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And when he stopped hunting, he marched up to the Armenian border and dined; and on the following day, he went up to the mountains toward which he was aiming and hunted again. And when again he stopped, he sat down to dinner; but when he saw the army from Cyaxares approaching, he sent to them secretly and bade them take their dinner at a distance of about two parasangs, for he foresaw that this also would contribute to the secrecy of his design; but he ordered their commander to come to him when they had finished their dinner. Then, after dinner, he called together his captains; and when they had come he addressed them as follows:

My friends, the Armenian king formerly was[*](Cyrus lays his real design before his captains) both an ally and a dependent of Cyaxares; but now since he has seen the enemy coming upon us, he is insolent and neither sends us his complement of soldiers nor pays his tribute. Now, therefore, he is the game we have come to catch, if we can. And here is the plan that I think we should pursue: do you, Chrysantas, when you[*](His instructions to Chrysantas) have had as much rest as you reasonably need, take half of the Persians who are with us, and following the mountain road take possession of the heights to which they say he flees for refuge when anything alarms him. I will furnish you with guides.

Now they say that these mountains are thickly wooded, and so I have hopes of your not being seen. Nevertheless, suppose you send ahead of your army some active men, in the guise of brigands both as to numbers and accountrements; these, if they met any Armenians, would capture them and so prevent their spreading any reports; or, if they failed to capture them, they would frighten them away and so prevent their seeing the whole of your army, and would thus cause them to take precautions as against only a band of thieves.

Do you, then, said he, do this; but I, at break of day, with half the infantry and all the cavalry, will proceed through the plain straight toward the capital. And if he resists, we shall have to fight, of course; and if he abandons the field, of course we shall have to chase him; but if he flees to the mountain, then it is your business not to let any one of those who come your way escape.

And bear in mind that, just as in hunting, we shall be the ones beating out the game, you the man in charge of the nets. Remember this, then, that the runs must be blocked before the game starts; and those at the entrance to those runs must keep out of sight, if they are not to turn the animals aside as they come on.

However, he added, do not in this case do as you sometimes do, Chrysantas, in your fondness for hunting: you often keep yourself busy all night without sleeping; but now you should let your men rest long enough, so that they may be able to resist drowsiness.

Again, do not, because you personally are accustomed to wander up and down the mountains without following human guides but running after the game wherever it leads you—do not now go into such dangerous and difficult places, but order your guides to lead you by the easiest road, unless it is much too long; for the easiest road is the shortest for an army.

And do not lead your men at a run because you are used to running up mountains, but lead with moderate haste, that your army may be able to follow you easily.

And it is a good thing for some of the strongest and most zealous to fall back sometimes and encourage the rest; and when the column has passed by them, it is an incentive to all to hasten when these are seen running past them as they walk.

On hearing this, Chrysantas was elated with his commission from Cyrus; he took his guides and went away, and after giving what orders he thought necessary to those who were to go with him he went to rest. And when they had slept as long as he thought reasonable, he started for the mountains.

And when it was day, Cyrus sent forward a[*](Cyrus’s ultimatum) messenger to the Armenian with instructions to speak to him as follows: King of Armenia, Cyrus bids you take steps as quickly as possible to deliver to him the tribute and the troops. And if he asks where I am, tell the truth and say that I am at the frontier. And if he asks whether I also am coming in person, tell the truth in that case also and say that you do not know. But if he inquires how many men we are, bid him send some one along with you and find out.

With such instructions he sent the messenger off, for he thought that this was a more friendly course than to march upon him without notice. And he himself set out with his army in the formation which he thought best adapted both for covering distance and for fighting if necessary. He ordered his soldiers to molest no one, and, if any one met any Armenians, to bid them have no fear but to say that if any one of them wished to sell food or drink, he should feel free to bring it wherever they were and open a market.

Cyrus was thus employed; but when the[*](The Armenians hear of Cyrus’s approach) Armenian king heard from the envoy the message of Cyrus, he was alarmed, for he knew that he was doing wrong in witholding the tribute due and in failing to send the troops, and he was afraid most of all because he saw that he was sure to be detected in the act of beginning to build his palace in such a way as to render it strong enough for armed resistance.

Disturbed by the consciousness of all these faults, he sent around and collected his forces, and at the same time he sent away to the mountains his younger son, Sabaris, and the women, both his queen and his son’s wife, and his daughters. And he sent along with them his most valuable jewels and chattels and gave them an escort. At the same time he sent scouts to spy out what Cyrus was doing, while he went on assigning positions in his service to the Armenians as they came in to him. Presently still others arrived with the news that the man himself was quite near.

Then he no longer had the courage to join battle with him but retreated. When the Armenians saw him act thus, they dispersed at once, each to his own possessions, wishing to get their belongings out of the way. And when Cyrus saw the plain full of men running about and driving away, he sent secretly to say that he had no quarrel with any who remained; but he declared that if he caught any one trying to get away, he should treat him as an enemy. Accordingly, the most of them remained, but some retreated with the king.

Now as those with the women in charge went[*](Chrysantas captures the train of fugitives) forward they came upon the forces in the mountain. At once they raised a cry and as they tried to escape many of them were caught. And finally the young prince and the wives and daughters were captured and all the treasure that happened to be in the train. When the king himself learned what was going on, he was in a quandary which way to turn and took refuge upon a certain hill.

And when Cyrus saw[*](The king entrapped) this he surrounded the hill with the troops he had with him and sent orders to Chrysantas to leave a guard upon the mountains and come. Thus Cyrus’s army was being brought together. Then he sent a herald to the Armenian to ask him the following question: Tell me, king of Armenia, he said, whether you prefer to remain there and fight against hunger and thirst, or to come down into the plain and fight it out with us?The Armenian answered that he had no wish to fight against either.

Again Cyrus sent to him and asked: Why then do you sit there and refuse to come down? Because, he answered, I am in a quandary what to do.But said Cyrus, there is no occasion whatever for that; for you are free to come down for trial. And who, said he, will be my judge? He, to be sure, to whom God has given the power to deal with you as he will, even without a trial. Then the Armenian, recognizing the exigency of his case, came down. And Cyrus received both the king and all that belonged to him into the midst and set his camp round them, for by this time he had all his forces together.

Now at this juncture Tigranes, the king’s elder son, returned from a journey abroad. He it was who had been Cyrus’s companion once on a hunt; and when he heard what had occurred, he came at once, just as he was, to Cyrus. And when he saw his father and mother and brothers and sisters and his own wife all made prisoners, he wept, as might be expected.

But Cyrus, when he looked upon him, showed him no token of friendship, but merely remarked: You have come just in time to attend your father’s trial.And immediately he called together the officers of[*](The court martial of the king) both the Medes and the Persians and all the Armenian nobles who were present. And the women who were there in their carriages he did not exclude but permitted them to attend.