The Portable Greek Historians: The Essence of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius (Portable Library)

by M. I. Finley

  7. When he was sent down by his father, as satrap of Lydia and Great Phrygia and Cappadocia, and was also appointed commander of all the troops whose duty it is to muster in the plain of Castolus, he soon showed that if he made a league or compact with anyone, or gave a promise, he deemed it of the utmost importance not to break his word. 8. Accordingly the states that were committed to his charge, as well as individuals, had the greatest confidence in him; and if anyone had been his enemy, he felt secure that if Cyrus entered into a treaty with him, he should suffer no infraction of the stipulations. 9. When, therefore, he waged war against Tissaphernes, all the cities, of their own accord, chose to adhere to Cyrus in preference to Tissaphernes, except the Milesians; but they feared him, because he would not abandon the cause of the exiles; 10. for he both showed by his deeds and declared in words that he would never desert them, since he had once become a friend to them, not even though they should grow still fewer in number, and be in a worse condition than they were.

  11. Whenever anyone did him a kindness or an injury, he showed himself anxious to go beyond him in those respects; and some used to mention a wish of his that he desired to live long enough to outdo both those who had done him good, and those who had done him ill, in the requital that he should make. 12. Accordingly to him alone of the men of our days were so great a number of people desirous of committing the disposal of their property, their cities, and their own persons.

  13. Yet no one could with truth say this of him, that he suffered the criminal or unjust to deride his authority; for he of all men inflicted punishment most unsparingly; and there were often to be seen, along the most frequented roads, men deprived of their feet, or hands, or eyes; so that in Cyrus’s dominions, it was possible for anyone, Greek or barbarian, who did no wrong, to travel without fear withersoever he pleased, and having with him whatever might suit his convenience.

  14. To those who showed ability for war, it is acknowledged that he paid distinguished honour. His first war was with the Pisidians and Mysians; and, marching in person into these countries, he made those whom he saw voluntarily hazarding their lives in his service governors over the territory that he subdued, and distinguished them with rewards in other ways. 15. So that the brave appeared to be the most fortunate of men, while the cowardly were deemed fit only to be their slaves. There were, therefore, great numbers of persons who voluntarily exposed themselves to danger, wherever they thought that Cyrus would become aware of their exertions.

  16. With regard to justice, if any appeared to him inclined to display that virtue, he made a point of making such men richer than those who sought to profit by injustice. 17. Accordingly, while in many other respects his affairs were administered judiciously, he likewise possessed an army worthy of the name. For it was not for money that generals and captains came from foreign lands to enter into his service, but because they were persuaded that to serve Cyrus well would be more profitable than any amount of monthly pay. 18. Besides, if anyone executed his orders in a superior manner, he never suffered his diligence to go unrewarded; consequently, in every undertaking, the best-qualified officers were said to be ready to assist him.

  19. If he noticed anyone that was a skilful manager, with strict regard to justice, stocking the land of which he had the direction, and securing income from it, he would never take anything from such a person, but was ever ready to give him something in addition; so that men laboured with cheerfulness, acquired property with confidence, and made no concealment from Cyrus of what each possessed; for he did not appear to envy those who amassed riches openly, but to endeavour to bring into use the wealth of those who concealed it.

  20. Whatever friends he made, and felt to be well disposed to him, and considered to be capable of assisting him in anything that he might wish to accomplish, he is acknowledged by all to have been most successful in attaching them to him. 21. For, on the very same account on which he thought that he himself had need of friends, namely, that he might have cooperators in his undertakings, did he endeavour to prove an efficient assistant to his friends in whatever he perceived any of them desirous of effecting.

  22. He received, for many reasons, more presents than perhaps any other single individual; and these he outdid everyone else in distributing amongst his friends, having a view to the character of each, and to what he perceived each most needed. 23. Whatever presents anyone sent him of articles of personal ornament, whether for warlike accoutrement, or merely for dress, concerning these, they said, he used to remark that he could not decorate his own person with them all, but that he thought friends well equipped were the greatest ornament a man could have. 24. That he should outdo his friends, indeed, in conferring great benefits, is not at all wonderful, since he was so much more able; but that he should surpass his friends in kind attentions, and an anxious desire to oblige appears to me far more worthy of admiration. 25. Frequently, when he had wine served him of a peculiarly fine flavour, he would send half-emptied flagons of it to some of his friends, with a message to this effect: “Cyrus has not for some time met with pleasanter wine than this; and he has therefore sent some of it to you, and begs you will drink it today, with those whom you love best.” 26. He would often, too, send geese partly eaten, and the halves of loaves, and other such things, desiring the bearer to say, in presenting them, “Cyrus has been delighted with these, and therefore wishes you also to taste of them.”

  27. Wherever provender was scarce, but he himself, from having many attendants, and from the care which he took, was able to procure some, he would send it about, and desire his friends to give that provender to the horses that carried them, so that hungry steeds might not carry his friends. 28. Whenever he rode out, and many were likely to see him, he would call to him his friends, and hold earnest conversation with them, that he might show whom he held in honour; so that, from what I have heard, I should think that no one was ever beloved by a greater number of persons, either Greeks or barbarians. 29. Of this fact the following is a proof —that no one deserted to the king from Cyrus, though only a subject (except that Orontes attempted to do so, but he soon found the person whom he believed faithful to him, more a friend to Cyrus than to himself), while many came over to Cyrus from the king, after they became enemies to each other; and these, too, men who were greatly beloved by the king; for they felt persuaded that if they proved themselves brave soldiers under Cyrus they would obtain from him more adequate rewards for their services than from the king.

  30. What occurred also at the time of his death is a great proof, as well that he himself was a man of merit, as that he could accurately distinguish such as were trustworthy, well disposed, and constant in their attachment. 31. For when he was killed, all his friends and the partakers of his table who were with him, fell fighting in his defence, except Ariaeus, who had been posted, in command of the cavalry, on the left; and, when he learned that Cyrus had fallen in the battle, he took to flight, with all the troops which he had under his command.

  10.1. The head and right hand of Cyrus were then cut off. The king, and the troops that were with him, engaging in pursuit, fell upon the camp of Cyrus; when the soldiers of Ariaeus no longer stood their ground, but fled through their camp to the station whence they had last started, which was said to be four parasangs distant. 2. The king and his followers seized upon many other things, and also captured the Phocaean woman, the concubine of Cyrus, who was said to be both accomplished and beautiful. 3. The younger Milesian woman, being taken by some of the king’s soldiers, fled for refuge, without her outer garment, to the party of Greeks, who were stationed under arms to guard the baggage, and who, drawing themselves up for defence, killed several of the pillagers; and some of their own number also fell; yet they did not flee, but saved not only the woman but all the rest of the property and people that were in their quarters.

  4. The king and the main body of Greeks were now distant from each other about thirty stadia, the Greeks pursuing those that had been opposed to them, as if they had conque
red all; the Persians engaged in plundering, as if they were wholly victorious. 5. But when the Greeks found that the king with his troops was amongst their baggage, and the king, on the other hand, heard from Tissaphernes that the Greeks had routed that part of his line which had been opposed to them, and were gone forward in pursuit, the king, on his part, collected his forces and formed them in line again; while Clearchus, on the other side, calling to him Proxenus, who happened to be nearest to him, consulted with him whether they should send a detachment to the camp, or proceed, all of them together, to relieve it. 6. In the meantime, the king was observed again approaching them, as it seemed, in their rear. The Greeks, wheeling round, prepared to receive him, in the belief that he would attack them on that quarter; the king, however, did not lead his troops that way, but led them off by the same route by which he had before passed on the outside of their left wing, taking with him both those who had deserted to the Greeks during the engagement and Tissaphernes with the troops under his command.

  7. Tissaphernes had not fled at the commencement of the engagement, but had charged through the Greek peltasts, close to the banks of the river. In breaking through, however, he killed not a single man, for the Greeks, opening their ranks, struck his men with their swords, and hurled their javelins at them. Episthenes of Amphipolis had the command of the peltasts, and was said to have proved himself an able captain. 8. Tissaphernes, therefore, when he thus came off with disadvantage, did not turn back again, but, proceeding onwards to the Grecian camp, met the king there; and thence they now returned together, with their forces united in battle array. 9. When they were opposite the left wing of the Greeks, the Greeks feared lest they should attack them on that wing, and, enclosing them on both sides, should cut them off; they therefore thought it advisable to draw back this wing, and to put the river in their rear. 10. While they were planning this manœuvre, the king, having passed beyond them, presented his force opposite to them in the same form in which he had at first come to battle; and when the Greeks saw their enemies close at hand, and drawn up for fight, they again sang the paean, and advanced upon them with much greater spirit than before. 11. The barbarians, on the other hand, did not await their onset, but fled sooner than at first; and the Greeks pursued them as far as a certain village, where they halted; 12. for above the village was a hill, upon which the king’s troops had checked their flight, and though there were no longer any infantry there, the height was filled with cavalry; so that the Greeks could not tell what was doing. They said that they saw the royal standard, a golden eagle upon a spear, with expanded wings.

  13. But as the Greeks were on the point of proceeding thither, the cavalry too left the hill, not indeed in a body, but some in one direction and some in another; and thus the hill was gradually thinned of cavalry, till at last they were all gone. 14. Clearchus, however, did not march up the hill, but, stationing his force at its foot, sent Lycius the Syracusan and another up the hill, and ordered them, after taking a view from the summit, to report to him what was passing on the other side. 15. Lycius accordingly rode thither, and having made his observations, brought word that the enemy were fleeing with precipitation. Just as these things took place, the sun set.

  16. Here the Greeks halted and, piling their arms, took some rest; and at the same time they wondered that Cyrus himself nowhere made his appearance, and that no one else came to them from him; for they did not know that he was killed, but conjectured that he either was gone in pursuit of the enemy or had pushed forward to secure some post. 17. They then deliberated whether they should remain in that spot and fetch their baggage thither, or return to the camp; and it was resolved to return, and they arrived at the tents about supper-time. 18. Such was the conclusion of this day.

  They found almost all their baggage, and whatever food and drink was with it, plundered and wasted; the wagons, too, full of barley-meal and wine, which Cyrus had provided, in order that, if ever a great scarcity of provisions should fall upon the army, he might distribute them amongst the Grecian troops (and the wagons, as was said, were four hundred in number)—these also the king’s soldiers had plundered. 19. Most of the Greeks consequently remained supperless; and they had also been without dinner, for before the army had halted for dinner, the king made his appearance. In this state they passed the ensuing night.

  From BOOK II

  1.... 2. When it was day, the generals met together and expressed their surprise that Cyrus had neither sent any person to give directions how they should act, nor had made his appearance himself. It seemed best to them, therefore, to pack up what baggage they had, and, arming themselves, to march forward till they could effect a junction with Cyrus. 3. But when they were on the point of starting, just as the sun was rising, there came to them Procles, the governor of Teuthrania (who was descended from Damaratus the Lacedaemonian) and with him Glus, the son of Tamos, who told them that Cyrus was dead, and that Ariaeus, having fled, was with the rest of the barbarians at the station whence they started the day before; and that he said he would wait for the Greeks that day, if they would come to him; but on the morrow, he said, he should set off for Ionia, from whence he had come.

  4. The generals, on hearing this intelligence, and the other Greeks, on learning it from them, were grievously afflicted; and Clearchus spoke thus: “Would that Cyrus were still alive; but since he is no more, carry back word to Ariaeus that we at least are victorious over the king, and that, as you see, no enemy any longer offers us battle; and, if you had not come, we should have marched against the king; and we promise Ariaeus that, if he will come hither, we will seat him on the royal throne; for to those who conquer, it belongs also to rule.” 5. Saying this, he dismissed the messengers, and sent with them Cheirisophus the Lacedaemonian and Menon the Thessalian; for Menon himself desired to go, as he was connected with Ariaeus by ties of friendship and hospitality.

  6. While they departed on their mission Clearchus waited where he was; and the troops supplied themselves with food, as well as they could, from the carcases of their baggage-cattle, slaughtering their oxen and asses; and, going a little way in front of the line to the place where the battle was fought, they collected and used as fuel not only the arrows, which lay in great quantities, and which the Greeks had compelled the deserters from the king to throw down, but also the wicker shields of the Persians, and the wooden ones of the Egyptians; and there were also many other light shields, and wagons emptied of their contents, to be taken away; using all which materials to cook the meat, they appeased their hunger for that day.

  7. It was now about the middle of the forenoon, when some heralds arrived from the king and Tissaphernes, all of them barbarians, except one, a Greek named Phalinus, who chanced to be with Tissaphernes, and was highly esteemed by him, for he had pretensions to skill in the arrangement of troops and in the exercise of heavy arms. 8. These persons, having approached and asked to speak with the commanders of the Greeks, told them that the king, since he had gained the victory and slain Cyrus, required the Greeks to deliver up their arms, and go to the gates of the king, and try to obtain, if they could, some favour from him. 9. Thus spoke the king’s heralds; and the Greeks heard them with no small concern; but Clearchus only said that it was not the part of conquerors to deliver up their arms. “But,” he continued, “do you, fellow captains, give these men such an answer as you think most honourable and proper, and I will return immediately”; for one of the attendants just then called him away to inspect the entrails which had been taken out of the victim, as he happened to be engaged in sacrifice. 10. Cleanor the Arcadian, the oldest of them, then answered that they would die before they would deliver up their arms. “For my part,” said Proxenus the Theban, “I wonder, Phalinus, whether it is as conqueror that the king asks for our arms, or as gifts in friendship; for if as conqueror; why should he ask for them at all, and not rather come and take them? But if he wishes to get them from us by means of persuasion, let him say what will be left to the soldiers, if they gratify him in this p
articular.” 11. To this Phalinus replied, “The king considers himself the conqueror, since he has slain Cyrus. For who is there now that disputes the sovereignty with him? And he also looks upon yourselves as his captives, having you here in the middle of his dominions, and enclosed within impassable rivers; and being able to lead such multitudes against you, as, though he gave them into your power, it would be impossible for you to destroy.”

  12. After him, Theopompus, an Athenian, spoke thus: “O Phalinus, we have now, as you see, nothing to avail us except our arms and our valour. While we retain our arms, we may hope to profit by our valour; but if we were to give them up, we should expect to be deprived also of our lives. Do not suppose, therefore, that we shall give up to you the only things of value that we possess; but, with these in our hands, we will even fight for whatever of value you possess.” 13. On hearing him speak thus, Phalinus laughed and said, “You seem like a philosopher, young man, and express yourself not without grace; but be-assured that you are out of your senses if you imagine that your valour will prove victorious over the might of the king.” 14. But it was reported that certain others of the generals, giving way to their fears, said that they had been faithful to Cyrus, and might likewise prove of great service to the king, if he were willing to become their friend; and that whether he might wish to employ them in any other service or in an expedition against Egypt, they would assist him in reducing it.”