of youths; and there it quickly appeared that he had not his equal in dexterity, address, patience, and obedience. Ten years after, he was admitted into the men's class, wherein he remained thirteen years, till he set out at the head of the Persian army, to go to the aid of his uncle Cyaxares. SECT. III.-The first campaign of Cyrus, who goes to aid his uncle Cyaxares against the Babylonians. A. M. 3444. Astyages,* king of the Medes, dying, was succeeded Ant. J. C. 560. by his son Cyaxares, brother to Cyrus's mother.. Cyaxares was no sooner on the throne, than he was engaged in a terrible war. He was informed that the king of the Babylonians (Neriglissor) was preparing a powerful army against him, and that he had already engaged several princes on his side, and amongst others, Croesus, king of Lydia; that he had likewise sent ambassadors to the king of India, to give him bad impressions of the Medes and Persians, by representing to him how dangerous a closer alliance and union between two nations already so powerful, might be, since they could in the end subdue all the nations around them, if a vigorous opposition was not made to the progress of their power. Cyaxares therefore despatched ambassadors to Cambyses, to desire succours from him; and ordered them to bring it about, that Cyrus should have the command of the troops his father was to send. This was readily granted. As soon as it was known that Cyrus was to march at the head of the army, the joy was universal. The army, consisted of 30,000 men, all infantry, (for the Persians as yet had no cavalry;) but they were all chosen men, and such as had been raised after a particular manner. First of all Cyrus chose out of the nobility 200 of the bravest officers, each of whom was ordered to choose out four more of the same sort, which made 1000 in all; and these were the officers that were called 'Oμirit and who sig-' nalized themselves afterwards so gloriously upon all occasions." Every one of this thousand was appointed to raise among the people ten light-armed pike-men, ten slingers, and ten bowmen; which amounted in the whole to 31,000 men. Before they proceeded to the choice, Cyrus thought fit to make a speech to the 200 officers, whom, after having highly praised them for their courage, he inspired with the strongest assurance of victory and success. Do you know, says he to them, the nature of the enemy you have to deal with? They are soft, effeminate, enervated men. already half conquered by their own luxury and voluptuousness; men not able to bear either hunger or thirst; equally incapable of supporting either the toil of war or the sight of danger: whereas you, that are inured from your infancy to a sober and hard way of living; to you, I say, hunger and thirst are but the sauce, and the only sauce, to your meats: Falio meals: fatigues are your pleasure, dangers your delight, and the love of your country and of glory your only passion. Besides, the justice of your cause is another considerable advantage. They are the aggressors. It is the enemy that attacks us, and it is our friends and allies that require our aid. Can any thing be more just than to repel the injury they offer us? Is there any thing more honourable than to fly to the assistance of four friends? But what ought to be the principal motive of your confidence is, that I do not engage in this expedition without having first consulted the gods, and implored their protection; for you know it is my custom to begin all my acions, and all my undertakings, in that manner. A. M. 3445. Cyrus soon after set out without loss of time; but Ant. J. C. 559. before his departure he invoked the gods of the country a second time. For his great maxim was, and he had it from his father, that a man ought not to form any enterprise, great or small, without consulting the divinity, and imploring his protection. Cambyses had often taught him to consider, that the prudence of men is very short, and their views very limited; that they cannot penetrate into futurity; and that many times what they think must needs turn to their advantage, proves their ruin; whereas the gods, being eternal, know all things, future as well as past, and inspire those they lově, to undertake what is most expedient for them; which is a favour and a protection they owe to no man, and grant only to those that invoke and consult them. Cambyses accompanied his son as far as the frontiers of Persia ; and in the way gave him excellent instructions concerning the duties of the general of an army. Cyrus thought himself ignorant of nothing that related to the business of war, after the many lessons he had received from the most able masters of that time. Have your masters, says Cambyses to him, given you any instructions concerning economy; that is to say, concerning the manner of supplying an army with all necessary provisions, of preventing sickness, and preserving the health of the soldiers, of fortifying their bodies by frequent exercises, of exciting a generous emulation among them, of making yourself obeyed, esteemed, and beloved, by your soldiers? Upon each of these points, and upon several others mentioned by the king, Cyrus owned he had never heard one word 'spoken, and that it was all entirely new to him. What is it then your masters have taught you? They have taught me to fence, replied the prince, to draw the bow, to fling the javelin, to mark out a camp, to draw the plan of a fortification, to range troops in order of battle, to review them, to see them march, file off, and encamp. Cambyses, smiling, gave his son to understan, that they had taught him nothing of what was most material and essential for a good officer and expert commander to know and in one single conversation, which certainly deserves to be well studied by all young gentlemen designed for the army, he taught him infinitely more than all the celebrated masters had done, in the course of several years. One : short instance of this discourse may serve to give the reader an idea of the rest. . The question was, what are the proper means of making the soldiers obedient and submissive? The way to effect that, says Cyrus, seems to be very easy, and very certain: it is only to praise and re ward those that obey, to punish and stigmatize such as fail in their duty. You say well, replied Cambyses; that is the way to make them obey you by force; but the chief point is, to make them obey you willingly and freely. Now the sure method of effecting this, is to convince those you command, that you know better what is for their advantage than they do themselves for all mankind readily submit to those of whom they have that opinion. This is the principle from whence that blind submission proceeds which you see sick persons pay to their physician, travellers to their guide, and the ship's company to the pilot. Their obedience is founded only upon their persua sion, that the physician, the guide, and the pilot, are all more skilful and better informed in their respective callings than themselves.—But what shall a man do, says Cyrus to his father, to appear more skilful and expert than others? He must really be so, replied Cambyses; and in order to be so, he must apply himself closely to his profession, diligently study all the rules of it, consult the most able and experienced masters, neglect no circumstance that may contribute to the success of his enterprise; and, above all, he must have recourse to the protection of the gods, from whom alone we receive all our wisdom, and all our success. As soon as Cyrus had arrived in Media,* and reached Cyaxares, the first thing he did, after the usual compliments had passed, was to inform himself of the quality and number of the forces on both sides. It appeared by the computation made of them, that the enemy's army amounted to 200,000 foot and 60,000 horse; and that the united armies of the Medes and Persians scarce amounted to half the number of foot: and as to the cavalry, the Medes had not so many by a third. This great inequality put Cyaxares in terrible fears and perplexities. He could think of no other expedient than to send for another body of troops from Persia, more numerous than that already arrived. But this expedient, besides that it would have taken up too much time, appeared in itself impracticable. Cyrus immediately proposed another, more sure and more expeditious, which was, that his Persian soldiers should change their arms. As they chiefly used the bow and the javelin, and consequently their manner of fighting was at a distance, in which kind of engagement the greater number was easily superior to the lesser, Cyrus was of opinion that they should be armed with such weapons as should oblige them to come to blows with the enemy immediately, and by that means render the superiority of their numbers useless. This project was highly approved, and instantly put into execution. + Cyrus established a wonderful order among the troops,* and in. spired them with a surprising emulation, by the rewards he promised, and by his obliging and engaging deportment towards all. He valued money only as it allowed him an opportunity of being generous. He was continually making presents to one or other, according to their rank or their merit; to one a buckler, to another a sword, or something of the same kind equally acceptable. By this generosity, this greatness of soul, and beneficent disposition, he thought a general ought to distinguish himself, and not by the luxury of his table, or the richness of his clothes, and still less by his haughtiness and imperious demeanour. A commander could not, he said, give actual proofs of his munificence to every body and for that very reason he thought himself obliged to convince every body of his inclination and good-will: for though a prince might exhaust his treasures by making presents, yet he could not injure himself by benevolence and affability by being sincerely concerned in the good or evil that happens to others, and by making it appear that he is so. One day, as Cyrus was reviewing his army, á messenger came to him from Cyaxares, to acquaint him that some ambassadors being arrived from the king of the Indies, he desired his presence immediately: For that purpose, says he, I have brought you a rich garment; for the king desires you would appear magnificently dressed before the Indians, to do the nation honour. Cyrus lost not a moment's time, but instantly set out with his troops, to wait upon the king; though without changing his dress, which was very plain, after the Persian fashion, and not (as the Greek text has it) polluted or spoiled with any foreign ornament. Cyaxares seemed at first a little displeased at it: If I had dressed myself in purple, says Cyrus, and loaded myself with bracelets and chains of gold, and with all that had been longer in coming, should I have done you more honour than I do now by my expedition, and the sweat of my face, and by letting all the world see with what promptitude and despatch your orders are obeyed. Cyaxares, satisfied with this answer, ordered the Indian ambassadors to be introduced. The purport of their speech was, that they were sent by the king their master to learn the cause of the war between the Medes and the Baylonians, and that they had orders, as soon as they had heard what the Medes should say, to proceed to the court of Babylon, to know what motives they had to allege on their part to the end that the king, their master, after having examined the reasons on both sides, might take part with those who had right and justice on their side. This is making a noble and glorious use of great power; to be influenced only by justice, to seek no advantage from the division of neighbours, but declare openly Cyrop. 1. ii. p. 44. + Ibid. 1. viii. p. 207. † Ἐν τῇ Περσικῇ στολὴ οὐδέν τι ὑβρισμένη. rendered into any other language with the same beauty. Ibid. 1. ii. p. 56. A fine expression, but not to be against the unjust aggressor, in favour of the injured party. Cyaxares and Cyrus answered, that they had given the Babylonians no subject of complaint, and that they willingly accepted the mediation of the king of India. It appears in the sequel that he declared for the Medes. A. M. 3447 The king of Armenia,* who was a vassal of the Medes, Ant. J. C. 557. looking upon them as ready to be swallowed up by the formidable league formed against them, thought fit to lay hold on this occasion to shake off their yoke. Accordingly he refused to pay them the ordinary tribute, and to send them the number of troops he was obliged to furnish in time of war. This highly embarrassed Cyaxares, who was afraid at this juncture of bringing new enemies upon his hands, if he undertook to compel the Armenians to execute their treaty. But Cyrus, having informed himself exactly of the strength and situation of the country, undertook the affair. The important point was to keep his design secret, without which it was not likely to succeed. He therefore appointed a great huntingmatch on that side of the country; for it was his custom to ride out that way, and frequently to hunt with the king's son, and the young noblemen of Armenia. On the day appointed, he set out with a humerous retinue. The troops followed at a distance, and were not to appear till a signal was given. After some day's hunting, when they were come pretty near the palace where the court resided, Cyrus communicated his design to his officers; and sent Chrysantas with a detachment, ordering them to make themselves masters of a certain steep eminence, where he knew the king used to retire, in case of an alarm, with his family and his treasure.. This being done, he sends a herald to the king of Armenia, to summon him to perform the treaty, and in the mean time orders his troops to advance. Never was greater surprise, and the perplexity was equally great. The king was conscious of the wrong he had done; and was now destitute of every resource. However, he did what he could to assemble his forces together from all quarters; and, in the mean time, despatched his youngest son, called Sabaris, into the mountains, with his wives, his daughters, and whatever was most precious and valuable. But when he was informed by his scouts, that Cyrus was coming close after them, he entirely lost all courage and all thoughts of making a defence. The Armenians following his example, ran away, every one where he could, to secure what was dearest to him. Cyrus, seeing the country covered with people that were endeavouring to make their escape, sent them word, that no harm should be done them, if they stayed in their houses; but that as many as were taken running away, should be treated as enemies. This made them all retire to their habitations, excepting a few that followed the king. On the other hand, they that were conducting the princesses to |