Memorabilia

Your analogy is perfect, Socrates, said the youth; for in war one must put the best men in the van and the rear,[*](ibid. VII. v. 4.) and the worst in the centre, that they may be led by the van and driven forward by the rearguard.

Well and good, provided that he taught you also to distinguish the good and the bad men. If not, what have you gained by your lessons? No more than you would have gained if he had ordered you to put the best money at the head and tail, and the worst in the middle, without telling you how to distinguish good from base coin.I assure you he didn’t; so we should have to judge for ourselves which are the good men and which are the bad.

Then we had better consider how we may avoid mistaking them.I want to do so, said the youth.Well now, said Socrates, if we had to lay hands on a sum of money, would not the right arrangement be to put the most covetous men in the front?I think so.And what should we do with those who are going to face danger? Should our first line consist of the most ambitious?Oh yes: they are the men who will face danger for the sake of glory. About these, now, there is no mystery: they are conspicuous everywhere, and so it is easy to find them.

But, said Socrates, did he teach you only the disposition of an army, or did he include where and how to use each formation?Not at all.And yet there are many situations that call for a modification of tactics and strategy.I assure you he didn’t explain that.Then pray go back and ask him. If he knows and has a conscience, he will be ashamed to send you home ill-taught, after taking your money.

One day when he met a man who had been chosen general, he asked him,[*](Cyropaedia VIII. xi. 14.)For what reason, think you, is Agamemnon dubbed Shepherd of the people by Homer?[*](Hom. Il. 2.243) Is it because a shepherd must see that his sheep are safe and are fed, and that the object for which they are kept is attained, and a general must see that his men are safe and are fed, and that the object for which they fight is attained, or, in other words, that victory over the enemy may add to their happiness?

Or what reason can Homer have for praising Agamemnon as

1. both a good king and a doughty warrior too’?
[*](Hom. Il. 3.179)

Because a king is chosen, not to take good care of himself, but for the good of those who have chosen him;[*](Cyropaedia I.6.8.) and all men fight in order that they may get the best life possible, and choose generals to guide them to it.

Therefore it is the duty of a commander to contrive this for those who have chosen him for general. For anything more honourable than that is not easy to find, or anything more disgraceful than its opposite.By these reflections on what constitutes a good leader he stripped away all other virtues, and left just the power to make his followers happy.

Again, when someone had been chosen a leader of cavalry, I remember that Socrates conversed with him in the following manner:Young man, he said, can you tell us why you hankered after a cavalry command? I presume it was not to be first of the cavalry in the charge; for that privilege belongs to the mounted archers; at any rate they ride ahead of their commanders even.True.Nor was it to get yourself known either. Even madmen are known to everyone.True again.

But perhaps you think you can hand over the cavalry in better condition to the state when you retire, and can do something for the good of the state as a cavalry leader, in case there is any occasion to employ that arm?Yes, certainly, said he.Yes, said Socrates, and no doubt it is a fine thing if you can do that. The command, I presume, for which you have been chosen, is the command of horses and riders.Indeed it is.

Come then, tell us first how you propose to improve the horses.Oh, but I don’t think that is my business. Every man must look after his own horse.

Then if some of your men appear on parade with their horses ailing or suffering from bad feet or sore legs, others with underfed animals that can’t go the pace, others with restive brutes that won’t keep in line, others with such bad kickers that it is impossible to line them up at all, what will you be able to make of your cavalry? how will you be able to do the state any good with a command like that?I am much obliged to you, he replied, and I will try to look after the horses carefully.

Won’t you also try to improve the men? said Socrates.I will.Then will you first train them to mount better?Oh yes, I must, so that if anyone is thrown he may have a better chance of saving himself.

Further, when there is some danger before you, will you order them to draw the enemy into the sandy ground where your manoeuvres are held, or will you try to carry out your training in the kind of country that the enemy occupy?Oh yes, that is the better way.

And again, will you pay much attention to bringing down as many of the enemy as possible without dismounting?Oh yes, that too is the better way.Have you thought of fostering a keen spirit among the men and hatred of the enemy, so as to make them more gallant in action?Well, at any rate, I will try to do so now.

And have you considered how to make the men obey you? Because without that horses and men, however good and gallant, are of no use.True, but what is the best way of encouraging them to obey, Socrates?

Well, I suppose you know that under all conditions human beings are most willing to obey those whom they believe to be the best.[*](Cyropaedia III. i. 20.) Thus in sickness they most readily obey the doctor, on board ship the pilot, on a farm the farmer, whom they think to be most skilled in his business.Yes, certainly.Then it is likely that in horsemanship too, one who clearly knows best what ought to be done will most easily gain the obedience of the others.

If then, Socrates, I am plainly the best horseman among them, will that suffice to gain their obedience?Yes, if you also show them that it will be safer and more honourable for them to obey you.How, then, shall I show that?Well, it’s far easier than if you had to show them that bad is better than good and more profitable.

Do you mean that in addition to his other duties a cavalry leader must take care to be a good speaker?Did you suppose that a commander of cavalry should be mum? Did you never reflect that all the best we learned according to custom — the learning, I mean, that teaches us how to live — we learned by means of words, and that every other good lesson to be learned is learned by means of words; that the best teachers rely most on the spoken word and those with the deepest knowledge of the greatest subjects are the best talkers?

Did you never reflect that, whenever one chorus is selected from the citizens of this state — for instance, the chorus that is sent to Delos — no choir from any other place can compare with it, and no state can collect so goodly a company?True.