponnesian War from the moment at which Thucydides' history ends.

The Hellenica is the only primary source for the period from the end of the Peloponnesian War until the time of Alexander.

Xenophon was familiar with the leading political figures in Sparta and witnessed many battles and expeditions described in the Hellenica.

The work is noteworthy as the only major primary historical source between the golden age of Athens and the rise of Macedon.

Book 3 narrates the Spartan expedition led by King Agesilaus in Asia Minor against the Persians.

This eventually led to the Corinthian War, with the states of Athens, Corinth, Argos and Thebes united against Sparta.

Among competing works under this title, now lost, two stand out,[4] that written by Ephorus of Cyme and that by Theopompus of Chios.

Oswyn Murray remarked, "His style and completeness, unfortunately, made him rather popular, but at least he stands out as one who had thought about the purposes that history should serve, and got them wrong.