That wasn't all he did, however. Xenophon was a student of Socrates (who makes an appearance at the beginning of the Anabasis), and is one of the better sources outside of Plato for information on his life and philosophy. Upon returning from his little trip to Persia, Xenophon, finding Socrates already tried, convicted, and executed, culled several people's notes (including Plato's) to write his own version of Socrates' Apology. He wrote several philosophical dialogues (much like Plato) expounding on Socratic philosophy, and portraying a Socrates rather different from the one we find in Plato: in one scene in the Memorabilia, he seems to indicate that Socrates was a pimp, and in another, he has him lobbing well-executed and imaginative insults towards Glaucon (whom philosophy students may remember as Plato's elder brother and one of Socrates' interlocutors in The Republic). He also wrote some short treatises (including at least one about hunting), a work on The Peloponnesian War called the Hellenica that picks up where Thucydides left off, and a rather fictionalized biography of Cyrus the Great (really intended more as a handbook on how to raise a just king). Finally, he was a personal friend of the Eurypontid King of Sparta Agesilaus II, who allowed him to live in Sparta for several years (a favor rarely given to foreigners, let alone Athenians). Xenophon therefore wrote extensively about Sparta, its customs, and its constitution; his writings are responsible for much of what we know about that secretive city-state today.
For all that, his reputation has historically been that he was a second-rate writer and historian, and (besides the Anabasis) his works have consequently been ignored by academia, particularly since the 19th century. On the other hand, several figures—including Niccolò Machiavelli and John Adams—have regarded him rather more highly, and studied him seriously. The most recent of these is the German-born American Jewish philosopher Leo Strauss, and given Strauss' (controversial) influence in the philosophical and classical academy, Xenophon is currently undergoing something of a revival, with new translations of obscure works appearing after a long absence, with a particular focus on Xenophon's more practical approach to Socrates' teaching.
And his On Horsemanship is the first recorded work advocating sympathetic horsemanship, aka horse whispering. Make of that what you will.
Not to confuse with Xenophobe, Xenophanes, or Xenomorph. Or with the former Senator for South Australia.
