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You will please present him with me, then,[*](Hystaspas receives the hand of Gobryas’s daughter) will you not, said Hystaspas, that so I may get the collection of proverbs? Ah, but have you property enough to match the girl’s fortune? asked Cyrus. Yes, by Zeus, he answered, and several times over. And where is this property of yours? asked Cyrus. Right there, said he, in your chair; for you are a friend of mine. I am satisfied, said Gobryas; and at once stretching out his right hand he added: Give him to me, Cyrus; I will accept him.

And Cyrus took Hystaspas by the right hand and placed it in the hand of Gobryas, and he received it. And then Cyrus gave Hystaspas many splendid gifts to send to the young lady. But Chrysantas he drew to himself and kissed him.

By Zeus, Cyrus, cried Artabazus, the cup which you have given me is not of the same gold as the present you have given Chrysantas! Well said he, I will give you the same gift. When? asked the other. Thirty years from now, was the answer. I shall wait for it, then, said he, and not die before I get it; so be getting ready.And thus that banquet came to an end. And as they rose to depart, Cyrus also rose and escorted them to the doors.

On the following day he dismissed to their[*](Cyrus and the allies) several homes all those who had volunteered to be his allies, except such as wished to settle near him. To those who stayed he gave houses and lands which even to this day are in the possession of their descendants; these, moreover, were mostly Medes and Hyrcanians. And to those who went home he gave many presents and sent both officers and privates well contented on their way.

Next he divided also among his own soldiers[*](He divides the Lydian spoils) the spoil that he had obtained at Sardis. To the generals and to his own aides-de-camp he gave the choicest portions—to each, according to his merit—and then distributed the rest; and in assigning to the generals their proper portions he left it to their discretion to distribute it as he had distributed to them.

And they apportioned all the rest, each officer examining into the merits of his subordinate officers; and what was left to the last, the corporals, inquiring into the merits of the private soldiers under their command, gave to each according to his deserts. And so all were in receipt of their fair share.

And when they had received what was then given them, some spoke concerning Cyrus in this vein: He must be keeping an abundance himself, one would think, seeing that he has given so much to each one of us. Abundance, indeed! some others would say; Cyrus is not of the sort to make money for himself; he takes more pleasure in giving than in keeping.

And when Cyrus heard of these remarks and opinions about himself, he called together his friends and all his staff-officers and addressed them as follows: My friends, I have in my time seen fellows[*](The use vs. the abuse of wealth) who wished to have the reputation of possessing more than they had, for they supposed that they would thus be thought fine gentlemen; but to me, said he, it seems that such persons bring upon themselves the very reverse of what they wish. For if any man enjoy the reputation of having great wealth and do not appear to help his friends in a manner worthy of his abundance—that, it seems to me at least, fixes upon him the stigma of being a mean sort.[*](ἐλευθέριος and ἀνελευθερία have both a double meaning: (1) of free or mean extraction, and (2) of free (liberal) or miserly character.)

On the other hand, he continued, there are some who wish to keep it a secret how much they do possess. It seems to me, then, that these also are mean toward their friends. For oftentimes their friends are in need and, because they are ignorant of the truth, they say nothing to their comrades about their difficulties, and really suffer want.

To me, however, he went on, it seems the most straightforward way for a man to let the extent of his means be known and to strive in proportion to them to show himself a gentleman. And so I wish to show you all that I have, as far as it is possible for you to see, and to give you an account of it, in so far as it is impossible for you to see it.

With these words, he showed them many[*](Cyrus exhibits his possessions) splendid possessions and gave them an account of those that were so stored away as not to be easily viewed. And in conclusion he said:

All this, my friends, you must consider mine no more than your own; for I have been collecting it, not that I might spend it all myself or use it up all alone (for I could not), but that I might on every occasion be able to reward any one of you who does something meritorious, and also that, if any one of you thinks he needs something, he might come to me and get whatever he happens to want.Such was his speech.

When it seemed to him that affairs in Babylon[*](Cyrus goes to Persia) were sufficiently well organized for him to absent himself from the city, he began to make preparations for his journey to Persia and issued instructions to the others accordingly. And as soon as he had got together in sufficient quantity, as he believed, everything that he thought he should need, he started at once.

We will relate here in how orderly a manner[*](An oriental camp) his train packed up, large though it was, and how quickly they reached the place where they were due. For wherever the great king encamps, all his retinue follow him to the field with their tents, whether in summer or in winter.

At the very beginning Cyrus made this rule, that his tent should be pitched facing the east; and then he determined, first, how far from the royal pavilion the spearmen of his guard should have their tent; next he assigned a place on the right for the bakers, on the left for the cooks, on the right for the horses, and on the left for the rest of the pack-animals. And everything else was so organized that every one knew his own place in camp—both its size and its location.

And when they come to pack up again, every one gets together the things that it is his business to use and others in turn pack them upon the animals, so that the baggage-men all come at the same time to the things they were appointed to transport, and all at the same time pack the things upon their several animals. Thus the amount of time needed for striking a single tent suffices for all.

The unpacking also is managed in this same manner; and in order to have all the necessaries ready at the right time, each one has assigned to him likewise the part that he is to do. In this way the time required for doing any one part is sufficient for getting all the provisions ready.

And just as the servants in charge of the[*](Cyrus’s perfect organization) provisions had each his proper place, so also his soldiers had when they encamped the places suitable to each sort of troops; they knew their places, too, and so all found them without the slightest friction.

For Cyrus considered orderliness to be a good thing to practise in the management of a household also; for whenever any one wants a thing, he then knows where he must go to find it; but he believed that orderliness in all the departments of an army was a much better thing, inasmuch as the chances of a successful stroke in war come and go more quickly and the losses occasioned by those who are behindhand in military matters are more serious. He also saw that the advantages gained in war by prompt attention to duty were most important. It was for this reason, therefore, that he took especial pains to secure this sort of orderliness.

Accordingly, he himself first took up his[*](The arrangement of his camp) position in the middle of the camp in the belief that this situation was the most secure. Then came his most trusty followers, just as he was accustomed to have them about him at home, and next to them in a circle he had his horsemen and charioteers;