Cyropaedia

This, my son, is the road to compulsory obedience, indeed, but there is another road, a short cut, to what is much better—namely, to willing obedience. For people are only too glad to obey the man who they believe takes wiser thought for their interests than they themselves do. And you might recognize that this is so in many instances but particularly in the case of the sick: how readily they call in those who are to prescribe what they must do; and at sea how cheerfully the passengers obey the captain; and how earnestly travellers desire not to get separated from those who they think are better acquainted with the road than they are. But when people think that they are going to get into trouble if they obey, they will neither yield very much for punishment nor will they be moved by gifts; for no one willingly accepts even a gift at the cost of trouble to himself.

You mean to say, father, that nothing is more effectual toward keeping one’s men obedient than to seem to be wiser than they?Yes said he, that is just what I mean. And how, pray, father, could one most quickly acquire such a reputation for oneself?There is no shorter road, my son, said he, than[*](Be what you would seem to be) really to be wise in those things in which you wish to seem to be wise; and when you examine concrete instances, you will realize that what I say is true. For example, if you wish to seem to be a good farmer when you are not, or a good rider, doctor, flute-player, or anything else that you are not, just think how many schemes you must invent to keep up your pretensions. And even if you should persuade any number of people to praise you, in order to give yourself a reputation, and if you should procure a fine outfit for each of your professions, you would soon be found to have practised deception; and not long after, when you were giving an exhibition of your skill, you would be shown up and convicted, too, as an impostor.

But how could one become really wise in foreseeing that which will prove to be useful?Obviously, my son, said he, by learning all that it is possible to acquire by learning, just as you learned tactics. But whatever it is not possible for man to learn, nor for human wisdom to foresee, that you may find out from the gods by the soothsayer’s art, and thus prove yourself wiser than others; and if you know anything that it would be best to have done, you would show yourself wiser than others if you should exert yourself to get that done; for it is a mark of greater wisdom in a man to strive to secure what is needful than to neglect it.

Yes; but as to the love of one’s subjects—[*](The way to win affection) and this, it seems to me at least, is one of the most important questions—the same course that you would take if you wished to gain the affection of your friends leads also to that; that is, I think, you must show yourself to be their benefactor.Yes, my son, said he; it is a difficult matter, however, always to be in a position to do good to whom you will; but to show that you rejoice with them if any good befall them, that you sympathize with them if any ill betide, that you are eager to help them in times of distress, that you are anxious that they be not crossed in any way, and that you try to prevent their being crossed; it is in these respects somehow that you ought rather to go hand in hand with them.

And in his campaigns also, if they fall in the summer time, the general must show that he can endure the heat of the sun better than his soldiers can, and that he can endure cold better than they if it be in winter; if the way lead through difficulties, that he can endure hardships better. All this contributes to his being loved by his men.You mean to say, father, said he, that in everything the general must show more endurance than his men. Yes said he, that is just what I mean; however, never fear for that, my son; for bear in mind that the same toils do not affect the general and the private in the same way, though they have the same sort of bodies; but the honour of the general’s position and the very consciousness that nothing he does escapes notice lighten the burdens for him.

But, father, when once your soldiers had supplies and were well and able to endure toils, and when they were practised in the arts of war and ambitious to prove themselves brave, and when they were more inclined to obey than to disobey, under such circumstances do you not think it would be wise to desire to engage the enemy at the very first opportunity?Yes, by Zeus, said he; at any rate, if I[*](Taking advantage of the enemy) expected to gain some advantage by it; otherwise, for my part, the better I though myself to be and the better my followers, the more should I be on my guard, just as we try to keep other things also which we hold most precious in the greatest possible security.

But, father, what would be the best way to gain an advantage over the enemy?By Zeus, said he, this is no easy or simple question that you ask now, my son; but, let me tell you, the man who proposes to do that must be designing and cunning, wily and deceitful, a thief and a robber, overreaching the enemy at every point. O Heracles, father, said Cyrus with a laugh, what a man you say I must become! Such, my son, he said, that you would be at the same time the most righteous and law-abiding man in the world.

Why then, pray, did you use to teach us the opposite of this when we were boys and youths?Aye, by Zeus, said he; and so we would have you still towards your friends and fellow-citizens; but, that you might be able to hurt your enemies, do you not know that you all were learning many villainies? No, indeed, father, said he; not I, at any rate. Why said he, did you learn to shoot, and why to throw the spear? Why did you learn to ensnare wild boars with nets and pitfalls, and deer with traps and toils? And why were you not used to confront lions and bears and leopards in a fair fight face to face instead of always trying to contend against them with some advantage on your side? Why, do you not know that all this is villainy and deceit and trickery and taking unfair advantage?

Yes, by Zeus, said he, toward wild animals however; but if I ever even seemed to wish to deceive a man, I know that I got a good beating for it. Yes said he; for, methinks, we did not permit you to shoot at people nor to throw your spear at them; but we taught you to shoot at a mark, in order that you might not for the time at least do harm to your friends, but, in case there should ever be a war, that you might be able to aim well at men also. And we instructed you likewise to deceive and to take advantage, not in the case of men but of beasts, in order that you might not injure your friends by so doing, but, if there should ever be a war, that you might not be unpractised in these arts.

Well then, father, said he, if indeed it is[*](Training for taking unfair advantage) useful to understand both how to do good and how to do evil to men, we ought to have been taught both these branches in the case of men, too.

Yes, my son, said he; it is said that in the time of our forefathers there was once a teacher of the boys who, it seems, used to teach them justice in the very way that you propose; to lie and not to lie, to cheat and not to cheat, to slander and not to slander, to take and not to take unfair advantage. And he drew the line between what one should do to one’s friends and what to one’s enemies. And what is more, he used to teach this: that it was right to deceive friends even, provided it were for a good end, and to steal the possessions of a friend for a good purpose.

And in teaching these lessons he had also to train the boys to practise them upon one another, just as also in wrestling, the Greeks, they say, teach deception and train the boys to be able to practise it upon one another. When, therefore, some had in this way become expert both in deceiving successfully and in taking unfair advantage and perhaps also not inexpert in avarice, they did not refrain from trying to take an unfair advantage even of their friends.

In consequence of that, therefore, an ordinance was passed which obtains even unto this day, simply to teach our boys, just as we teach our servants in their relations toward us, to tell the truth and not to deceive and not to take unfair advantage; and if they should act contrary to this law, the law requires their punishment, in order that, inured to such habits, they may become more refined members of society.

But when they came to be as old as you are now, then it seemed to be safe to teach them that also which is lawful toward enemies; for it does not seem likely that you would break away and degenerate into savages after you had been brought up together in mutual respect. In the same way we do not discuss sexual matters in the presence of very young boys, lest in case lax discipline should give a free rein to their passions the young might indulge them to excess.

True, by Zeus, said he; but seeing that[*](How to take advantage of the enemy) I am late in learning about this art of taking advantage of others, do not neglect to teach me, father, if you can, how I may take advantage of the enemy. Contrive, then, said he, as far as is in your power, with your own men in good order to catch the enemy in disorder, with your own men armed to come upon them unarmed, and with your own men awake to surprise them sleeping, and then you will catch them in an unfavourable position while you yourself are in a strong position, when they are in sight to you and while you yourself are unseen.

And how, father, said he, could one catch the enemy making such mistakes? Why, my son, said he, both you and the enemy must necessarily offer many such opportunities; for instance, you must both eat, and you must both sleep, and early in the morning you must almost all at the same time attend to the calls of nature, and you must make use of such roads as you find. All this you must observe, and you must be particularly watchful on the side where you know yourselves to be weaker, and you must attack the enemy above all in that quarter in which you see that they are most vulnerable.

And is it possible to take advantage in these ways only, said Cyrus, or in other ways also?Aye, far more in other ways, my son, said he; for in these particulars all men, as a rule, take strict precautions; for they know that they must. But those whose business it is to deceive the enemy can catch them off their guard by inspiring them with over-confidence; and, by offering them the opportunity of pursuit, can get them into disorder; and, by leading them on into unfavourable ground by pretended flight, can there turn and attack them.

However, my son, he continued, since you are desirous of learning all these matters, you must not only utilize what you may learn from others, but you must yourself also be an inventor of stratagems against the enemy, just as musicians render not only those compositions which they have learned but try to compose others also that are new. Now if in music that which is new and fresh wins applause, new stratagems in warfare also win far greater applause, for such can deceive the enemy even more successfully.

And if you, my son, he went on, should[*](The lessons of the chase applied to the arts of war) do nothing more than apply to your dealings with men the tricks that you used to practise so constantly in dealing with small game, do you not think that you would make a very considerable advance in the art of taking advantage of the enemy? For you used to get up in the coldest winter weather and go out before daylight to catch birds, and before the birds were astir you had your snares laid ready for them and the ground disturbed had been made exactly like the ground undisturbed; and your decoy birds had been so trained as to serve your purposes and to deceive the birds of the same species, while you yourself would lie in hiding so as to see them but not to be seen by them; and you had practised drawing your nets before the birds could escape.

And again, to catch the hare—because he feeds in the night and hides in the daytime—you used to breed dogs that would find him out by the scent. And because he ran so fast, when he was found, you used to have other dogs trained to catch him by coursing. And in case he escaped even these, you used to find out the runs and the places where hares take refuge and may be caught, and there you would spread out your nets so as to be hardly visible, and the hare in his headlong flight would plunge into them and entangle himself. And lest he escape even from that, you used to station men to watch for what might happen and to pounce upon him suddenly from a place near by. And you yourself from behind shouting with a cry that kept right up with the hare would frighten him so that he would lose his wits and be taken; those in front, on the other hand, you had instructed to keep silent and made them lie concealed in ambush.