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Now Cyrus wished for the sake of the peers themselves that this measure should pass; for he thought that even they themselves would be better, if they knew that they also should be judged by their works and should receive according to their deserts. And so it seemed to him to be the proper time to bring this matter to a vote now, while the peers also were questioning the commoners’ claims to equality. Accordingly, those in the tenth agreed to submit the question to a discussion and they said that whoever thought himself to be a man ought to advocate it.

But one of the captains said with a laugh: Well, I know a man of the commoners, too, who will support the proposition not to have share and share alike in that indiscriminate fashion.Another asked him whom he meant; and he answered: By Zeus, he is a messmate of ours, who in everything does his best to get the largest share.What! the largest share of hard work, too? asked another. No, by Zeus, said he; not by any means; but here I have been caught in a falsehood. For my observation is that he very good-naturedly consents to have a smaller share of hard work and other things of that sort than anybody else.

Well, men, said Cyrus, I am convinced that[*](The vicious and lazy have no place in an army) such fellows as this one of whom our friend has just been telling us must be weeded out of the ranks, if we are to keep our army industrious and obedient. For it seems to me that the majority of the soldiers are the sort to follow wherever any one leads; and the good and noble, I think, try to lead only to what is good and noble, and the vicious to what is vicious.

And therefore the base oftentimes find a larger following of congenial spirits than the noble. For since vice makes her appeal through the pleasures of the moment, she has their assistance to persuade many to accept her views; but virtue, leading up hill, is not at all clever at attracting men at first sight and without reflection; and especially is this true, when there are others who call in the opposite direction, to what is downhill and easy.

And so, when people are bad only because of laziness and indolence, I believe that they, like drones, damage their associates only by the cost of their keeping. But those who are poor companions in toil, and also extravagant and shameless in their desire for any advantage, these are likely also to lead others to what is vicious; for they are often able to demonstrate that vice does gain some advantage. And so we must weed out such men at any cost.

Do not, however, endeavour to fill up their[*](How to fill vacant places in the ranks) places in the ranks with your own countrymen only; but, just as in selecting a team you seek out not horses that are home-bred but those which are best, so also in the case of men, take them from all sources—whoever you think will be most likely to contribute to your strength and to your honour. And I have the following illustrations to prove the worth of my suggestion: a chariot would never go fast, I am sure, if slow horses were attached to it, nor would it be serviceable if horses unfit for service were harnessed to it; nor yet could a house be well managed if it employed vicious servants, but it would suffer less from having no servants at all than from being kept in confusion by incapable servants.

Let me assure you of this, too, my friends, he added, that the weeding out of the vicious will bring not only this advantage, that the vicious will be out of the way, but also among those who remain the ones that have already been infected with vice will be purged of it, while the virtuous seeing the vicious disgraced will cleave more eagerly to virtue.

With that he concluded; and all his friends agreed that what he said was true, and they began to act upon that principle. After that Cyrus began again to jest with them;[*](The ugly favourite.) for he had observed that one of the lieutenants had brought along as a guest and companion at table an exceedingly hairy and exceedingly ill-favoured man; and addressing the lieutenant by name he spoke as follows: Well, Sambaulas, said he, so you also have adopted the Greek fashion, have you, and take about with you everywhere this youngster who is now beside you, because he is so handsome?Yes, by Zeus, said Sambaulas; at all events I enjoy both his company and his looks.

When his messmates heard this, they looked at the man; and when they saw that his countenance was exceedingly ugly, they all laughed. And one of them said: In the name of the gods, Sambaulas, what has this fellow done to make such a hit with you?

By Zeus, fellows, he answered, I will tell you. Every time that I have called him, whether by day or by night, he has never made any excuse saying that he had not time, nor has he answered my call slowly, but always on a run. And as often as I have bidden him do anything, I have never seen him perform it without sweat; and besides, by showing them not by precept but by example what sort of men they ought to be, he has made his whole squad of ten just like himself.

And yet, said one of the men, although he is such an excellent fellow, you don’t kiss him as you do your relatives?And the homely man answered this and said: No, by Zeus, for he is not fond of hard work; for if he wished to kiss me, that would be an ample substitute for all his drill-work.

Things of this sort, both grave and gay, were said and done at the dinner party. And finally when they had made the third libation[*](Xenophon here introduces a Greek custom; the Persians poured no libations. But at the conclusion of a dinner, the Greeks poured three libations: the first, to the gods; the second, to the heroes; the third to Zeus, or to Hermes.) and prayed to the gods for their blessings, the party broke up, and they all went to bed. Then on the morrow, Cyrus[*](The mass meeting) called all his soldiers together and spoke as follows:

Friends, the conflict is at hand; for the enemy are approaching. As for the prizes of victory, if we are victorious—and we must assume that we shall be and work to that end—it is evident that the enemy and all that is theirs will belong to us. But, on the other hand, if we are defeated—in this case, too, all the possessions of the vanquished are invariably the prizes set for the victors.

Accordingly, said he, you must realize that when men who are united as comrades in war are fully persuaded that nothing will come out as it should unless each individual man exerts himself, then many splendid achievements are speedily accomplished; for nothing that needs to be done is neglected. But when each one assumes that there will be some one else to do and to fight, even if he proves a weakling, let me assure you, said he, that to such men, all alike, all that is grievous comes in a flood.

And God has ordained it in some such way as this: in the case of those who will not compel themselves to work out their own good, he assigns others to be their commanders. Now, therefore, let any one[*](Cyrus proposes rewards on the basis of merit) stand up and speak to this question before us, whether he thinks that valour would be more cultivated among us, if the one who will do and dare most is also to receive the greatest rewards, or if we know that it makes no difference whether a man be a coward or not, as we shall all share and share alike.

Hereupon Chrysantas, one of the peers, a man[*](Chrysantas seconds the proposal) neither large nor powerful to look upon, but preminent in understanding, stood up and spoke: Well, Cyrus, said he, I think that you are introducing this discussion not because you think that the bad ought to have an equal share with the good, but because you wish to prove whether a single man will really be found who will care to let it be known that he thinks that, even if he himself does nothing good and noble, he should have an equal share of that which others win by their valour.

Now I, he went on, am neither fleet of foot nor strong of arm, and I know that in view of what I shall accomplish by my bodily strength I should not be judged either the first or the second, or even, I suppose, the thousandth, and perhaps not even the ten thousandth. But on this point I am perfectly clear, that if those who are powerful men take matters vigorously in hand, I shall have as large a share of any good fortune that may come as I deserve. But if the bad do nothing and the good and strong lose heart, I am afraid, said he, that I shall have a larger share than I wish of something other than good.

Thus spoke Chrysantas. And after him[*](Pheraulas adds his support) Pheraulas stood up, one of the Persian commoners, but a man who for some reason or other had from the beginning won Cyrus’s confidence and affection; besides he was well-favoured in body and a gentleman at heart. His speech was as follows:

I think, Cyrus, said he, and all you Persians here assembled, that we are all now starting on an equal footing in a contest of merit; for I observe that we are all taking the same bodily exercise, that we all have the same rations, that we are all considered worthy to move in the same society, and that the prizes are offered alike to all. For obedience to the officers has been enjoined equally upon us all, and whoever shows himself prompt to comply, I observe that he receives honour from Cyrus. Again, to be brave in the face of the enemy is not a thing to be expected of one and not of another, but it is considered far the noblest thing for all alike.

And now, he continued, we have been initiated into a method of fighting, which, I observe, all men naturally understand, just as in the case of other creatures each understands some method of fighting which it has not learned from any other source than from instinct: for instance, the bull knows how to fight with his horns, the horse with his hoofs, the dog with his teeth, the boar with his tusks. And all know how to protect themselves, too, against that from which they most need protection, and that, too, though they have never gone to school to any teacher.