Le omissioni di Senofonte nella descrizione della battaglia di Aliarto (Hell. 3, 5, 17-25)

It has been well established that each historian, even ancient ones, uses among the composing techniques of his narrative what Paul Ricœur identifies as stratégies de l’oubli, through the omission of some details. Xenophon’s Hellenica have always represented a privileged ground for investigating this tendency. Scholars have tried, through systematic studies of the work and comparison with other sources, to understand the reasons why the Athenian historian includes only some details in his narrative, while eliminating others. Riedinger and Pownall’s studies are quite comprehensive in their analysis of such omissions. Nevertheless, no one delved into the description of the Battle of Haliartos proposed by Xenophon. Indeed, the historian focuses on Lysander’s and Pausanias’ planning of the attack on the Boeotian city, the changing mood of the Thebans, and the impulsiveness of the Spartan general, by passing in silence certain details that any reader would expect from the account of the battle. The article aims to point out narrative inconsistencies and to reflect on the reasons why Xenophon has given birth to an only partially reliable description of the battle of Haliartos.