[14] Thereupon Cyrus said, "Now if you are willing to send me with
a moderate force of cavalry--I will not ask for many men--I believe,
heaven helping me, I could compel him to send the troops and the
tribute. And I even hope that in the future he may become a firmer
friend that he is now." [15] And Cyaxares said: "I think myself they are
more likely to listen to you than to me. I have been told that his sons
were your companions in the chase when you were lads, and possibly old
habits will return and they will come over to you. Once they were in our
power, everything could be done as we desire." "Then," said Cyrus,
"this plan of ours had better be kept secret, had it not?" "No doubt,"
answered Cyaxares. "In that way they would be more likely to fall into
our hands, and if we attack them they would be taken unprepared."
[16] "Listen then," said Cyrus, "and see what you think of this. I have
often hunted the marches between your country and Armenia with all
my men, and sometimes I have taken horsemen with me from our comrades
here." "I see," said Cyaxares, "and if you chose to do the like again
it would seem only natural, but if your force was obviously larger than
usual, suspicion would arise at once." [17] "But it is possible," said
Cyrus, "to frame a pretext which would find credit with us and with them
too, if any rumour reached them. We might give out that I intend to hold
a splendid hunt and I might ask you openly for a troop of horse."
"Admirable!" said Cyaxares. "And I shall refuse to give you more than a
certain number, my reason being that I wish to visit the outposts on the
Syrian side. And as a matter of fact," he added, "I do wish to see them
and put them in as strong a state as possible. Then, as soon as you have
started with your men, and marched, let us say, for a couple of days,
I could send you a good round number of horse and foot from my own
detachment. And when you have them at your back, you could advance at
once, and I will follow with the rest of my men as near you as I may,
close enough to appear in time of need."
[18] Accordingly, Cyaxares proceeded to muster horse and foot for his
own march, and sent provision-waggons forward to meet him on the road.
Meanwhile Cyrus offered sacrifice for the success of his expedition and
found an opportunity to ask Cyaxares for a troop of his junior cavalry.
But Cyaxares would only spare a few, though many wished to go. Soon
afterwards he started for the outposts himself with all his horse and
foot, and then Cyrus found the omens favourable for his enterprise, and
led his soldiers out as though he meant to hunt. [19] He was scarcely
on his way when a hare started up at their feet, and an eagle, flying on
the right, saw the creature as it fled, swooped down and struck it,
bore it aloft in its talons to a cliff hard by, and did its will upon it
there. The omen pleased Cyrus well, and he bowed in worship to Zeus the
King, and said to his company, "This shall be a right noble hunt, my
friends, if God so will."
[20] When he came to the borders he began the hunt in his usual way, the
mass of horse and foot going on ahead in rows like reapers, beating out
the game, with picked men posted at intervals to receive the animals and
give them chase. And thus they took great numbers of boars and stags and
antelopes and wild-asses: even to this day wild-asses are plentiful in
those parts. [21] But when the chase was over, Cyrus had touched the
frontier of the Armenian land, and there he made the evening meal. The
next day he hunted till he reached the mountains which were his goal.
And there he halted again and made the evening meal. At this point he
knew that the army from Cyaxares was advancing, and he sent secretly to
them and bade them keep about eight miles off, and take their evening
meal where they were, since that would make for secrecy. And when their
meal was over he told them to send their officers to him, and after
supper he called his own brigadiers together and addressed them thus:
[22] "My friends, in old days the Armenian was a faithful ally and
subject of Cyaxares, but now when he sees an enemy against us, he
assumes contempt: he neither sends the troops nor pays the tribute. He
is the game we have come to catch, if catch we can. And this, I think,
is the way. You, Chrysantas," said he, "will sleep for a few hours, and
then take half the Persians with you, make for the hill country, and
seize the heights which we hear are his places of refuge when alarmed.
I will give you guides. [23] The hills, they tell us, are covered with
trees and scrub, so that we may hope you will escape unseen: still you
might send a handful of scouts ahead of you, disguised as a band of
robbers. If they should come across any Armenians they can either make
them prisoners and prevent them from spreading the news, or at least
scare them out of the way, so that they will not realise the whole of
your force, and only take measures against a pack of thieves. [24] That
is your task, Chrysantas, and now for mine. At break of day I shall take
half the foot and all the cavalry and march along the level straight to
the king's residence. If he resists, we must fight, if he retreats
along the plain we must run him down, if he makes for the mountains, why
then," said Cyrus, "it will be your business to see that none of your
visitors escape. [25] Think of it as a hunt: we down below are the
beaters rounding up the game, and you are the men at the nets: only bear
in mind that the earths must all be stopped before the game is up, and
the men at the traps must be hidden, or they will turn back the flying
quarry. [26] One last word, Chrysantas: you must not behave now as I
have known you do in your passion for the chase: you must not sit up the
whole night long without a wink of sleep, you must let all your men have
the modicum of rest that they cannot do without. [27] Nor must you--just
because you scour the hills in the hunt without a guide, following the
lead of the quarry and that alone, checking and changing course wherever
it leads you--you must not now plunge into the wildest paths: you must
tell your guides to take you by the easiest road unless it is much the
longest. [28] In war, they say, the easiest way is the quickest. And
once more, because you can race up a mountain yourself you are not to
lead on your men at the double; suit your pace to the strength of all.
[29] Indeed, it were no bad thing if some of your best and bravest were
to fall behind here and there and cheer the laggards on: and it would
quicken the pace of all, when the column has gone ahead, to see them
racing back to their places past the marching files."
[30] Chrysantas listened, and his heart beat high at the trust reposed
in him. He took the guides, and gave the necessary orders for those who
were to march with him, and then he lay down to rest. And when all his
men had had the sleep he thought sufficient he set out for the hills.
[31] Day dawned, and Cyrus sent a messenger to the Armenian with these
words: "Cyrus bids you see to it that you bring your tribute and troops
without delay." "And if he asks you where Cyrus is, tell the truth and
say I am on the frontier. And if he asks whether I am advancing myself,
tell the truth again and say that you do not know. And if he enquires
how many we are, bid him send some one with you to find out."
[32] Having so charged the messenger he sent him on forthwith, holding
this to be more courteous than to attack without warning. Then he drew
up his troops himself in the order best suited for marching, and, if
necessary, for fighting, and so set forth. The soldiers had orders that
not a soul was to be wronged, and if they met any Armenians they were
to bid them to have no fear, but open a market wherever they wished, and
sell meat or drink as they chose.
NOTES
C1.5. Is this historical, i.e. _quasi_-historical? Are any of the names
real or all invented to give verisimilitude?
C1.13. Any touch of the sycophancy of the future in it? As in modern
Germany, a touch of that involved in the system of royalty.
C1.15. The raw material is good, but not worked up. Important for
the conception of Hellenic democracy (cf. § 17). Daring, courage,
virtue--there is no monopoly of these things.
C1.21. (Cf. below VIII. C2.5) Worthy of Adam Smith. Xenophon has bump of
economy strongly developed; he resembles J. P.[*] in that respect. The
economic methodism, the mosaic interbedding, the architectonic structure
of it all, a part and parcel of Xenophon's genius. Was Alexander's
army a highly-organised, spiritually and materially built-up, vitalised
machine of this sort? What light does Arrian, that younger Xenophon,
throw upon it?
[* "J. P." = John Percival, Bishop of Hereford (the writer of the
Introduction to this volume), at the time the notes were written
Headmaster of Clifton College.--F.M.S.]
C1.25. Camaraderie encouraged and developed through a sense of equality
and fraternity, the life _au grand jour_ in common, producing a common
consciousness (cf. Comte and J. P.; Epaminondas and the Sacred Band at
Thebes).
C2. Contrast of subject enlivening the style--light concrete as a foil
to the last drier abstract detail. Humorous also, with a dramatising
and development of the characters, Shakespeare-wise--Hystaspas, and the
rest. Aglaitadas, a type of educator we know well (cf. Eccles. "Cocker
not a child"), grim, dry person with no sense of humour. Xenophon's own
humour shines out.
C2.12. The term given to the two stories {eis tagathon}. T. E. B.[*]
could do it, or Socrates, without dullness or seeming to preach. There
is a crispness in the voice which is anti-pedantic.
[* "T. E. B." = T. E. Brown, the Manx poet, at that time a colleague of
Mr. Dakyns at Clifton.--F.M.S.]
C2.19. Cyrus recognises the ideal principle of co-operation and
collective ownership. Xenophon, Economist, ahead of the moderns.
C2.26. Xenophon's breadth of view: virtue is not confined to citizens,
but we have the pick of the whole world. Cosmopolitan Hellenism.
C3.4. Xenophon's theory of rule (cf. Ruskin): a right, inalienable,
God-bestowed, of the virtuous; subjection an inevitable consequence on
lack of self-discipline.
C3.5, init. Is this a carelessness, or what? Chrysantas has been
introduced before, but here he is described as if stepping on the stage
for the first time. The sentence itself suggests the mould for the New
Testament narrative.
C3.7. Pheraulas, and of him we shall hear much. A sharp contrast to
Chrysantas, the Peer, with his pointed plebeian similes. His speech
important again for Xenophon's sympathetic knowledge of children and
also of the hard-working poor.
C3.10. How true to nature this. Cannot one see the little boy doubling
his little fists, a knife in his pocket, possibly a ball of string?
C3.11. Is there a touch of flunkeyism in this? Not so; it is the
clear-sighted scientific Greek, that is all.
C3.14. Very Scotch all this.
C3.21-22. _Locus classicus_ for regimental marching tactics. Qy.: Are
any of these tactical improvements by Xenophon himself?
C3.21. The "regiment" of a hundred men was divided into four
"companies" of twenty-five, to each of these one company-captain and
twenty-four men, viz.: twenty privates, two captains-of-ten, and two
captains-of-five, the two captains of ten having also especial charge
over the two remaining squads of five. A condensed diagram may make
the little manoeuvre clear. An X represents one group of five plus its
captain, either a captain-of-five or a captain-of-ten. A C represents a
company-captain.
First position--One long column. All in single file.
Second position--Four columns. Single file for each company.
Third position--Eight columns. Double files.
Fourth position--Sixteen columns. Quadruple files.
C C C C C C C
X X X -> X X X X -> X X X X X X X X
X -> X X X X X X
X X X
X X X
C
X
X
X
X]
C4.15. Cyaxares means to kidnap them, doesn't he? That is not quite
Cyrus' method. If so, it contrasts Cyaxares and Cyrus again.
C4.17. Cyaxares the old fox improves upon the plan.
C4.30, init. It is these touches which give the thrilling subjective
feeling to the writings of Xenophon, or, rather, thus his nerves tingle,
just as the external touches give a sense of objective health (e.g.
above, C1.29).
C4.32. All this is entirely modern, never yet excelled, I imagine.
BOOK III
[C.1] Thus Cyrus made his preparations. But the Armenian, when he heard
what the messenger had to say, was terror-stricken: he knew the wrong
he had done in neglecting the tribute and withholding the troops, and,
above all, he was afraid it would be discovered that he was beginning
to put his palace in a fit state for defence. [2] Therefore, with much
trepidation, he began to collect his own forces, and at the same time
he sent his younger son Sabaris into the hills with the women, his own
wife, and the wife of his elder son and his daughters, taking the best
of their ornaments and furniture with them and an escort to be their
guide. Meanwhile he despatched a party to discover what Cyrus was doing,
and organised all the Armenian contingents as they came in. But it was
not long before other messengers arrived, saying that Cyrus himself was
actually at hand. [3] Then his courage forsook him; he dared not come
to blows and he withdrew. As soon as the recruits saw this they took to
their heels, each man bent on getting his own property safely out of
the way. When Cyrus saw the plains full of them, racing and riding
everywhere, he sent out messengers privately to explain that he had no
quarrel with any who stayed quietly in their homes, but if he caught a
man in flight, he warned them he would treat him as an enemy. Thus
the greater part were persuaded to remain, though there were some who
retreated with the king.
[4] But when the escort with the women came on the Persians in the
mountain, they fled with cries of terror, and many of them were taken
prisoners. In the end the young prince himself was captured, and the
wife of the king, and his daughters, and his daughter-in-law, and
all the goods they had with them. And when the king learnt what had
happened, scarcely knowing where to turn, he fled to the summit of a
certain hill. [5] Cyrus, when he saw it, surrounded the spot with his
troops and sent word to Chrysantas, bidding him leave a force to
guard the mountains and come down to him. So the mass of the army was
collected under Cyrus, and then he sent a herald to the king with this
enquiry:
"Son of Armenia, will you wait here and fight with hunger and thirst,
or will you come down into the plain and fight it out with us?" But the
Armenian answered that he wished to fight with neither. [6] Cyrus sent
again and asked, "Why do you sit there, then, and refuse to come down?"
"Because I know not what to do," answered the other. "It is simple
enough," said Cyrus, "come down and take your trial." "And who shall try
me?" asked the king. "He," answered Cyrus, "to whom God has given the
power to treat you as he lists, without a trial at all."
Thereupon the Armenian came down, yielding to necessity, and Cyrus took
him and all that he had and placed him in the centre of the camp, for
all his forces were now at hand.
[7] Meanwhile Tigranes, the elder son of the king, was on his way home
from a far country. In old days he had hunted with Cyrus and been his
friend, and now, when he heard what had happened, he came forward just
as he was; but when he saw his father and his mother, his brother and
sisters, and his own wife all held as prisoners, he could not keep back
the tears. [8] But Cyrus gave him no sign of friendship or courtesy, and
only said, "You have come in time, you may be present now to hear your
father tried." With that he summoned the leaders of the Persians and the
Medes, and any Armenian of rank and dignity who was there, nor would
he send away the women as they sat in covered carriages, but let them
listen too. [9] When all was ready he began: "Son of Armenia, I would
counsel you, in the first place, to speak the truth, so that at least
you may stand free from what deserves the utmost hate: beyond all
else, be assured, manifest lying checks the sympathy of man and man.
Moreover," said he, "your own sons, your daughters, and your wife are
well aware of all that you have done, and so are your own Armenians
who are here: if they perceive that you say what is not true, they must
surely feel that out of your own lips you condemn yourself to suffer
the uttermost penalty when I learn the truth." "Nay," answered the king,
"ask me whatever you will, and I will answer truly, come what come may."
[10] "Answer then," said Cyrus, "did you once make war upon Astyages,
my mother's father, and his Medes?" "I did," he answered. "And were you
conquered by him, and did you agree to pay tribute and furnish troops
whenever he required, and promise not to fortify your dwellings?" "Even
so," he said. "Why is it, then, that to-day you have neither brought the
tribute nor sent the troops, and are building forts?" "I set my heart on
liberty: it seemed to me so fair a thing to be free myself and to leave
freedom to my sons." [11] "And fair and good it is," said Cyrus, "to
fight for freedom and choose death rather than slavery, but if a man is
worsted in war or enslaved by any other means and then attempts to rid
himself of his lord, tell me yourself, would you honour such a man as
upright, and a doer of noble deeds, or would you, if you got him in
your power, chastise him as a malefactor?" "I would chastise him," he
answered, "since you drive me to the truth." [12] "Then answer me now,
point by point," said Cyrus. "If you have an officer and he does wrong,
do you suffer him to remain in office, or do you set up another in his
stead?" "I set up another." "And if he have great riches, to you leave
him all his wealth, or do you make him a beggar?" "I take away from him
all that he has." "And if you found him deserting to your enemies, what
would you do?" "I would kill him," he said: "why should I perish with a
lie on my lips rather than speak the truth and die?"
[13] But at this his son rent his garments and dashed the tiara from his
brows, and the women lifted up their voices in wailing and tore their
cheeks, as though their father was dead already, and they themselves
undone. But Cyrus bade them keep silence, and spoke again. "Son of
Armenia, we have heard your own judgment in this case, and now tell us,
what ought we to do?" But the king sat silent and perplexed, wondering
whether he should bid Cyrus put him to death, or act in the teeth of the
rule he had laid down for himself. [14] Then his son Tigranes turned to
Cyrus and said, "Tell me, Cyrus, since my father sits in doubt, may I
give counsel in his place and say what I think best for you?"
Now Cyrus remembered that, in the old hunting days, he had noticed a
certain man of wisdom who went about with Tigranes and was much admired
by him, and he was curious to know what the youth would say. So he
readily agreed and bade him speak his mind.
[15] "In my view, then," said Tigranes, "if you approve of all that my
father has said and done, certainly you ought to do as he did, but if
you think he has done wrong, then you must not copy him."
"But surely," said Cyrus, "the best way to avoid copying the wrongdoer
is to practise what is right?"
"True enough," answered the prince.
"Then on your own reasoning, I am bound to punish your father, if it is
right to punish wrong."
"But would you wish your vengeance to do you harm instead of good?"
"Nay," said Cyrus, "for then my vengeance would fall upon myself."
[16] "Even so," said Tigranes, "and you will do yourself the greatest
harm if you put your own subjects to death just when they are most
valuable to you."
"Can they have any value," asked Cyrus, "when they are detected doing
wrong?"
"Yes," answered Tigranes, "if that is when they turn to good and learn
sobriety. For it is my belief, Cyrus, that without this virtue all
others are in vain. What good will you get from a strong man or a brave
if he lack sobriety, be he never so good a horseman, never so rich,
never so powerful in the state? But with sobriety every friend is a
friend in need and every servant a blessing."
[17] "I take your meaning," answered Cyrus; "your father, you would have
me think, has been changed in this one day from a fool into a wise and
sober-minded man?"
"Exactly," said the prince.
"Then you would call sober-mindedness a condition of our nature, such
as pain, not a matter of reason that can be learnt? For certainly, if
he who is to be sober-minded must learn wisdom first, he could not be
converted from folly in a day."
[18] "Nay, but, Cyrus," said the prince, "surely you yourself have
known one man at least who out of sheer folly has set himself to fight
a stronger man than he, and on the day of defeat his senselessness has
been cured. And surely you have known a city ere now that has marshalled
her battalions against a rival state, but with defeat she changes
suddenly and is willing to obey and not resist?"
[19] "But what defeat," said Cyrus, "can you find in your father's case
to make you so sure that he has come to a sober mind?"
"A defeat," answered the young man, "of which he is well aware in the
secret chambers of his soul. He set his heart on liberty, and he has
found himself a slave as never before: he had designs that needed
stealth and speed and force, and not one of them has he been able to
carry through. With you he knows that design and fulfilment went hand
in hand; when you wished to outwit him, outwit him you did, as though he
had been blind and deaf and dazed; when stealth was needed, your stealth
was such that the fortresses he thought his own you turned into traps
for him; and your speed was such that you were upon him from miles away
with all your armament before he found time to muster the forces at his
command."
[20] "So you think," said Cyrus, "that merely to learn another is
stronger than himself is defeat enough to bring a man to his senses?"
"I do," answered Tigranes, "and far more truly than mere defeat in
battle. For he who is conquered by force may fancy that if he trains
he can renew the war, and captured cities dream that with the help of
allies they will fight again one day, but if we meet with men who are
better than ourselves and whom we recognise to be so, we are ready to
obey them of our own free will." [21] "You imagine then," said
Cyrus, "that the bully and the tyrant cannot recognise the man
of self-restraint, nor the thief the honest man, nor the liar the
truth-speaker, nor the unjust man the upright? Has not your own father
lied even now and broken his word with us, although he knew that we had
faithfully observed every jot and tittle of the compact Astyages made?"
[22] "Ah, but," replied the prince, "I do not pretend that the bare
knowledge alone will bring a man to his senses, it cannot cure him
unless he pays the penalty as my father pays it to-day." "But," answered
Cyrus, "your father has suffered nothing at all so far: although he
fears, I know, that the worst suffering may be his." [23] "Do you
suppose then," asked Tigranes, "that anything can enslave a man more
utterly than fear? Do you not know that even the men who are beaten with
the iron rod of war, the heaviest rod in all the world, may still be
ready to fight again, while the victims of terror cannot be brought to
look their conquerors in the face, even when they try to comfort them?"
"Then, you maintain," said Cyrus, "that fear will subdue a man more than
suffering?" [24] "Yes," he answered, "and you of all men know that what
I say is true: you know the despondency men feel in dread of banishment,
or on the eve of battle facing defeat, or sailing the sea in peril of
shipwreck--they cannot touch their food or take their rest because
of their alarm: while it may often be that the exiles themselves, the
conquered, or the enslaved, can eat and sleep better than men who have
not known adversity. [25] Think of those panic-stricken creatures who
through fear of capture and death have died before their day, have
hurled themselves from cliffs, hanged themselves, or set the knife to
their throats; so cruelly can fear, the prince of horrors, bind and
subjugate the souls of men. And what, think you, does my father feel at
this moment? He, whose fears are not for himself alone, but for us all,
for his wife, and for his children." [26] And Cyrus said, "To-day and
at this time, it may be with him as you say: but I still think that the
same man may well be insolent in good fortune and cringing in defeat:
let such an one go free again, and he will return to his arrogance and
trouble us once more." [27] "I do not deny it, Cyrus," said the prince.
"Our offences are such that you may well mistrust us: but you have it in
your power to set garrisons in our land and hold our strong places and
take what pledges you think best. And even so," he added, "you will not
find that we fret against our chains, for we shall remember we have only
ourselves to blame. Whereas, if you hand over the government to some
who have not offended, they may either think that you mistrust them, and
thus, although you are their benefactor, you cannot be their friend, or
else in your anxiety not to rouse their enmity you may leave no check
on their insolence, and in the end you will need to sober them even
more than us." [28] "Nay, but by all the gods," cried Cyrus, "little joy
should I ever take in those who served me from necessity alone. Only if
I recognise some touch of friendship or goodwill in the help it is their
duty to render, I could find it easier to forgive them all their faults
than to accept the full discharge of service paid upon compulsion by
those who hate me."
Then Tigranes answered, "You speak of friendship, but can you ever find
elsewhere so great a friendship as you may find with us?" "Surely I
can," he answered, "and with those who have never been my enemies, if
I choose to be their benefactor as you would have me yours." [29] "But
to-day, and now, can you find another man in the world whom you could
benefit as you can benefit my father? Say you let a man live who has
never done you wrong, will he be grateful for the boon? Say he need not
lose his children and his wife, will he love you for that more than one
who knows he well deserved the loss? Say he may not sit upon the throne
of Armenia, will he suffer from that as we shall suffer? And is it not
clear that the one who feels the pain of forfeiture the most will be the
one most grateful for the granting of the gift? [30] And if you have it
at all at heart to leave matters settled here, think for yourself, and
see where tranquillity will lie when your back is turned. Will it be
with the new dynasty, or with the old familiar house? And if you want
as large a force as possible at your command, where will you find a man
better fitted to test the muster-roll than the general who has used it
time and again? If you need money, who will provide the ways and means
better than he who knows and can command all the resources of the
country? I warn you as a friend," he added, "that if you throw us aside
you will do yourself more harm than ever my father could have done."
[31] Such were the pleadings of the prince, and Cyrus, as he listened,
was overjoyed, for he felt he would accomplish to the full all he had
promised Cyaxares; his own words came back to him, "I hope to make the
Armenian a better friend than before."
Thereupon he turned to the king and said, "Son of Armenia, if I were
indeed to hearken unto you and yours in this, tell me, how large an army
would you send me and how much money for the war?"
[32] And the king replied, "The simplest answer I can make and the most
straightforward is to tell you what my power is, and then you may take
the men you choose, and leave the rest to garrison the country. And so
with the money: it is only fair that you should know the whole of our
wealth, and with that knowledge to guide you, you will take what you
like and leave what you like." [33] And Cyrus said, "Tell me then, and
tell me true: how great is your power and your wealth?" Whereupon the
Armenian replied: "Our cavalry is 8000 strong and our infantry 40,000;
and our wealth," said he, "if I include the treasures which my father
left, amounts in silver to more than 3000 talents."
[34] And Cyrus, without more ado, said at once, "Of your whole armament
you shall give me half, not more, since your neighbours the Chaldaeans
are at war with you: but for the tribute, instead of the fifty talents
which you paid before, you shall hand over twice as much to Cyaxares
because you made default; and you will lend me another hundred for
myself, and I hereby promise you, if God be bountiful, I will requite
you for the loan with things of higher worth, or I will pay the money
back in full, if I can; and if I cannot, you may blame me for want of
ability, but not for want of will." [35] But the Armenian cried, "By all
the gods, Cyrus, speak not so, or you will put me out of heart. I beg
you to look on all I have as yours, what you leave behind as well as
what you take away."
"So be it then," answered Cyrus, "and to ransom your wife, how much
money would you give?" "All that I have," said he. "And for your sons?"
"For them too, all that I have." "Good," answered Cyrus, "but is not
that already twice as much as you possess? [36] And you, Tigranes," said
he, "at what price would you redeem your bride?" Now the youth was but
newly wedded, and his wife was beyond all things dear to him. "I would
give my life," said he, "to save her from slavery." [37] "Take her
then," said Cyrus, "she is yours. For I hold that she has never yet been
made a prisoner, seeing that her husband never deserted us. And you,
son of Armenia," said he, turning to the king, "you shall take home your
wife and children, and pay no ransom for them, so that they shall not
feel they come to you from slavery. But now," he added, "you shall stay
and sup with us, and afterwards you shall go wherever you wish."
And so the Armenians stayed. [38] But when the company broke up after
the evening meal, Cyrus asked Tigranes, "Tell me, where is that friend
of yours who used to hunt with us, and whom, as it seemed to me, you
admired so much?" "Do you not know," he said, "that my father put him
to death?" "And why?" said Cyrus, "what fault did he find in him?" "He
thought he corrupted me," said the youth; "and yet, I tell you, Cyrus,
he was so gentle and so brave, so beautiful in soul, that when he came
to die, he called me to him and said, 'Do not be angry with your father,
Tigranes, for putting me to death. What he does is not done from
malice, but from ignorance; and the sins of ignorance, I hold, are
unintentional.'"
[39] And at that Cyrus could not but say: "Poor soul! I grieve for him."
But the king spoke in his own defence: "Remember this, Cyrus, that the
man who finds another with his wife kills him not simply because he
believes that he has turned the woman to folly, but because he has
robbed him of her love. Even so I was jealous of that man who seemed to
put himself between my son and me and steal away his reverence." [40]
"May the gods be merciful to us!" said Cyrus, "you did wrong, but your
fault was human. And you, Tigranes," said he, turning to the son, "you
must forgive your father."
And so they talked in all friendliness and kindliness, as befitted
that time of reconciliation; and then the father and son mounted their
carriages, with their dear ones beside them, and drove away rejoicing.
[41] But when they were home again, they all spoke of Cyrus, one
praising his wisdom, another his endurance, a third the gentleness
of his nature, and a fourth his stature and his beauty. Then Tigranes
turned to his wife and asked, "Did Cyrus seem so beautiful in your
eyes?" But she answered, "Ah, my lord, he was not the man I saw." "Who
was it then?" asked Tigranes. "He," she answered, "who offered his own
life to free me from slavery."
And so they took their delight together, as lovers will, after all their
sufferings.
[42] But on the morrow the king of Armenia sent gifts of hospitality to
Cyrus and all his army, and bade his own contingent make ready to march
on the third day, and himself brought Cyrus twice the sum which he had
named. But Cyrus would take no more than he had fixed, and gave the
rest back to the king, only asking whether he or his son was to lead the
force. And the father answered that it should be as Cyrus chose, but the
son said, "I will not leave you, Cyrus, if I must carry the baggage to
follow you." [43] And Cyrus laughed and said, "What will you take to let
us tell your wife that you have become a baggage-bearer?" "She will not
need to be told," he answered, "I mean to bring her with me, and she can
see for herself all that her husband does." "Then it is high time," said
Cyrus, "that you got your own baggage together now." "We will come,"
said he, "be sure of that, in good time, with whatever baggage my father
gives."
So the soldiers were the guests of Armenia for the day, and rested for
that night.
[C.2] But on the day following Cyrus took Tigranes and the best of the
Median cavalry, with chosen followers of his own, and scoured the whole
country to decide where he should build a fort. He halted on the top of
a mountain-pass and asked Tigranes where the heights lay down which the
Chaldaeans swept when they came to plunder. Tigranes showed him. Then
Cyrus asked him if the mountains were quite uninhabited. "No, indeed,"
said the prince, "there are always men on the look-out, who signal to
the others if they catch sight of anything." "And what do they do," he
asked, "when they see the signal?" "They rush to the rescue," he said,
"as quickly as they can." [2] Cyrus listened and looked, and he could
see that large tracts lay desolate and untilled because of the war. That
day they came back to camp and took their supper and slept. [3] But the
next morning Tigranes presented himself with all his baggage in order
and ready for the march, 4000 cavalry at his back, 10,000 bowmen, and as
many targeteers. While they were marching up, Cyrus offered sacrifice,
and finding that the victims were favourable, he called the leaders of
the Persians together and the chief captains of the Medes and spoke to
them thus:
[4] "My friends, there lie the Chaldaean hills. If we could seize
them and set a garrison to hold the pass, we should compel them both,
Chaldaeans and Armenians alike, to behave themselves discreetly. The
victims are favourable; and to help a man in such a work as this there
is no ally half so good as speed. If we scale the heights before the
enemy have time to gather, we may take the position out of hand without
a blow, and at most we shall only find a handful of weak and scattered
forces to oppose us. [5] Steady speed is all I ask for, and surely I
could ask for nothing easier or less dangerous. To arms then! The Medes
will march on our left, half the Armenians on our right, and the rest
in the van to lead the way, the cavalry in our rear, to cheer us on and
push us forward and let none of us give way."
[6] With that Cyrus led the advance, the army in column behind him.
As soon as the Chaldaeans saw them sweeping up from the plain, they
signalled to their fellows till the heights re-echoed with answering
shouts, and the tribesmen gathered on every side. Then Cyrus sent word
along his lines, "Soldiers of Persia, they are signalling to us to make
haste. If only we reach the top before them, all they can do will be in
vain."
[7] Now the Chaldaeans were said to be the most warlike of all the
tribes in that country, and each of them was armed with a shield and a
brace of javelins. They fight for pay wherever they are needed, partly
because they are warriors born, but partly through poverty; for their
country is mountainous, and the fertile part of it small. [8] As Cyrus
and his force drew near the head of the pass, Tigranes, who was marching
at his side, said:
"Do you know, Cyrus, that before long we shall be in the thick of the
fight ourselves? Our Armenians will never stand the charge." Cyrus
answered that he was well aware of that, and immediately sent word that
the Persians should be ready to give chase at once, "as soon as we see
the Armenians decoying the enemy by feigning flight and drawing them
within our reach."
[9] Thus they marched up with the Armenians in the van: and the
Chaldaeans who had collected waited till they were almost on them,
and then charged with a tremendous shout, as their custom was, and the
Armenians, as was ever theirs, turned and ran. [10] But in the midst
of the pursuit the Chaldaeans met new opponents streaming up the pass,
armed with short swords, and some of them were cut to pieces at once
before they could withdraw, while others were taken prisoners and the
rest fled, and in a few moments the heights were won. From the top
of the pass Cyrus and his staff looked down and saw below them the
Chaldaean villages with fugitives pouring from the nearest houses. [11]
Soon the rest of the army came up, and Cyrus ordered them all to take
the morning meal. When it was over, and he had ascertained that the
look-out was really in a strong position, and well supplied with water,
he set about fortifying a post without more ado, and he bade Tigranes
send to his father and bid him come at once with all the carpenters and
stonemasons he could fetch, and while a messenger went off to the king
Cyrus did all he could with what he had at hand.
[12] Meanwhile they brought up the prisoners, all of them bound in
chains and some wounded. But Cyrus when he saw their plight ordered the
chains to be struck off, and sent for surgeons to dress their wounds,
and then he told them that he came neither to destroy them nor to war
against them, but to make peace between them and the Armenians. "I
know," he said, "before your pass was taken you did not wish for peace.
Your own land was in safety and you could harry the Armenians: but you
can see for yourselves how things stand to-day. [13] Accordingly I will
let you all go back to your homes in freedom, and I will allow you and
your fellows to take counsel together and choose whether you will have
us for your enemies or your friends. If you decide on war, you had
better not come here again without your weapons, but if you choose
peace, come unarmed and welcome: it shall be my care to see that all is
well with you, if you are my friends."
[14] And when the Chaldaeans heard that, they poured out praises and
thanks, and then they turned homewards and departed.
Meanwhile the king, receiving the call of Cyrus, and hearing the
business that was at hand, had gathered his workmen together and took
what he thought necessary and came with all speed. [15] And when he
caught sight of Cyrus, he cried: "Ah, my lord, blind mortals that we
are! How little can we see of the future, and how much we take in hand
to do! I set myself to win freedom and I made myself a slave, and now,
when we were captured and said to ourselves that we were utterly undone,
suddenly we find a safety we never had before. Those who troubled us are
taken now, even as I would have them. [16] Be well assured, Cyrus," he
added, "that I would have paid the sum you had from me over and over
again simply to dislodge the Chaldaeans from these heights. The things
of worth you promised me when you took the money have been paid in full
already, and we discover that we are not your creditors, but deep in
your debt for many kindnesses; and we shall be ashamed not to return
them, or we should be base indeed, for try as we may, we shall never be
able to requite in full so great a benefactor."
[17] Such thanks the Armenian gave.
Then the Chaldaeans came back, begging Cyrus to make peace with them.
And Cyrus asked them: "Am I right in thinking that you desire peace
to-day because you believe it will be safer for you than war, now that
we hold these heights?"
And the Chaldaeans said that so it was. [18] "Well and good," said he.
"And what if other benefits were gained by peace?" "We should be all the
better pleased," said they. "Is there any other reason," he asked, "for
your present poverty, except your lack of fertile soil?" They said that
there was none. "Well then," Cyrus went on, "would you be willing to pay
the same dues as the Armenians, if you were allowed to cultivate as much
of their land as you desired?" And the Chaldaeans said they would, if
only they could rely on being fairly treated. [19] "Now," said Cyrus,
turning to the Armenian king, "would you like that land of yours which
is now lying idle to be tilled and made productive, supposing the
workers paid you the customary dues?" "I would, indeed," said the king,
"so much so that I am ready to pay a large sum for it. It would mean a
great increase to my revenue." [20] "And you, Chaldaeans," said Cyrus,
"with your splendid mountains, would you let the Armenians use them for
pasture if the graziers paid you what was fair?" "Surely yes," said the
Chaldaeans, "it would mean much profit and no pains."
"Son of Armenia," said Cyrus, "would you take this land for grazing,
if by paying a small sum to the Chaldaeans you got a far greater return
yourself?"
"Right willingly," said he, "if I thought my flocks could feed in
safety."
"And would they not be safe enough," suggested Cyrus, "if this pass were
held for you?" To which the king agreed. [21] But the Chaldaeans cried,
"Heaven help us! We could not till our own fields in safety, not to
speak of theirs, if the Armenians held the pass." "True," answered
Cyrus, "but how would it be if the pass were held for you?" "Ah, then,"
said they, "all would be well enough." "Heaven help us!" cried the
Armenian in his turn, "all might be well enough for them, but it would
be ill for us if these neighbours of ours recovered the post, especially
now that it is fortified." [22] Then Cyrus said, "See, then, this is
what I will do: I will hand over the pass to neither of you: we Persians
will guard it ourselves, and if either of you injure the other, we will
step in and side with the sufferers."
[23] Then both parties applauded the decision, and said that only thus
could they establish a lasting peace, and on these terms they exchanged
pledges, and a covenant was made that both nations alike were to be free
and independent, but with common rights of marriage, and tillage, and
pasturage, and help in time of war if either were attacked. [24] Thus
the matter was concluded, and to this day the treaty holds between the
Chaldaeans and Armenia.
Peace was no sooner made than both parties began building what they now
considered their common fortress, working side by side and bringing up
all that was needed. [25] And when evening fell, Cyrus summoned them all
as fellow-guests to his board, saying that they were friends already.
At the supper as they sat together, one of the Chaldaeans said to Cyrus
that the mass of his nation would feel they had received all they
could desire, "But there are men among us," he added, "who live as
freebooters: they do not know how to labour in the field, and they could
not learn, accustomed as they are from youth up to get their livelihood
either by plundering for themselves or serving as mercenaries, often
under the king of India, for he is a man of much wealth, but sometimes
under Astyages." [26] Then Cyrus said: "Why should they not take service
with me? I undertake to give them at least as much as they ever got
elsewhere." The Chaldaeans readily agreed with him and prophesied that
he would have many volunteers.
[27] So this matter was settled to the mind of all. But Cyrus, on
hearing that the Chaldaeans were in the habit of going to India,
remembered how Indian ambassadors had come to the Medes to spy out their
affairs, and how they had gone on to their enemies--doubtless to do the
same there--and he felt a wish that they should hear something of
what he had achieved himself. [28] So he said to the company: "Son of
Armenia, and men of the Chaldaeans, I have something to ask you. Tell
me, if I were to send ambassadors to India, would you send some of your
own folk with them to show them the way, and support them in gaining
for us all that I desire? I still need more money if I am to pay all the
wages, as I wish, in full, and give rewards and make presents to such of
my soldiers as deserve them. It is for such things I need all the money
I can get, for I believe them to be essential. It would be pleasanter
for me not to draw on you, because I look on you already as my friends,
but I should be glad to take from the Indian as much as he will give me.
My messenger--the one for whom I ask guides and coadjutors--will go to
the king and say: 'Son of India, my master has sent me to you, bidding
me say that he has need of more money. He is expecting another army from
Persia,' and indeed I do expect one," Cyrus added. "Then my messenger
will proceed, 'If you can send my master all that you have at hand he
will do his best, if God grant him success, that you should feel your
kindness has not been ill-advised.' [30] That is what my emissary will
say: and you must give such instructions to yours as you think fit
yourselves. If I get money from the king, I shall have abundance at my
disposal: if I fail, at least we shall owe him no gratitude, and as far
as he is concerned we may look to our own interests alone. |
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