Cyropaedia: The Education of Cyrus

by Xenophon

(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: