NOTES
C1. Notice the epic tone now adopted, or rather swum into, or rather which floats the writer up of its own motion.
C1.2 ff. On the whole this description of the battle is, for Xenophon, obscure.
C1.5-6. Xenophon, Artist. This military criticism and technical discussion juxtaposed to the epic prelude and the epic sequel is a clever device enough. We are pleased.
C1.8-9. Final injunctions somewhat obscure, I think.
C1.24 ff. The epic and Homeric vein.
C1.33. The Egyptians have the advantage. This is noticeable in reference to Cyrus' criticisms of their arms before battle. That is not a slip, but a dramatic touch on the part of the author, I think. And Cyrus is speaking of cavalry there, and anticipates the result.
C1.34 fin. A singular feature this in ancient battles. Is it simply and solely Oriental, or general, and Hellenic also? Has it any analogue nowadays anywhere? Probably with Egyptian troops in the Soudan it has (hgd. 1884).
C2.6-7. The archic man through an act of bad discipline makes good discipline more acceptable.
C2.13. The civilised method of dealing with a conquered city. Instead of pillage and rapine, an indemnity, which will bring in to the conquerors wealth, and yet not destroy the arts of the population, which are the fountain-heads of beauty. || Modern. So the archic man asserts his superiority once more.
C2.24. Is this also Xenophon's view? If so, it throws light on his theory of rank and caste.
C3.2. Curious Cyrus should be so little suspicious of Abradatas' death, is it not? Because the victory was not bloodless. Notice, too, how little is said of the bloodshed; that is Hellenic as well as Xenophontine, I fancy.
C3.7. Something epic in all this. Cf. Archilles sacrificing at the tomb of Patroklos.
C3.8 ff. The pathos of the situation and theEironeiaat its maximum. "Euripidean" touches throughout.
C3.16. (This is bracketed in most editions, no doubt rightly, as an interpolation. It was not translated in Mr. Dakyns' manuscript, but his marginal note is characteristic, and evidently he would have translated the section in a footnote. It may be rendered thus: "It is said that a monument was raised above the eunuchs and is in existence to this day. On the upper slab the names of the husband and the wife are written in Syrian letters, and below are three other slabs, inscribed 'To the chamberlains.'")
C3.16. Interesting, especially if of later insertion, and perhaps given the historical basis of the story in some monument on the Pactolus, known to Xenophon. I wish a new Schliemann would find it. hgd.
C4. Semi-historical? The version is to be found, I think, in C4.2, which is thepièce justicative. The episode itself is full of humour, as good as a play: Xenophon has seen these duplicities often. Brer Fox outwitted by Brer Rabbit.
C4.4. Can these rival fastnesses of the Carians be identified? All this country is well known to Xenophon (vide Hellenica, III. c. 4, etc.).
C4.6. Beautiful renewal of the peaceful arts, festivals, and merry-makings after the internecine party strife.
C4.9. This again is a district Xenophon is well acquainted with. Has he one eye on the old insurrection against Persia,temporeHistiaeus, and another on the new arrangements,temporeAntalcidas?
C4.12-13. Croesus and his bills of lading. Some humour. It also brings out the archic man in opposition to the shop-keeper man of the mere business type. But still the bills of lading are needed. Croesus only doesn't "twig" the right persons to check. It's the opposition between Despot and true Ruler.
C5.9. Cyrus has an idea, the nature of which we shall discover later.
C5.15. Belshazzar's feast,videDaniel, cf. Hdt. Why plural, "the trenches"? Is Xenophon obscure? His obscurity is mostly this: he expects his reader intelligently to follow him.
C5.32. Jars somewhat on our feelings, perhaps, in its thirst for revenge: but cf. the feeling against the assassins of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke. (Written at the time of the Phoenix Park murders.)
C5.37. Is a turning-point in the rise of the archic man (and yet hardly yet, but at C5.58 we shall come to bodyguards and eunuchs). At this highest pinnacle of {arkhe} Cyrus desires to furnish himself as befits a king. It is an historical difficulty which Xenophon has to get over or round, or is Xenophon himself in the same condemnation, so to speak? Does he also desire his archic man to be got up in a manner befitting royalty at a certain date? Consider.
C5.42-47. These sections pose the difficulty well, and it is a difficulty, and no mistake.
C5.42 ff. Xenophon-Hellenic theory of life. The leisure to invite one's own soul and see one's friends which is needed to make life worth living, versusnegotia,negotia,negotia. How far are we to be consciously self-regarding? Cyrus versus Buddha. The Hellenic hero is not equal to absolute non-self-regarding devotion to mere work. The Buddha might be.
C5.48. Perhaps nothing is cleverer in the neat and skilful mosaic work of this composition than the fitting-in here of Artabazus' personal view with the—at last necessary—impersonal or public theory of leadership. It is pretty also that Artabazus should at length get his reward, and humorous that he doesn't, after all, get it in the old form.
C5.49 ff. He keenly remembers each tantalizing moment of approach and separation. A splendid speech of the humorous type. Xenophon himself must be credited with so much fun, and real fun it is.
C5.56 ff. Curious on this page (a) Xenophon's domestic hearth theory without which {arkhe} is a tinkling cymbal and empire no burthen to be borne. His feeling for the sweetness of home || modern. In this the secret of his happiness, || hgd. (b) Hisjustificationorraison d'êtreexplanation of the eunuch system. Why doesn't he point out its hollowness also? Not from any lack of sympathy with this barren mankind. Cf. Gadatas. I think this all logically follows if the {arkhon} is to rule political enemies as well as friends: to do so {epistamenos} ("asian expert") some strange devices must be resorted to—what think you, Dakyns?
C5.58. The need of a bodyguard. The dragon-fly must wing his flight in armour cased: that is the law of his development. So Cyrus must be in the end an ideal "tyrannus," the one spoken of by Simonides the poet to Hiero (videthe dialogueHiero, and the notes thereto in Mr. Dakyns' translation, Vol. III.).
C5.64. The faithfulness of the eunuch has its parallel in that of the old negro slave.
C5.67. These are the sort of fellows Xenophon would have chosen himself, I take it. Again the historical basis has to be taken account of. Xenophon has to explain to himself the existence of their body and how the archic man came to invent it. Throughout we must compare theHierofor Xenophon's own political theory apart from his romantic and philosophical interest in Cyrus.
C5.69. Not a pleasant picture of subject and ruling race. Cf. the Austrians in Italy.
C5.73. The Hellenic || the modern theory, but more rudely expressed. The conquerors right to the land he has taken, and what Cyrus proceeds to say is quite up to the modern mark.
C5.74. Of course this is precisely what the Persians as they degenerated did come to, nor did the good example of the archic man nor his precepts nor his institutions save them.
C5.77-79. "Military" theory of virtue: almost barbaric (ex mea sententiahgd.). But Xenophon is not absolutely = Cyrus.
C5.80 ff. This is the Socratico-Xenophontine hedonism-and-stoicism combined.
C5.82 ff. A noble sermon on the need of straining every nerve to virtuous training. Splendidly rhetorical and forceful.
C5.84. Cyrus (i.e. Xenophon) is aware of the crisis he and his are going through. If externalism has to be adopted to hedge royalty, still a further inner change is demanded: there must be a corresponding spiritual growth.
C5.86. One of the noblest sayings in all Xenophon. The one somehow which touches me most. The best way to improve ourselves is to see that we set our boys the best examples.
(C.1) Such were the words of Cyrus; and Chrysantas rose up after him, saying, "Gentlemen, this is not the first time I have had occasion to observe that a good ruler differs in no respect from a good father. Even as a father takes thought that blessings may never fail his children, so Cyrus would commend to us the ways by which we can preserve our happiness. And yet, on one point, it seemed to me he had spoken less fully than he might; and I will try to explain it for the benefit of those who have not learnt it. (2) I would have you ask yourselves, was ever a hostile city captured by an undisciplined force? Did ever an undisciplined garrison save a friendly town? When discipline was gone, did ever an army conquer? Is ever disaster nearer than when each solider thinks about his private safety only? Nay, in peace as in war, can any good be gained if men will not obey their betters? What city could be at rest, lawful, and orderly? What household could be safe? What ship sail home to her haven? (3) And we, to what do we owe our triumph, if not to our obedience? We obeyed; we were ready to follow the call by night and day; we marched behind our leader, ranks that nothing could resist; we left nothing half-done of all we were told to do. If obedience is the one path to win the highest good, remember it is also the one way to preserve it. (4) Now in the old days, doubtless, many of us ruled no one else, we were simply ruled. But to-day you find yourselves rulers, one and all of you, some over many and some over few. And just as you would wish your subjects to obey you, so we must obey those who are set over us. Yet there should be this difference between ourselves and slaves; a slave renders unwilling service to his lord, but we, if we claim to be freemen, must do of our own free will that which we see to be the best. And you will find," he added, "that even when no single man is ruler, that city which is most careful to obey authority is the last to bow to the will of her enemies. (5) Let us listen to the words of Cyrus. Let us gather round the public buildings and train ourselves, so that we may keep our hold on all we care for, and offer ourselves to Cyrus for his noble ends. Of one thing we may be sure: Cyrus will never put us to any service which can make for his own good and not for ours. Our needs are the same as his, and our foes the same."
(6) When Chrysantas had said his say, many others followed to support him, Persians and allies alike, and it was agreed that the men of rank and honour should be in attendance continually at the palace gates, ready for Cyrus to employ, until he gave them their dismissal. That custom is still in force, and to this day the Asiatics under the Great King wait at the door of their rulers. (7) And the measures that Cyrus instituted to preserve his empire, as set forth in this account, are still the law of the land, maintained by all the kings who followed him. (8) Only as in other matters, so here; with a good ruler, the government is pure; with a bad one, corrupt. Thus it came about that the nobles of Cyrus and all his honourable men waited at his gates, with their weapons and their horses, according to the common consent of the gallant men who had helped to lay the empire at his feet.
(9) Then Cyrus turned to other matters, and appointed various overseers: he had receivers of revenue, controllers of finance, ministers of works, guardians of property, superintendents of the household. Moreover, he chose managers for his horses and his dogs, men who could be trusted to keep the creatures in the best condition and ready for use at any moment. (10) But when it came to those who were to be his fellow-guardians for the commonwealth, he would not leave the care and the training of these to others; he regarded that as his own personal task. He knew, if he were ever to fight a battle, he would have to choose his comrades and supporters, the men on his right hand and left, from these and these alone; it was from them he must appoint his officers for horse and foot. (11) If he had to send out a general alone it would be from them that one must be sent: he must depend on them for satraps and governors over cities and nations; he would require them for ambassadors, and an embassy was, he knew, the best means for obtaining what he wanted without war. (12) He foresaw that nothing could go well if the agents in his weightiest affairs were not what they ought to be, while, if they were, everything would prosper. This charge, therefore, he took upon his own shoulders, and he was persuaded that the training he demanded of others should also be undergone by himself. No man could rouse others to noble deeds if he fell short of what he ought to be himself. (13) The more he pondered the matter, the more he felt the need of leisure, if he were to deal worthily with the highest matters. It was, he felt, impossible to neglect the revenues, in view of the enormous funds necessary for so vast an empire, yet he foresaw that if he was always to be occupied with the multitude of his possessions he would never have time to watch over the safety of the whole. (14) As he pondered how he could compass both objects, the prosperity of the finances and the leisure he required, the old military organisation came into his mind. He remembered how the captains of ten supervised the squads of ten, and were supervised themselves by the company-captains, and they by the captains of the thousands, and these by the captains of ten thousand, and thus even with hundreds of thousands not a man was left without supervision, and when the general wished to employ his troops one order to the captains of ten thousand was enough. (15) On this principle Cyrus arranged his finances and held his departments together; in this way, by conferring with a few officers he could keep the whole system under his control, and actually have more leisure for himself than the manager of a single household or the master of a single ship. Finally, having thus ordered his own affairs, he taught those about him to adopt the same system.
(16) Accordingly, having gained the leisure he needed for himself and his friends, he could devote himself to his work of training his partners and colleagues. In the first place he dealt with those who, enabled as they were to live on the labour of others, yet failed to present themselves at the palace; he would send for them and seek them out, convinced that attendance would be wholesome for them; they would be unwilling to do anything base or evil in the presence of their king and under the eye of their noblest men; those who were absent were so through self-indulgence or wrong-doing or carelessness. (17) And I will now set forth how he brought them to attend. He would go to one of his most intimate friends and bid him lay hands on the property of the offender, asserting that it was his own. Then of course the truants would appear at once crying out that they had been robbed. (18) But somehow for many days Cyrus could never find leisure to hear their complaints, and when he did listen he took care to defer judgment for many more. (19) This was one way he had of teaching them to attend; another was to assign the lightest and most profitable tasks to those who were punctual, and a third to give nothing whatever to the offenders. (20) But the most effective of all, for those who paid no heed to gentler measures, was to deprive the truant of what he possessed and bestow it on him who would come when he was needed. By this process Cyrus gave up a useless friend and gained a serviceable one. To this day the king sends for and seeks out those who do not present themselves when they should.
(21) Such was his method with the truants; with those who came forward he felt, since he was their rightful leader, that he could best incite them to noble deeds by trying to show that he himself had all the virtues that became a man. (22) He believed that men do grow better through written laws, and he held that the good ruler is a living law with eyes that see, inasmuch as he is competent to guide and also to detect the sinner and chastise him. (23) Thus he took pains to show that he was the more assiduous in his service to the gods the higher his fortunes rose. It was at this time that the Persian priests, the Magians, were first established as an order, and always at break of day Cyrus chanted a hymn and sacrificed to such of the gods as they might name. (24) And the ordinances he established service to this day at the court of the reigning king. These were the first matters in which the Persians set themselves to copy their prince; feeling their own fortune would be the higher if they did reverence to the gods, following the man who was fortune's favourite and their own monarch. At the same time, no doubt, they thought they would please Cyrus by this. (25) On his side Cyrus looked on the piety of his subjects as a blessing to himself, reckoning as they do who prefer to sail in the company of pious men rather than with those who are suspected of wicked deeds, and he reckoned further that if all his partners were god-fearing, they would be the less prone to crime against each other or against himself, for he knew he was the benefactor of his fellows. (26) And by showing plainly his own deep desire never to be unfair to friend or fellow-combatant or ally, but always to fix his eyes on justice and rectitude, he believed he could induce others to keep from base actions and walk in the paths of righteousness. (27) And he would bring more modesty, he hoped, into the hearts of all men if it were plain that he himself reverenced all the world and would never say a shameful word to any man or woman or do a shameful deed. (28) He looked for this because he saw that, apart from kings and governors who may be supposed to inspire fear, men will reverence the modest and not the shameless, and modesty in women will inspire modesty in the men who behold them. (29) And his people, he thought, would learn to obey if it were plain that he honoured frank and prompt obedience even above virtues that made a grander show and were harder to attain. (30) Such was his belief, and his practice went with it to the end. His own temperance and the knowledge of it made others more temperate. When they saw moderation and self-control in the man who above all others had licence to be insolent, lesser men were the more ready to abjure all insolence of their own. (31) But there was this difference, Cyrus held, between modesty and self-control: the modest man will do nothing shameful in the light of day, but the man of self-control nothing base, not even in secret. (32) Self-restrain, he believed, would best be cultivated if he made men see in himself one who could not be dragged from the pursuit of virtue by the pleasure of the moment, one who chose to toil first for the happy-hearted joys that go hand-in-hand with beauty and nobleness. (33) Thus, being the man he was, he established at his gates a stately company, where the lower gave place to the higher, and they in their turn showed reverence to each other, and courtesy, and perfect harmony. Among them all there was never a cry of anger to be heard, nor a burst of insolent laughter; to look at them was to know that they lived for honour and loveliness.
(34) Such was the life at the palace-gates, and to practise his nobles in martial exercises he would lead them out to the hunt whenever he thought it well, holding the chase to be the best training for war and the surest way to excellence in horsemanship. (35) A man learns to keep his seat, no matter what the ground may be, as he follows the flying quarry, learns to hurl and strike on horseback in his eagerness to bring down the game and win applause. (36) And here, above all, was the field in which to inure his colleagues to toil and hardship and cold and heat and hunger and thirst. Thus to this day the Persian monarch and his court spend their leisure in the chase. (37) From all that has been said, it is clear Cyrus was convinced that no one has a right to rule who is not superior to his subjects, and he held that by imposing such exercises as these on those about him, he would lead them to self-control and bring to perfection the art and discipline of war. (38) Accordingly he would put himself at the head of the hunting-parties and take them out himself unless he was bound to stay at home, and, if he was, he would hunt in his parks among the wild creatures he had reared. He would never touch the evening meal himself until he had sweated for it, nor give his horses their corn until they had been exercised, and he would invite his own mace-bearers to join him in the chase. (39) Therefore he excelled in all knightly accomplishments, he and those about him, because of their constant practice. Such was the example he set before his friends. But he also kept his eye on others, and would single out those who worshipped noble deeds, and reward them with gifts, and high commands, and seats at festivals, and every kind of honour. And thus their hearts were filled with ambition, and every man longed to outdo his fellows in the eyes of Cyrus.
(40) But we seem to learn also that Cyrus thought it necessary for the ruler not only to surpass his subjects by his own native worth, but also to charm them through deception and artifice. At any rate he adopted the Median dress, and persuaded his comrades to do likewise; he thought it concealed any bodily defect, enhancing the beauty and stature of the wearer. (41) The shoe, for instance, was so devised that a sole could be added without notice, and the man would seem taller than he really was. So also Cyrus encouraged the use of ointments to make the eyes more brilliant and pigments to make the skin look fairer. (42) And he trained his courtiers never to spit or blow the nose in public or turn aside to stare at anything; they were to keep the stately air of persons whom nothing can surprise. These were all means to one end; to make it impossible for the subjects to despise their rulers.
(43) Thus he moulded the men he considered worthy of command by his own example, by the training he gave them, and by the dignity of his own leadership. But the treatment of those he prepared for slavery was widely different. Not one of them would he incite to any noble toil, he would not even let them carry arms, and he was careful that they should never lack food or drink in any manly sort. (44) When the beaters drove the wild creatures into the plain he would allow food to be brought for the servants, but not for the free men; on a march he would lead the slaves to the water-springs as he led the beasts of burden. Or when it was the hour of breakfast he would wait himself till they had taken a snatch of food and stayed their wolfish hunger; and the end of it was they called him their father even as the nobles did, because he cared for them, but the object of his care was to keep them slaves for ever.
(45) Thus he secured the safety of the Persian empire. He himself, he felt sure, ran no danger from the massages of the conquered people; he saw they had no courage, no unity, and no discipline, and, moreover, not one of them could ever come near him, day or night. (46) But there were others whom he knew to be true warriors, who carried arms, and who held by one another, commanders of horse and foot, many of them men of spirit, confident, as he could plainly see, of their own power to rule, men who were in close touch with his own guards, and many of them in constant intercourse with himself; as indeed was essential if he was to make any use of them at all. It was from them that danger was to be feared; and that in a thousand ways. (47) How was he to guard against it? He rejected the idea of disarming them; he thought this unjust, and that it would lead to the dissolution of the empire. To refuse them admission into his presence, to show them his distrust, would be, he considered, a declaration of war. (48) But there was one method, he felt, worth all the rest, an honourable method and one that would secure his safety absolutely; to win their friendship if he could, and make them more devoted to himself than to each other. I will now endeavour to set forth the methods, so far as I conceive them, by which he gained their love.
(C.2) In the first place he never lost an opportunity of showing kindliness wherever he could, convinced that just as it is not easy to love those who hate us, so it is scarcely possible to feel enmity for those who love us and wish us well. (2) So long as he had lacked the power to confer benefits by wealth, all he could do then was to show his personal care for his comrades and his soldiers, to labour in their behalf, manifest his joy in their good fortune and his sympathy in their sorrows, and try to win them in that way. But when the time came for the gifts of wealth, he realised that of all the kindnesses between man and man none come with a more natural grace than the gifts of meat and drink. (3) Accordingly he arranged that his table should be spread every day for many guests in exactly the same way as for himself; and all that was set before him, after he and his guests had dined, he would send out to his absent friends, in token of affection and remembrance. He would include those who had won his approval by their work on guard, or in attendance on himself, or in any other service, letting them see that no desire to please him could ever escape his eyes. (4) He would show the same honour to any servant he wished to praise; and he had all the food for them placed at his own board, believing this would win their fidelity, as it would a dog's. Or, if he wished some friend of his to be courted by the people, he would single him out for such gifts; even to this day the world will pay court to those who have dishes sent them from the Great King's table, thinking they must be in high favour at the palace and can get things done for others. But no doubt there was another reason for the pleasure in such gifts, and that was the sheer delicious taste of the royal meats. (5) Nor should that surprise us; for if we remember to what a pitch of perfection the other crafts are brought in great communities, we ought to expect the royal dishes to be wonders of finished art. In a small city the same man must make beds and chairs and ploughs and tables, and often build houses as well; and indeed he will be only too glad if he can find enough employers in all trades to keep him. Now it is impossible that a single man working at a dozen crafts can do them all well; but in the great cities, owing to the wide demand for each particular thing, a single craft will suffice for a means of livelihood, and often enough even a single department of that; there are shoe-makers who will only make sandals for men and others only for women. Or one artisan will get his living merely by stitching shoes, another by cutting them out, a third by shaping the upper leathers, and a fourth will do nothing but fit the parts together. Necessarily the man who spends all his time and trouble on the smallest task will do that task the best. (6) The arts of the household must follow the same law. If one and the same servant makes the bed, spreads the table, kneads the dough, and cooks the various dishes, the master must take things as they come, there is no help for it. But when there is work enough for one man to boil the pot, and another to roast the meat, and a third to stew the fish, and a fourth to fry it, while some one else must bake the bread, and not all of it either, for the loaves must be of different kinds, and it will be quite enough if the baker can serve up one kind to perfection—it is obvious, I think, that in this way a far higher standard of excellence will be attained in every branch of the work.
(7) Thus it is easy to see how Cyrus could outdo all competitors in the grace of hospitality, and I will now explain how he came to triumph in all other services. Far as he excelled mankind in the scale of his revenues, he excelled them even more in the grandeur of his gifts. It was Cyrus who set the fashion; and we are familiar to this day with the open-handedness of Oriental kings. (8) There is no one, indeed, in all the world whose friends are seen to be as wealthy as the friends of the Persian monarch: no one adorns his followers in such splendour of rich attire, no gifts are so well known as his, the bracelets, and the necklaces, and the chargers with the golden bridles. For in that country no one can have such treasures unless the king has given them. (9) And of whom but the Great King could it be said that through the splendour of his presents he could steal the hearts of men and turn them to himself, away from brothers, fathers, sons? Who but he could stretch out an arm and take vengeance on his enemies when yet they were months and months away? Who but Cyrus ever won an empire in war, and when he died was called father by the people he overcame?—a title that proclaims the benefactor and not the robber. (10) Indeed, we are led to think that the offices called "the king's eyes" and "the king's ears" came into being through this system of gifts and honours. Cyrus' munificence toward all who told him what it was well for him to know set countless people listening with all their ears and watching with all their eyes for news that might be of service to him. (11) Thus there sprang up a host of "king's eyes" and "king's ears," as they were called, known and reputed to be such. But it is a mistake to suppose that the king has one chosen "eye." It is little that one man can see or one man hear, and to hand over the office to one single person would be to bid all others go to sleep. Moreover, his subjects would feel they must be on their guard before the man they knew was "the king's eye." The contrary is the case; the king will listen to any man who asserts that he has heard or seen anything that needs attention. (12) Hence the saying that the king has a thousand eyes and a thousand ears; and hence the fear of uttering anything against his interest since "he is sure to hear," or doing anything that might injure him "since he may be there to see." So far, therefore, from venturing to breathe a syllable against Cyrus, every man felt that he was under the eye and within the hearing of a king who was always present. For this universal feeling towards him I can give no other reason than his resolve to be a benefactor on a most mighty scale.
(13) It is not surprising, no doubt, that being the wealthiest of men, he could outdo the world in the splendour of his gifts. The remarkable thing was to find a king outstrip his courtiers in courtesy and kindness. There was nothing, so the story runs, that could ever shame him more than to be outdone in courtesy. (14) Indeed, a saying of his is handed down comparing a good king to a good shepherd—the shepherd must manage his flock by giving them all they need, and the king must satisfy the needs of his cities and his subjects if he is to manage them. We need not wonder, then, that with such opinions his ambition was to excel mankind in courtesy and care. (15) There was a noble illustration of his philosophy in the answer we are told he gave to Croesus, who had taken him to task, saying his lavish gifts would bring him to beggary, although he could lay by more treasures for himself than any man had ever had before. Cyrus, it is said, asked him in return, "How much wealth do you suppose I could have amassed already, had I collected gold, as you bid me, ever since I came into my empire?"
(16) And Croesus named an enormous sum. Then Cyrus said, "Listen, Croesus, here is my friend, Hystaspas, and you must send with him a man that you can trust." Then, turning to Hystaspas, "Do you," he said, "go round to my friends and tell them that I need money for a certain enterprise—and that is true, I do need it. Bid each of them write down the amount he can give me, seal the letter, and hand it to the messenger of Croesus, who will bring it here." (17) Thereupon Cyrus wrote his wishes and put his seal on the letter, and gave it to Hystaspas to carry round, only he added a request that they should all welcome Hystaspas as a friend of his. And when the messengers came back, the officer of Croesus carrying the answers, Hystaspas cried, "Cyrus, my lord, you must know I am a rich man now! I have made my fortune, thanks to your letter! They have loaded me with gifts." (18) And Cyrus said, "There, Croesus, that is treasure number one; and now run through the rest, and count what sums I have in hand, in case I need them." And Croesus counted, and found, so the story tells us, that the sum was far larger than the amount he had said would have been lying in the treasury if only Cyrus had made a hoard. (19) At this discovery Cyrus said, so we are told, "You see, Croesus, I have my treasures too. Only you advise me to collect them and hide them, and be envied and hated because of them, and set mercenaries to guard them, putting my trust in hirelings. But I hold to it that if I make my friends rich they will be my treasures themselves, and far better guards too, for me and all we have, than if I set hired watchmen over my wealth. (20) And I have somewhat else to say; I tell you, Croesus, there is something the gods have implanted in our souls, and there they have made us all beggars alike, something I can never overcome. (21) I too, like all the rest, am insatiate of riches, only in one respect I fancy I am different. Most men when they have more wealth than they require bury some of it underground, and let some of it rot, and some they count and measure, and they guard it and they air it, and give themselves a world of trouble, and yet for all their wealth they cannot eat more than they have stomach for—they would burst asunder if they did—nor wear more clothes than they can carry—they would die of suffocation—and so their extra wealth means nothing but extra work. (22) For my part, I serve the gods, and I stretch out my hands for more and more; only when I have got what is beyond my own requirements I piece out the wants of my friends, and so, helping my fellows, I purchase their love and their goodwill, and out of these I garner security and renown, fruits that can never rot, rich meats that can work no mischief; for glory, the more it grows, the grander it becomes, and the fairer, and the lighter to be borne; it even gives a lighter step to those who bear it. (23) One thing more, Croesus, I would have you know; the happiest men, in my judgment, are not the holders of vast riches and the masters who have the most to guard; else the sentinels of our citadels would be the happiest of mortals, seeing they guard the whole wealth of the state. He, I hold, has won the crown of happiness who has had the skill to gain wealth by the paths of righteousness and use it for all that is honourable and fair."
(24) That was the doctrine Cyrus preached, and all men could see that his practice matched his words.
Moreover, he observed that the majority of mankind, if they live in good health for long, will only lay by such stores and requisites as may be used by a healthy man, and hardly care at all to have appliances at hand in case of sickness. But Cyrus was at the pains to provide these; he encouraged the ablest physicians of the day by his liberal payments, and if ever they recommended an instrument or a drug or a special kind of food or drink, he never failed to procure it and have it stored in the palace.
(25) And whenever any one fell sick among those who had peculiar claims on his attentions, he would visit them and bring them all they needed, and he showed especial gratitude to the doctors if they cured their patients by the help of his own stores. (26) These measures, and others like them, he adopted to win the first place in the hearts of those whose friendship he desired. Moreover, the contests he proclaimed and the prizes he offered to awaken ambition and desire for gallant deeds all redounded to his own glory as a man who had the pursuit of nobleness at heart, while they bred strife and bitter rivalry among the champions themselves. (27) Further, he laid it down that in every matter needing arbitration, whether it were a suit-at-law or a trial of skill, the parties should concur in their choice of a judge. Each would try to secure the most powerful man he knew and the one most friendly to himself, and if he lost he envied his successful rival and hated the judge who had declared against him, while the man who won claimed to win because his case was just and felt he owed no gratitude to anybody. (28) Thus all who wished to be first in the affections of Cyrus, just as others in democratic states, were full of rancour against each other, in fact most of them would sooner have seen their rivals exterminated than join with them for any common good. Such are some of the devices by which he made the ablest of his subjects more attached to himself than to one another.
(C.3) I will now describe the first public progress that Cyrus made. For the very solemnity of the ceremony was one of the artifices by which he won reverence for his government. The day before it he summoned the officers of state, the Persians and the others, and gave them all the splendid Median dress. This was the first time the Persians wore it, and as they received the robes he said that he wished to drive in his chariot to the sacred precincts and offer sacrifice with them. (2) "You will present yourselves at my gates," he added, "before the sun rises, attired in these robes, and you will take your places where Pheraulas the Persian bids you on my behalf. As soon as I lead the way you will follow in your appointed order. And if any of you should think of some change to heighten the beauty and stateliness of our procession, you will acquaint me with it, I pray, on our return; it is for us to see that all is done in the manner you feel to be most beautiful and best."
(3) With that Cyrus gave the most splendid robes to his chief notables, and then he brought out others, for he had stores of Median garments, purple and scarlet and crimson and glowing red, and gave a share to each of his generals and said to them, "Adorn your friends, as I have adorned you." (4) Then one of them asked him, "And you, O Cyrus, when will you adorn yourself?" But he answered, "Is it not adornment enough for me to have adorned you? If I can but do good to my friends, I shall look glorious enough, whatever robe I wear."
(5) So his nobles took their leave, and sent for their friends and put the splendid raiment on them. Meanwhile Cyrus summoned Pheraulas, knowing that, while he was a man of the people, he was also quick-witted, a lover of the beautiful, prompt to understand and to obey, and one who had ever an eye to please his master. It was he who had supported Cyrus long ago when he proposed that honour should be given in proportion to desert. And now Cyrus asked him how he thought the procession might be made most beautiful in the eyes of friends and most formidable in the sight of foes. (6) So they took counsel and were of the same mind, and Cyrus bade Pheraulas see that all was done on the morrow as they had agreed.
"I have issued orders," he added, "for all to obey you in the matter, but to make them the more willing, take these tunics yourself and give them to the captains of the guard, and these military cloaks for the cavalry officers, and these tunics for those who command the chariots."
(7) So Pheraulas took the raiment and departed, and when the generals saw him, they met him with shouts and cries, "A monstrous fine fellow you are, Pheraulas!" said one: "you are to give us our orders, it seems!"
"Oh, yes," said Pheraulas, "and carry your baggage too. Here I come with two cloaks as it is, one for you and another for somebody else: you must choose whichever you like the best."
(8) At that the officer put out his hand to take the cloak; he had clean forgotten his jealousy, and fell to asking Pheraulas which he had better choose. And Pheraulas gave his advice, adding, "But if you inform against me, and let out that I gave you the choice, the next time I have to wait upon you you will find me a very different sort of serving-man."
Thus he distributed the gifts he brought, and then he saw to the arrangements for the procession so that everything should be as far as possible.
(9) On the morrow all things were ready before day-break, ranks lining the road on either hand, as they do to this day when the king is expected to ride abroad—no one may pass within the lines unless he is a man of mark—and constables were posted with whips, to use at any sign of disturbance.
In front of the palace stood the imperial guard of lancers, four thousand strong, drawn up four deep on either side of the gates. (10) And all the cavalry were there, the men standing beside their horses, with their hands wrapped in their cloaks, as is the custom to this day for every subject when the king's eye is on him. The Persians stood on the right, and the allies on the left, and the chariots were posted in the same way, half on one side and half on the other. (11) Presently the palace-gates were flung open, and at the head of the procession were led out the bulls for sacrifice, beautiful creatures, four and four together. They were to be offered to Zeus and to any other gods that the Persian priests might name. For the Persians think it of more importance to follow the guidance of the learned in matters pertaining to the gods than in anything else whatever.
(12) After the oxen came horses, an offering to the Sun, then a white chariot with a golden yoke, hung with garlands and dedicated to Zeus, and after that the white car of the Sun, wreathed like the one before it, and then a third chariot, the horses of which were caparisoned with scarlet trappings, and behind walked men carrying fire upon a mighty hearth. (13) And then at last Cyrus himself was seen, coming forth from the gates in his chariot, wearing his tiara on his head, and a purple tunic shot with white, such as none but the king may wear, and trews of scarlet, and a cloak of purple. Round his tiara he wore a diadem, and his kinsmen wore the same, even as the custom is to this day. (14) And the king's hands hung free outside his cloak. Beside him stood a charioteer—he was a tall man, but he seemed to be dwarfed by Cyrus; whether it was really so, or whether there was some artifice at work, Cyrus towered above him. At the sight of the king, the whole company fell on their faces. Perhaps some had been ordered to do this and so set the fashion, or perhaps the multitude were really overcome by the splendour of the pageant and the sight of Cyrus himself, stately and tall and fair. (15) For hitherto none of the Persians had done obeisance to Cyrus.
And now, as the chariot moved onwards, the four thousand lancers went before it, two thousand on either side, and close behind came the mace-bearers, mounted on horseback, with javelins in their hands, three hundred strong. (16) Then the royal steeds were led past, with golden bridles and striped housings, two hundred and more, and then followed two thousand spearmen and after them the squadron of cavalry first formed, ten thousand men, a hundred deep and a hundred riding abreast, with Chrysantas at their head. (17) And behind them the second body of the Persian horse, ten thousand more, in the same order, under Hystaspas, and then again ten thousand under Datamas, and others behind them under Gadatas. (18) And after them the Median cavalry, and then the Armenians, the Hyrcanians, the Cadousians, and the Sakians in their order; and after the cavalry a squadron of war-chariots, drawn up four deep, with Artabatas the Persian in command.
(19) All along the route thousands of men followed, outside the barriers, with petitions to Cyrus. Accordingly he sent his mace-bearers, who rode beside him for the purpose, three on either side of his chariot, bidding them tell the crowd of suitors, if they had need of anything, to acquaint one of the cavalry officers and he would speak for them. So the petitioners withdrew, and fell to marching along the lines of the cavalry, considering whom they should address. (20) Cyrus meanwhile would send messengers to the friends he wished to be courted, saying to them, "If any man appeals to you and you think nothing of what he says, pay no heed to him, but if his request seems just, report it to me, and we will discuss it together and arrange matters for him." (21) As a rule the officers so summoned did not loiter, but dashed up at full speed, glad to enhance the authority of Cyrus and to show their own allegiance. But there was a certain Daïpharnes, a person of somewhat boorish manners, who fancied that he would make a show of greater independence if he did not hurry himself. (22) Cyrus noted this, and quietly, before the man could reach him, sent another messenger to say he had no further need of him; and that was the last time Daïpharnes was ever summoned. (23) And when the next officer rode up, in front of Daïpharnes though sent for after him, Cyrus presented him with a horse from his train and bade one of the mace-bearers lead it wherever he wished. The people saw in this a high mark of honour; and a greater crowd than ever paid their court to the favoured man.
(24) When the procession reached the sacred precincts, sacrifice was offered to Zeus, a whole burnt-offering of bulls, and a whole burnt-offering of horses to the Sun; and then they sacrificed to the Earth, slaying the victims as the Persian priests prescribed, and then to the heroes who hold the Syrian land. (25) And when the rites were done, Cyrus, seeing that the ground was suitable for racing, marked out a goal, and a course half-a-mile in length, and bade the cavalry and the chariots match their horses against each other, tribe by tribe. He himself raced among his Persians, and won with ease, for he was far the best horseman there. The winner among the Medes was Artabazus, the horse he rode being a gift from Cyrus. The Syrian race was won by their chieftain, the Armenian by Tigranes, the Hyrcanian by the general's son, and the Sakian by a private soldier who left all his rivals half the course behind him.
(26) Cyrus, so the story says, asked the young man if he would take a kingdom for his horse.
"No kingdom for me," answered the soldier, "but I would take the thanks of a gallant fellow."
(27) "Well," said Cyrus, "I would like to show you where you could hardly fail to hit one, even if you shut your eyes."
"Be so good as to show me now," said the Sakian, "and I will take aim with this clod," picking up one from the ground.
(28) Then Cyrus pointed to a group of his best friends, and the other shut his eyes and flung the clod, and it struck Pheraulas as he galloped by, bearing some message from Cyrus. But he never so much as turned, flashing past on his errand. (29) Then the Sakian opened his eyes and asked whom he had hit?
"Nobody, I assure you," said Cyrus, "who is here."
"And nobody who is not, of course," said the young man.
"Oh yes, you did," answered Cyrus, "you hit that officer over there who is riding so swiftly paste the chariot-lines."
(30) "And how is it," asked the other, "that he does not even turn his head?"
"Half-witted, probably," said Cyrus.
Whereat the young man rode off to see who it was, and found Pheraulas, with his chin and beard all begrimed and bloody, gore trickling from his nostrils were the clod had struck him. (31) The Sakian cried out to know if he was hit.
"As you see," answered Pheraulas.
"Then," said the other, "let me give you my horse."
"But why?" asked Pheraulas.
And so the Sakian had to tell him all about the matter, adding, "And after all, you see, I did not miss a gallant fellow."
(32) "Ah," said Pheraulas, "if you had been wise, you would have chosen a richer one; but I take your gift with all my thanks. And I pray the gods," he added, "who let me be your target, to help me now and see that you may never regret your gift. For the present, mount my horse yourself and ride back; I will be with you shortly."
So they exchanged steeds and parted.
The winner of the Cadousian race was Rathines.
(33) Then followed chariot-races, tribe by tribe as before: and to all the winners Cyrus gave goblets of price, and oxen, that they might have the wherewithal for sacrifice and feasting. He himself took an ox for his own meed, but he gave all the goblets to Pheraulas to show his approval of the arrangements for the march. (34) And the manner of that procession, then first established by Cyrus, continues to this day, the same in all things, save that the victims are absent when there is no sacrifice. And when it was over, the soldiers went back to the city, and took up their quarters for the night, some in houses and some with their regiments.
(35) Now Pheraulas had invited the Sakian who had given him the horse, and he entertained him with the best he had, and set before him a full board, and after they had dined he filled the goblets Cyrus had given him, and drank to his guest, and offered them all to him. (36) And the Sakian looked round on the rich and costly rugs, and the beautiful furniture, and the train of servants, and cried:
"Tell me, Pheraulas, do you belong to wealthy folk at home?"
(37) "Wealthy folk indeed!" cried Pheraulas, "men who live by their hands, you mean. My father, I can tell you, had work enough to rear me and get me a boy's schooling; he had to toil hard and live sparely, and when I grew to be a lad he could not afford to keep me idle, he took me to a farm in the country and set me there to work it. (38) Then it was my turn, and I supported him while he lived, digging with my own hands and sowing the seed in a ridiculous little plot of ground, and yet it was not a bad bit of soil either, but as good and as honest earth as ever you saw: whatever seed it got from me, it paid me back again, and so prettily and carefully and duly, principal and interest both; not that the interest was very much, I won't say it was, though once or twice, out of pure generosity, that land gave me twice was much as I put into it. That's how I used to live at home, in the old days: to-day it's different, and all that you see here I owe to Cyrus."
(39) Then the Sakian cried:
"O lucky fellow! Lucky in everything, and most of all in coming to wealth from beggary! I know your riches must taste the sweeter, because you hungered for them first and now are full."
(40) But Pheraulas answered:
"Do you really think, my friend, that my joy in life has grown with the growth of my wealth? Do you not know," he went on, "that I neither eat nor drink nor sleep with any more zest than I did when I was poor? What I get by all these goods is simply this: I have more to watch over, more to distribute, and more trouble in looking after more. (41) I have a host of servants now, one set asking me for food, another for drink, another for clothing, and some must have the doctor, and then a herdsman comes, carrying the carcase of some poor sheep mangled by the wolves, or perhaps with an ox that has fallen down a precipice, or maybe he has to tell me that a murrain has broken out among my flocks. It seems to me," Pheraulas ended, "that I suffer more to-day through having much than ever I did before through having nothing."
(42) "But—Heaven help us!" cried the Sakian, "surely, when it is all safe, to see so much of your own must make you much happier than me?"
"I assure you, my friend," said Pheraulas, "the possession of riches is nothing like so sweet as the loss of them is painful. And here is a proof for you: no rich man lies awake from pure joy at his wealth, but did you ever know a man who could close his eyes when he was losing?"
(43) "No," said the Sakian, "nor yet one who could drop asleep when he was winning."
(44) "True enough," answered the other, "and if having were as sweet as getting, the rich would be a thousand times more happy than the poor. And remember, stranger," he added, "a man who has much must spend much on the gods and his friends and his guests, and if he takes intense delight in his riches, spending will cause him intense annoyance."
(45) "Upon my word," said the Sakian, "for myself, I am not that sort of man at all: to have much and to spend much is just my idea of perfect happiness."
(46) "Heavens!" cried Pheraulas, "what a chance for us both! You can win perfect happiness now, this instant, and make me happy too! Here, take all these things for your own, make what use of them you please; and as for me, you can keep me as your guest, only much more cheaply if you like: it will be quite enough for me to share whatever you have yourself."
"You are jesting," said the Sakian.
(47) But Pheraulas swore with all solemnity that he spoke in earnest.
"Yes, my friend," he added, "and there are other matters that I can arrange for you with Cyrus: freedom from military service or attendance at the gates. All you will have to do will be to stay at home and grow rich: I will do the rest on your behalf and mine. And if I win any treasure through my service at court or on the field, I will bring it home to you, and you will be lord of more; only," he added, "you must free me from the responsibility of looking after it, for if you give me leisure from these cares I believe you will be of great use to Cyrus and myself."
(48) So the talk ended and they struck a bargain on these terms, and kept it. And the Sakian thought he had found happiness because he was the master of much wealth, and the other felt he was in bliss because he had got a steward who would leave him leisure to do what he liked best. (49) For the character of Pheraulas was amiable: he was a loving comrade, and no service seemed so sweet to him or so helpful as the service of man. Man, he believed, was the noblest of the animals and the most grateful: praise, Pheraulas saw, will reap counter-praise, kindness will stir kindness in return, and goodwill goodwill; those whom men know to love them they cannot hate, and, in a way no other animals will, they cherish their parents in life and in death and requite their care. All other creatures, in short, compared with man, are lacking in gratitude and heart.
(50) Thus Pheraulas was overjoyed to feel that he could now be quit of anxiety for his wealth, and devote himself to his friends, while the Sakian was delighted with all that he had and all that he could use. The Sakian loved Pheraulas because he was for ever adding something to the store, and Pheraulas loved the Sakian because he was willing to assume the entire burden, and however much the cares increased he never broke into the other's leisure. Thus those two lived their lives.
(C.4) Now Cyrus offered sacrifice and held high festival for his victories, and he summoned to the feast those of his friends who bore him most affection and had shown most desire to exalt him. With them were bidden Artabazus the Mede, and Tigranes the Armenian, and the commander of the Hyrcanian cavalry, and Gobryas. (2) Gadatas was the chief of the mace-bearers, and the whole household was arranged as he advised. When there were guests at dinner, Gadatas would not sit down, but saw to everything, and when they were alone he sat at meat with Cyrus, who took delight in his company, and in return for all his services he was greatly honoured by Cyrus and that led to more honours for others. (3) As the guests entered, Gadatas would show each man to his seat, and the places were chosen with care: the friend whom Cyrus honoured most was placed on his left hand (for that was the side most open to attack), the second on his right, the third next to the left-hand guest, and the fourth next to the right, and so on, whatever the number of guests might be. (4) Cyrus thought it well it should be known how much each man was honoured, for he saw that where the world believes merit will win no crown and receive no proclamation, there the spirit of emulation dies, but if all see that the best man gains most, then the rivalry grows keen. (5) Thus it was that Cyrus marked out the men he favoured by the seat of honour and the order of precedence. Nor did he assign the honourable place to one friend for all time; he made it a law that by good deeds a man might rise into a higher seat or through sloth descend into a lower; and he would have felt ashamed if it were not known that the guest most honoured at his table received most favours at his hands. These customs that arose in the reign of Cyrus continue to our time, as we can testify.
(6) While they were at the feast that day it struck Gobryas that though there was nothing surprising in the abundance and variety at the table of one who was lord over so vast an empire, yet it was strange that Cyrus, who had done such mighty deeds, should never keep any dainty for himself, but must always be at pains to share it with the company. More than once also he saw Cyrus send off to an absent friend some dish that had chanced to please him. (7) So that by the time they had finished their meal all the viands had been given away by Cyrus, and the board was bare.
Then Gobryas said, "Truly, Cyrus, until to-day I used to think it was in generalship that you outshone other men the most, but, by heaven! I say now it is not in generalship at all, it is generosity."
(8) "Maybe," said Cyrus, "at least I take far more pride in this work than in the other."
"How can that be?" asked Gobryas.
"Because," said he, "the one does good to man and the other injury."
(9) Presently as the wine went round and round, Hystaspas turned to Cyrus and said:
"Would you be angry, Cyrus, if I asked something I long to know?"
"On the contrary," answered Cyrus, "I should be vexed if I saw you silent when you longed to ask."
"Tell me then," said the other, "have you ever called me and found I refused to come?"
"What a question!" said Cyrus, "of course not."
"Well, have I ever been slow in coming?"
"No, never."
"Or failed to do anything you ordered?"
"No," said Cyrus, "I have no fault to find at all."
"Whatever I had to do, I always did it eagerly and with all my heart, did I not?"
"Most assuredly," answered Cyrus.
(10) "Then why, Cyrus, why, in heaven's name, have you singled out Chrysantas for a more honourable seat than me?"
"Shall I really tell you?" asked Cyrus in his turn.
"By all means," said the other.
"And you will not be annoyed if I tell you the plain truth?"
(11) "On the contrary, it will comfort me to know I have not been wronged."
"Well, then, Chrysantas never waited to be called; he came of his own accord on our behalf, and he made it his business to do, not merely what he was ordered, but whatever he thought would help us. When something had to be said to the allies, he would not only suggest what was fitting for me to say myself, he would guess what I wanted the allies to know but could not bring myself to utter, since it was about myself, and he would say it for me as though it were his own opinion; in fact, for everything of the kind he was nothing less to me than a second and a better self. And now he is always insisting that what he has already got is quite enough for himself, and always trying to discover something more for me: he takes a greater pride and joy in all my triumphs than I do myself."
(12) "By Hera," said Hystaspas, "I am right glad I asked you. Only one thing puzzles me: how am I to show my joy at your success? Shall I clap my hands and laugh, or what shall I do?"
"Dance the Persian dance, of course," said Artabazus. And all the company laughed.
(13) And as the drinking deepened Cyrus put a question to Gobryas.
"Tell me, Gobryas, would you be better pleased to give your daughter to one of our company to-day than the day when you met us first?"
"Well," said Gobryas, "am I also to tell the truth?"
"Certainly," said Cyrus, "no question looks for a lie."
"Then," said Gobryas, "I assure you, I would far rather give her in marriage to-day."
"Can you tell us why?" said Cyrus.
"That I can," said he.
(14) "Say on, then."
"At that time, I saw, it is true, the gallant manner in which your men endured toil and danger, but to-day I see the modesty with which they bear success. And I believe, Cyrus, that the man who takes good-fortune well is further to seek than he who can endure adversity; for success engenders insolence in many hearts, while suffering teaches sobriety and fortitude."
(15) And Cyrus said, "Hystaspas, did you hear the saying of Gobryas?"
"I did indeed," he answered, "and if he has many more as good, he will find me a suitor for his daughter, a far more eager one than if he had shown me all his goblets."
(16) "Well," said Gobryas, "I have many such written down at home, and you may have them all if you take my daughter to wife. And as for goblets," he added, "since it seems you cannot away with them, perhaps I might give them to Chrysantas to punish him for having filled your seat."
(17) "Listen to me," said Cyrus, "Hystaspas, and all of you. If you will but tell me, any of you, when you propose to marry, you would soon discover what a clever advocate you had in me."
(18) But Gobryas interposed, "And if one of us wants to give his daughter in marriage, to whom should he apply?"
"To me also," answered Cyrus; "I assure you, I am adept in the art."
"What art is that?" Chrysantas inquired.
(19) "The art of discerning the wife to suit each man."
"Then by all the gods," said Chrysantas, "tell me what sort of wife would do for me?"
(20) "In the first place," he answered, "she must be short, for you are not tall yourself, and if you married a tall maiden and wanted to give her a kiss when she stood up straight, you would have to jump to reach her like a little dog."
"Your advice is straight enough," said Chrysantas; "and I am but a sorry jumper at the best."
(21) "In the next place," Cyrus went on, "a flat nose would suit you very well."
"A flat nose?" said the other, "why?"
"Because your own is high enough, and flatness, you may be sure, will go best with height."
"You might as well say," retorted Chrysantas, "that one who has dined well, like myself, is best matched with the dinnerless."
"Quite so," answered Cyrus, "a full stomach is high and an empty paunch is flat."
(22) "And now," said Chrysantas, "in heaven's name, tell us the bride for a flat king?"
But at this Cyrus laughed outright, and all the others with him. (23) And the laughter still rang loud when Hystaspas said:
"There is one thing, Cyrus, that I envy in your royal state more than all the rest."
"And what is that?" said Cyrus.
"That though you are flat, you can raise a laugh."
"Ah," said Cyrus, "what would you give to have as much said of you? To have it reported on all sides and wherever you wished to stand well that you were a man of wit?"
Thus they bantered each other and gave jest for jest.
(24) Then Cyrus brought out a woman's attire and ornaments of price and gave them to Tigranes as a present for his wife, because she had followed her husband so manfully to the war, and he gave a golden goblet to Artabazus, and a horse to the Hyrcanian leader, and many another splendid gift among the company.
"And to you, Gobryas," said he, "I will give a husband for your daughter."
(25) "Let me be the gift," said Hystaspas, "and then I shall get those writings."
"But have you a fortune on your side," asked Cyrus, "to match the bride's?"
"Certainly, I have," he answered, "I may say twenty times as great."
"And where," asked Cyrus, "may those treasures be?"
"At the foot of your throne," he answered, "my gracious lord."
"I ask no more," said Gobryas, and held out his right hand. "Give him to me, Cyrus," he said; "I accept him."
(26) At that Cyrus took the right hand of Hystaspas and laid it in the hand of Gobryas, and the pledge was given and received. Then Cyrus gave beautiful gifts to Hystaspas for his bride, but he drew Chrysantas to his breast and kissed him. (27) Thereupon Artabazus cried:
"Heaven help us, Cyrus! The goblet you gave me is not of the fine gold you have given Chrysantas now!"
"Well," said Cyrus, "you shall have the same one day."
"When?" asked the other.
"Thirty years hence," said Cyrus.
"I will wait," said Artabazus: "I will not die: be ready for me."
And then the banquet came to an end: the guests rose, and Cyrus stood up with them and conducted them to the door.
(28) But on the morrow he arranged that all the allies and all who had volunteered should be sent back to their homes, all except those who wished to take up their abode with him. To these he gave grants of land and houses, still held by their descendants, Medes for the greater part, and Hyrcanians. And to those who went home he gave many gifts and sent them away well content, both officers and men. (29) After this he distributed among his own soldiers all the wealth he had taken at Sardis, choice gifts for the captains of ten thousand and for his own staff in proportion to their deserts, and the rest in equal shares, delivering to every captain one share with orders to divide it among their subordinates as he had divided the whole among them. (30) Thereupon each officer gave to the officers directly under him, judging the worth of each, until it came to the captains of six, who considered the cases of the privates in their own squads, and gave each man what he deserved: and thus every soldier in the army received an equitable share. (31) But after the distribution of it all there were some who said:
"How rich Cyrus must be, to have given us all so much!"
"Rich?" cried others, "what do you mean? Cyrus is no money-maker: he is more glad to give than to get."
(32) When Cyrus heard of this talk and the opinions held about him, he gathered together his friends and the chief men of the state and spoke as follows:
"Gentlemen and friends of mine, I have known men who were anxious to have it thought they possessed more than they really had, thinking this would give them an air of freedom and nobility. But in my opinion the result was the very opposite of what they wished. If it is thought that a man has great riches and does not help his friends in proportion to his wealth, he cannot but appear ignoble and niggardly. (33) There are others," he went on, "who would have their wealth forgotten, and these I look upon as traitors to their friends: for it must often happen that a comrade is in need and yet hesitates to tell them because he does not know how much they have, and so he is kept in the dark and left to starve. (34) The straightforward course, it seems to me, is always to make no secret of our own resources, but to use them all, whatever they are, in our efforts to win the crown of honour. Accordingly I am anxious to show you all my possessions so far as they can be seen, and to give you a list of the rest."
(35) With these words he proceeded to point out his visible treasures, and he gave an exact account of those that could not be shown. He ended by saying:
(36) "All these things, gentlemen, you must consider yours as much as mine. I have collected them, not that I might spend them on myself or waste them in my own use: I could not do that if I tried. I keep them to reward him who does a noble deed, and to help any of you who may be in want of anything, so that you may come to me and take what ou require."
Such were the words of Cyrus.
(C.5) But now that all was well in Babylon and Cyrus felt he might leave the land, he began to prepare for a march to Persia, and sent out orders to his men. And when he had all he needed, the steeds were yoked, and he set off. (2) And here we will explain how it was that so vast a host could unpack and pack again without a break of order, and take up a position with such speed wherever it was desired. When the king is on the march his attendants, of course, are provided with tents and encamp with him, winter and summer alike. (3) From the first the Cyrus made it a custom to have his tent pitched facing east, and later on he fixed the space to be left between himself and his lancers, and then he stationed his bakers on the right and his cooks on the left, the cavalry on the right again, and the baggage-train on the left. Everything else was so arranged that each man knew his own quarters, their position and their size. (4) When the army was packing up after a halt, each man put together the baggage he used himself, and others placed it on the animals: so that at one and the same moment all his bearers came to the baggage-train and each man laid his load on his own beasts. Thus all the tents could be struck in the same time as one. (5) And it was the same when the baggage had to be unpacked. Again, in order that the necessaries should be prepared in time, each man was told beforehand what he had to do: and thus all the divisions could be provided for as speedily as one. (6) And, just as the serving-men had their appointed places, so the different regiments had their own stations, adapted to their special style of fighting, and each detachment knew their quarters and went to them without hesitation. (7) Even in a private house, orderliness, Cyrus knew, was a most excellent thing: every one, if he needed anything, would then know where to get it; but he held it still more desirable for the arrangement of an army, seeing that the moment for action passes far more quickly in war and the evil from being too late is far more grave. Therefore he gave more thought and care to order and arrangement than to anything else.
(8) His own position, to begin with, must be at the centre of the camp, as this was the safest place, and next to him must come his most faithful followers, as their habit was. Beyond these, in a ring, lay the cavalry and the charioteers. (9) For Cyrus held to it that these troops also needed a safe position: their equipment could not be kept at hand for them, and if they were to be of any use at all they needed considerable time for arming. (10) The targeteers were placed to left and right of the cavalry, and the bowmen in front and rear. (11) Finally, the heavy-armed troops and those who carried the huge shields surrounded the whole encampment like a wall; so that in case of need, if the cavalry had to mount, the steadiest troops would stand firm in front and let them arm in safety. (12) He insisted that the targeteers and archers should, like the soldiers of the line, sleep at their posts, in case of alarm at night, and be ready at any moment, while the infantry dealt with the assailant at close quarters, to hurl darts and javelins at them over the others' heads. (13) Moreover, all the generals had standards on their tents; and just as an intelligent serving-man in a city will know most of the houses, at any rate of the most important people, so the squires of Cyrus knew the ways of the camp and the quarters of the generals and the standards of each. Thus, if Cyrus needed any one they had not to search and seek, but could run by the shortest road and summon him at once. (14) Owing to this clear arrangement, it was easy to see where good discipline was kept and where duty was neglected. With these dispositions Cyrus felt that if an attack should be made, by night or day, the enemy would find not so much a camp as an ambuscade. (15) Nor was it enough, he considered, for a real master of tactics to know how to extend his front without confusion, or deepen his ranks, or get from column into line, or wheel round quickly when the enemy appeared on the right or the left or in the rear: the true tactician must also be able to break up his troops into small bodies, whenever necessary, and place each division exactly where it would be of the greatest use; he must know how to quicken speed when it was essential to forestall the enemy; these and a hundred other operations are part of his science, and Cyrus studied them all with equal care. (16) On the march he varied the order constantly to suit the needs of the moment, but for the camp, as a rule, he adopted the plan we have described.
(17) And now when the march had brought them into Media, Cyrus turned aside to visit Cyaxares. After they had met and embraced, Cyrus began by telling Cyaxares that a palace in Babylon, and an estate, had been set aside for him so that he might have a residence of his own whenever he came there, and he offered him other gifts, most rich and beautiful. (18) And Cyaxares was glad to take them from his nephew, and then he sent for his daughter, and she came, carrying a golden crown, and bracelets, and a necklace of wrought gold, and a most beautiful Median robe, as splendid as could be. (19) The maiden placed the crown upon the head of Cyrus, and as she did so Cyaxares said: