Cyropaedia

Thus he spoke; and Cyrus answered: Please see to it, Gobryas, that you are here early in the morning with your cavalry under arms, so that we may see your forces, and then you shall lead us through your country so that we may know what we have to consider as belonging to our friends and what as belonging to our enemies.

When they had thus spoken, they went away, each to his own proper task. When day dawned, Gobryas came with his cavalry and led the way. But Cyrus, as became a general, turned his thoughts not only upon the march, but at the same time, as he proceeded, he kept studying the situation to see whether it might be in any way possible to make the enemy weaker or his own side stronger.

So he called Gobryas and the[*](Cyrus consults with Gobryas and the Hyrcanian king) Hyrcanian king to him, for he supposed that they must know best what he thought he needed to learn, and said: My dear friends, I think that I should be making no mistake to consult with you in regard to this war and to rely upon your trustworthiness. For I observe that you have greater need than I to see to it that the Assyrian shall not get the upper hand of us: if I am unsuccessful in this, I shall, perhaps, find some other place of refuge; whereas in your case, I see that if he gains the upper hand, all that you have passes into other hands.

For, as for me, he is my enemy, not because he hates me, but because he imagines that it would be inimical to his interests for our nation to become great, and for that reason he is making war upon us; but you he actually hates, for he thinks that you have done him wrong.To this they both answered in the same way, that he should proceed with what he had to say, for they recognized the truth of what he had said and knew that it was a matter of vital concern to them how things turned out in the future.

Then he began as follows: Tell me, then, said he, does the Assyrian king believe that you are the only ones who are hostile to him, or do you know of any one else who is his enemy?Yes, by Zeus, said the Hyrcanian; the Cadusians,[*](Cyrus aims to effect a combination with other enemies of Assyria) a large and powerful nation, are most bitter enemies of his; and so are our neighbours, the Sacians, for they have suffered very severely at his hands; for he attempted to subjugate them just as he did us.

Well then, said he, do you think that these two nations would like to join us in an attack upon the Assyrian? Yes, they answered, and right eagerly, if they could find a way to combine their forces with ours. And what is to hinder such a union of forces? asked Cyrus.The Assyrians, they answered, the same nation, through whose country you are now marching.

But, Gobryas, said Cyrus, when he heard this, do you not accuse this young fellow who has just come to the throne of cruel insolence of character? That judgment, I think, said Gobryas, is warranted by my experience with him. Pray, are you the only man towards whom he has acted in this way, Cyrus asked, or are there others also?

Aye, by Zeus, said Gobryas; there are[*](The king and Gadatas) others also. But why should I recount his acts of insolence toward the weak? For once when he and the son of a man much more powerful than I were drinking together, a young man who, like my son, was his comrade, he had him seized and castrated; and the occasion, so some people said, was simply because his concubine had praised his friend, remarking how handsome he was and felicitating the woman who should be his wife; but the king himself now maintains that it was because the man had made advances toward his concubine. And so now he is a eunuch, but he has come into the kingdom, for his father is dead.

Well then, said Cyrus, do you think that he also would be glad to see us, if he thought we could help him? Think said Gobryas, I am sure of it. But, Cyrus, it would be difficult to see him. Why? asked Cyrus. Because, to effect a union of forces with him, one has to march along under the very walls of Babylon.

Why, pray, said the other, is that so difficult?Because, by Zeus, said Gobryas, I know that[*](The Assyrians’ terror of Cyrus is disappearing) the forces that would come out of that city alone are many times as large as your own at present; and let me tell you that the Assyrians are now less inclined than heretofore to deliver up their arms and to bring in their horses to you for the very reason that to those of them who have seen your army it seemed a small one; and a rumour to this effect has now been widely spread abroad. And, he added, I think we should do better to proceed cautiously.

I think you are right, Gobryas, in admonishing us to march with the utmost caution,Cyrus made answer upon hearing this suggestion from him. But when I think of it, I cannot conceive of any[*](Cyrus proposes to march straight for Babylon) safer procedure for us than to march directly upon Babylon, if that is where the main body of the enemy’s forces is. For they are, as you say, numerous; and if they take courage, they will also, as I say, give us cause to fear them.

However, if they do not see us and get the idea that we are keeping out of sight because we are afraid of them, then, let me assure you, they will recover from the fear with which we inspired them; and the longer we keep out of their sight, the greater the courage that will spring up within them in place of that fear. But if we march upon them at once, we shall find many of them still in tears over those whom we have slain, many still wearing bandages on the wounds they received from us, and all still mindful of the daring of this army of ours and of their own flight and defeat.

And let me assure you, Gobryas, he continued, that your large bodies of men, when they are inspired with confidence, display a spirit that is irresistible; but when once they are frightened, the greater their numbers are, the greater and more overpowering the panic that seizes them.

For it comes over them increased by the many faint-hearted words they hear and magnified by the many wretched figures and the many dejected and distorted countenances they see; and by reason of the large numbers it is not easy with a speech to quell the panic, nor by a charge against the enemy to inspire them with courage, nor by a retreat to rally their spirits; but the more you try to encourage them to bravery, in so much the greater peril do they think they are.

Again, by Zeus, said he, let us consider[*](Cyrus’s grounds for confidence) precisely how this matter stands: if, in future, victory on the field of battle is to rest with that side which counts the greater numbers, you have good reason to fear for us and we really are in danger. If, however, battles are still to be decided by good fighting as they have been before, it would not be at all amiss for you to be bold and confident; for, please God, you will find far more men on our side who are eager to fight, than on theirs.

And to give yourself still more confidence, bethink you also of this: the enemy are much fewer now than they were before we defeated them, much weaker than when they fled before us; while we are bigger now since we have conquered and stronger since you have been added to us. For you must no longer undervalue your own men, now that they are with us; for be assured, Gobryas, that when they are with the victors, even those who follow the camp go along without a fear.

And do not forget this either, that the enemy may find us even now, if they will. And, let me assure you, we could in no possible way strike more terror into them when they do see us, than by marching upon them. As this, therefore, is my conviction, lead us straight on to Babylon.