Cyropaedia: The Education of Cyrus

by Xenophon

(C.5) And when they were gone, Cyrus turned to the Medes and the men of Armenia, and said, "It is high time, gentlemen, that we should dine, one and all of us; food and drink are prepared for you, the best we had skill to find. Send us, if you will, the half of the bread that has been baked; there is ample, I know, for both of us; but do not send any relish with it, nor any drink, we have quite enough at hand. (2) And do you," he added, turning to the Hyrcanians, "conduct our friends to their quarters, the officers to the largest tents—you know where they are—and the rest where you think best. For yourselves, you may dine where you like; your quarters are intact, and you will find everything there prepared for you exactly as it is for the others. (3) All of you alike must understand that during the night we Persians will guard the camp outside, but you must keep an eye over what goes on within; and see that your arms are ready to hand; our messmates are not our friends as yet."

(4) So the Medes and Tigranes with his men washed away the stains of battle, and put on the apparel that was laid out for them, and fell to dinner, and the horses had their provender too. They sent half the bread to the Persians but no relish with it and no wine, thinking that Cyrus and his men possessed a store, because he had said they had enough and to spare. But Cyrus meant the relish of hunger, and the draught from the running river. (5) Thus he regaled his Persians, and when the darkness fell he sent them out by fives and tens and ordered them to lie in ambush around the camp, so as to form a double guard, against attack from without, and absconders from within; any one attempting to make off with treasures would be caught in the act. And so it befell; for many tried to escape, and all of them were seized. (6) As for the treasures, Cyrus allowed the captors to keep them, but he had the absconders beheaded out of hand, so that for the future a thief by night was hardly to be found. Thus the Persians passed their time. (7) But the Medes drank and feasted and made music and took their fill of good cheer and all delights; there was plenty to serve their purpose, and work enough for those who did not sleep.

(8) Cyaxares, the king of the Medes, on the very night when Cyrus set forth, drank himself drunk in company with the officers in his own quarters to celebrate their good fortune. Hearing uproar all about him, he thought that the rest of the Medes must have stayed behind in the camp, except perhaps a few, but the fact was that their domestics, finding the masters gone, had fallen to drinking in fine style and were making a din to their hearts' content, the more so that they had procured wine and dainties from the Assyrian camp. (9) But when it was broad day and no one knocked at the palace gate except the guests of last night's revel, and when Cyaxares heard that the camp was deserted—the Medes gone, the cavalry gone—and when he went out and saw for himself that it was so, then he fumed with indignation against Cyrus and his own men, to think that they had gone off and left him in the lurch. It is said that without more ado, savage and mad with anger as he was, he ordered one of his staff to take his troopers and ride at once to Cyrus and his men, and there deliver this message:

(10) "I should never have dreamed that Cyrus could have acted towards me with such scant respect, or, if he could have thought of it, that the Medes could have borne to desert me in this way. And now, whether Cyrus will or no, I command the Medes to present themselves before me without delay."

(11) Such was the message. But he who was to take it said, "And how shall I find them, my lord?"

"Why," said Cyaxares, "as Cyrus and his men found those they went to seek."

"I only asked," continued the messenger, "because I was told that some Hyrcanians who had revolted from the enemy came here, and went off with him to act as guides."

(12) When Cyaxares heard that, he was the more enraged to think that Cyrus had never told him, and the more urgent to have his Medes removed from him at once, and he summoned them home under fiercer threats than ever; threatening the officer as well if he failed to deliver the message in full force.

(13) So the emissary set off with his troopers, about one hundred strong, fervently regretting that he had not gone with Cyrus himself. On the way they took a turning which led them wrong, and they did not reach the Persians until they had chanced upon some of the Assyrians in retreat and forced them to be their guides, and so at last arrived, sighting the watch-fires about midnight. (14) But though they had got to the camp, the pickets, acting on the orders of Cyrus, would not let them in till dawn. With the first faint gleam of morning Cyrus summoned the Persian Priests, who are called Magians, and bade them choose the offerings due to the gods for the blessings they had vouchsafed. (15) And while they were about this, Cyrus called the Peers together and said to them:

"Gentlemen, God has put before us many blessings, but at present we Persians are but a scant company to keep them. If we fail to guard what we have toiled for, it will soon fall back into other hands, and if we leave some of our number to watch our gains, it will soon be seen that we have no strength in us. (16) I propose therefore that one of you should go home to Persia without loss of time, and explain what I need and bid them despatch an army forthwith, if they desire Persia to win the empire of Asia and the fruits thereof. (17) Do you," said he, turning to one of the Peers, "do you, who are the eldest, go and repeat these words, and tell them that it shall be my care to provide for the soldiers they send me as soon as they are here. And as to what we have won—you have seen it yourself—keep nothing back, and ask my father how much I ought to send home for an offering to the gods, if I wish to act in honour and according to the law, and ask the magistrates how much is due to the commonwealth. And let them send commissioners to watch all that we do and answer all that we ask. So, sir," he ended, "you will get your baggage together, and take your company with you as an escort. Fare you well."