Cyropaedia: The Education of Cyrus Part 21

[57] When Chrysantas had spoken thus, many others followed him, and all to the same effect. And so it came about that Cyrus entered the palace, and those in charge brought the treasures from Sardis thither, and handed them over. And Cyrus when he entered sacrificed to Hestia, the G.o.ddess of the Hearth, and to Zeus the Lord, and to any other G.o.ds named by the Persian priests.

[58] This done, he set himself to regulate the matters that remained.

Thinking over his position, and the attempt he was making to govern an enormous mult.i.tude, preparing at the same time to take up his abode in the greatest of all famous cities, but yet a city that was as hostile to him as a city could be, pondering all this, he concluded that he could not dispense with a bodyguard for himself. [59] He knew well enough that a man can most easily be a.s.sa.s.sinated at his meals, or in his bath, or in bed, or when he is asleep, and he asked himself who were most to be trusted of those he had about him. A man, he believed, can never be loyal or trustworthy who is likely to love another more than the one who requires his guardianship. [60] He knew that men with children, or wives, or favourites in whom they delight, must needs love them most: while eunuchs, who are deprived of all such dear ones, would surely make most account of him who could enrich them, or help them if they were injured, or crown them with honour. And in the conferring of such benefits he was disposed to think he could outbid the world. [61]

Moreover the eunuch, being degraded in the eyes of other men, is driven to seek the a.s.sistance of some lord and master. Without some such protection there is not a man in the world who would not think he had the right to over-reach a eunuch: while there was every reason to suppose that the eunuch would be the most faithful of all servants. [62]

As for the customary notion that the eunuch must be weak and cowardly, Cyrus was not disposed to accept it. He studied the indications to be observed in animals: a vicious horse, if gelded, will cease to bite and be restive, but he will charge as gallantly as ever; a bull that has been cut will become less fierce and less intractable, but he will not lose his strength, he will be as good as ever for work; castration may cure a dog of deserting his master, but it will not ruin him as a watch-dog or spoil him for the chase. [63] So, too, with men; when cut off from this pa.s.sion, they become gentler, no doubt, but not less quick to obey, not less daring as hors.e.m.e.n, not less skilful with the javelin, not less eager for honour. [64] In war and in the chase they show plainly enough that the fire of ambition is still burning in their hearts. And they have stood the last test of loyalty in the downfall of their masters. No men have shown more faithfulness than eunuchs when ruin has fallen on their lords. [65] In bodily strength, perhaps, the eunuchs seem to be lacking, but steel is a great leveller, and makes the weak man equal to the strong in war. Holding this in mind, Cyrus resolved that his personal attendants, from his doorkeepers onwards, should be eunuchs one and all.

[66] This guard, however, he felt was hardly sufficient against the mult.i.tude of enemies, and he asked himself whom he could choose among the rest. [67] He remembered how his Persians led the sorriest of lives at home owing to their poverty, working long and hard on the n.i.g.g.ard soil, and he felt sure they were the men who would most value the life at his court. [68] Accordingly he selected ten thousand lancers from among them, to keep guard round the palace, night and day, whenever he was at home, and to march beside him whenever he went abroad. [69]

Moreover, he felt that Babylon must always have an adequate garrison, whether he was in the country or not, and therefore he stationed a considerable body of troops in the city; and he bade the Babylonians provide their pay, his object being to make the citizens helpless, and therefore humble and submissive. [70] This royal guard that he established there, and the city guard for Babylon, survive to this day unaltered.

Lastly, as he pondered how the whole empire was to be kept together, and possibly another added to it, he felt convinced that his mercenaries did not make up for the smallness of their numbers by their superiority to the subject peoples. Therefore he must keep together those brave warriors, to whom with heaven's help the victory was due, and he must take all care that they did not lose their valour, hardihood, and skill.

[71] To avoid the appearance of dictating to them and to bring it about that they should see for themselves it was best to stay with him and remember their valour and their training, he called a council of the Peers and of the leading men who seemed to him most worthy of sharing their dangers and their rewards. [72] And when they were met he began:

"Gentlemen, my friends and allies, we owe the utmost thanks to the G.o.ds because they have given us what we believed that we deserved. We are masters to-day of a great country and a good; and those who till it will support us; we have houses of our own, and all the furniture that is in them is ours. [73] For you need not think that what you hold belongs to others. It is an eternal law the wide world over, that when a city is taken in war, the citizens, their persons, and all their property fall into the hands of the conquerors. It is not by injustice, therefore, that you hold what you have taken, rather it is through your own human kindness that the citizens are allowed to keep whatever they do retain.

[74] "Yet I foresee that if we betake ourselves to the life of indolence and luxury, the life of the degenerate who think that labour is the worst of evils and freedom from toil the height of happiness, the day will come, and speedily, when we shall be unworthy of ourselves, and with the loss of honour will come the loss of wealth. [75] Once to have been valiant is not enough; no man can keep his valour unless he watch over it to the end. As the arts decay through neglect, as the body, once healthy and alert, will grow weak through sloth and indolence, even so the powers of the spirit, temperance, self-control, and courage, if we grow slack in training, fall back once more to rottenness and death.

[76] We must watch ourselves; we must not surrender to the sweetness of the day. It is a great work, methinks, to found an empire, but a far greater to keep it safe. To seize it may be the fruit of daring and daring only, but to hold it is impossible without self-restraint and self-command and endless care. [77] We must not forget this; we must train ourselves in virtue from now henceforward with even greater diligence than before we won this glory, remembering that the more a man possesses, the more there are to envy him, to plot against him, and be his enemies, above all when the wealth he wins and the services he receives are yielded by reluctant hands. But the G.o.ds, we need not doubt, will be upon our side; we have not triumphed through injustice; we were not the aggressors, it was we who were attacked and we avenged ourselves. [78] The G.o.ds are with us, I say; but next to that supreme support there is a defence we must provide out of our own powers alone; and that is the righteous claim to rule our subjects because we are better men than they. Needs must that we share with our slaves in heat and cold and food and drink and toil and slumber, and we must strive to prove our superiority even in such things as these, and first in these.

[79] But in the science of war and the art of it we can admit no share; those whom we mean to make our labourers and our tributaries can have no part in that; we will set ourselves to defraud them there; we know that such exercises are the very tools of freedom and happiness, given by the G.o.ds to mortal men. We have taken their arms away from our slaves, and we must never lay our own aside, knowing well that the nearer the sword-hilt the closer the heart's desire. So. Does any man ask himself what profit he has gained from the fulfilment of his dreams, if he must still endure, still undergo hunger and thirst and toil and trouble and care? Let him learn the lesson that a man's enjoyment of all good things is in exact proportion to the pains he has undergone to gain them.

Toil is the seasoning of delight; without desire and longing, no dish, however costly, could be sweet. [81] Yes, if some spirit were to set before us what men desire most, and we were left to add for ourselves that final touch of sweetness, I say that we could only gain above the poorest of the poor in so far as we could bring hunger for the most delicious foods, and thirst for the richest wines, and weariness to make us woo the deepest slumber. [82] Therefore, we must strain every nerve to win and to keep manhood and n.o.bleness; so that we may gain that satisfaction which is the sweetest and the best, and be saved from the bitterest of sorrows; since to fail of good altogether is not so hard as to lose the good that has once been ours. [83] And let us ask ourselves what excuse we could offer for being unworthy of our past. Shall we say it is because we have won an empire? Surely it is hardly fitting that the ruler should be baser than the ruled. Or is it that we seem to be happier to-day than heretofore? Is cowardice, then, an adjunct of happiness? Or is it simply because we have slaves and must punish them if they do wrong? But by what right can a man, who is bad himself, punish others for badness or stupidity? [84] Remember, too, that we have arranged for the maintenance of a whole mult.i.tude, to guard our persons and our houses, and it would be shameful for us to depend for safety on the weapons of others and refuse to carry weapons for ourselves. Surely we ought to know that there can be no defence so strong as a man's own gallantry. Courage should be our companion all our days. For if virtue leave us, nothing else whatever can go well with us. [85] What, then, would I have you do? How are we to remember our valour and train our skill? Gentlemen, I have nothing novel to suggest; at home in Persia the Peers spend their days at the public buildings and here we should do the same. Here we are the men of rank and honour, as we are there, and we should hold to the same customs. You must keep your eyes on me and watch whether I am diligent in my duty, and I shall give heed to you, and honour him who trains himself in what is beautiful and brave. [86] And here too let us educate our sons, if sons are born to us. We cannot but become better ourselves if we strive to set the best example we can to our children, and our children could hardly grow up to be unworthy, even if they wished, when they see nothing base before them, and hear nothing shameful, but live in the practice of all that is beautiful and good."

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 antic.i.p.ates the result.

C1.34 fin. A singular feature this in ancient battles. Is it simply and solely Oriental, or general, and h.e.l.lenic also? Has it any a.n.a.logue 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 a.s.serts 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 h.e.l.lenic 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 the _Eironeia_ at 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' ma.n.u.script, 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 the _piece 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 h.e.l.lenica_, 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, _tempore_ Histiaeus, and another on the new arrangements, _tempore_ Antalcidas?

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, _vide_ Daniel, 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 a.s.sa.s.sins 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-h.e.l.lenic theory of life. The leisure to invite one's own soul and see one's friends which is needed to make life worth living, versus _negotia_, _negotia_, _negotia_. How far are we to be consciously self-regarding? Cyrus versus Buddha. The h.e.l.lenic 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) His _justification_ or _raison d'etre_ explanation 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 [_vide_ the dialogue _Hiero_, 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 the _Hiero_ for 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 h.e.l.lenic || 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 inst.i.tutions save them.