Cyropaedia

Well said Tigranes, if you approve either of my father’s theory or his practice, then I advise you by all means to imitate him. But if you think he has done wrong throughout, I advise you not to imitate him.Well then, said Cyrus, if I should do what is right, I should surely not be imitating the one who does wrong. That is true, said he. Then, according to your reasoning, your father must be punished, if indeed it is right that the one who does wrong should be punished. Which do you think is better for you, Cyrus, to mete out your punishments to your benefit or to your own injury? In the latter case, at least, said he, I should be punishing myself.

Aye, but you would be doing yourself a great injury, said Tigranes, if you should put your friends to death just at the time when it was of the greatest advantage to you to have them. How said Cyrus, could men be of the greatest advantage to me just at the time when they were caught doing wrong?They would be, I think, if at that time they[*](The acquisition of discretion) should become discreet. For it seems to me to be true, Cyrus, said he, that without discretion there is no advantage at all in any other virtue; for what, he continued, could one do with a strong man or a brave man, or what with a rich man or a man of power in the state if he lacked discretion? But every friend is useful and every servant good, if he be endowed with discretion.

Do you mean to say, then,Cyrus answered, that in one day’s time your father has become discreet when he was indiscreet before? Yes said he, I do, indeed. By that you mean to say that discretion is an affection of the soul, as sorrow is, and not an acquisition.[*](Xenophon makes Cyrus apparently accept the Socratic doctrine that wisdom and the other virtues are matters for learning, the results of study and practice—not a mood, like sorrow, anger, or any other emotion.) For I do not suppose that a man could instantly pass from being indiscreet to being discreet, if indeed the one who is to be discreet must first have become wise.

What, have you never observed, Cyrus, said he, that when a man indiscreetly ventures to fight a stronger man than himself and has been worsted, he is instantly cured of his indiscretion toward that particular man? And again, he continued, have you never seen how when one state is in arms against another it is at once willing, when defeated, to submit to the victor instead of continuing the fight?

To what defeat of your father’s do you refer, said Cyrus, that you are so confident that he has been brought to discretion by it? Why that, by Zeus, Tigranes answered, which[*](How the king of Armenia learned discretion) he is conscious of having sustained, inasmuch as when he aimed at securing liberty he has become more of a slave than ever, and as he has not been able to accomplish a single thing of all that he thought he should effect by secrecy or by surprise or by actual force. And he knows that when you desired to outwit him, you did it as effectually as one could do who set out to deceive men blind or deaf or deprived of all their senses; and when you thought you ought to act secretly, you acted with such secrecy that the fortified places which he thought he had provided for his own safety you had secretly turned into prisons for him in advance. And so much did you surpass him in dispatch, that you came from a distance with a large army before he could muster the forces he had at home.

Well said Cyrus, do you really think that such a defeat is adequate to make men discreet—I mean, when they find out that others are their superiors? Yes said Tigranes, much more than when they are defeated in combat. For the one who is overcome by strength sometimes conceives the idea that, if he trains his body, he may renew the combat. Even cities too, when captured, think that by taking on new allies they might renew the fight. But if people are convinced that others are superior to themselves, they are often ready even without compulsion to submit to them.

You seem to think, said the other, that the insolent do not recognize those more discreet than they, that thieves do not recognize the truthful, and wrong-doers those who do right. Do you not know, he continued, that even now your father has played false and has not kept his agreement with us, although he knew that we have not been violating any of the agreements made by Astyages?

Yes; but neither do I mean that simply recognizing their superiors makes people discreet, unless they are punished by those superiors, as my father now is.But said Cyrus, your father has not yet suffered the least harm; but he is afraid, to be sure, that he will suffer the worst.

Do you think, then, said Tigranes, that[*](Fear of harm worse than the reality) anything breaks a man’s spirit sooner than object fear? Do you not know that those who are beaten with the sword, which is considered the most potent instrument of correction, are nevertheless ready to fight the same enemy again; but when people really fear anyone very much, then they cannot look him in the face, even when he tries to cheer them? You mean to say, said he, that fear is a heavier punishment to men than real correction.

And you, said he, know that what I say is true; for you are aware that, on the one hand, those who are afraid that they are to be exiled from their native land, and those who on the eve of battle are afraid that they shall be defeated, and those who fear slavery or bondage, all such can neither eat nor sleep for fear; whereas those who are already in exile or already defeated or already in slavery can sometimes eat and sleep better than those enjoying a happier lot.

And from the following considerations it is still clearer what a burden fear is: some, for fear that they will be caught and put to death, in terror take their own lives before their time—some by hurling themselves over a precipice, other by hanging themselves, others by cutting their own throats; so does fear crush down the soul more than all other terrors. As for my father, he added, in what a state of mind do you think he is? For he is in dread not only for himself, but also for me, for his wife, and for all of his children.

Well, answered Cyrus, it is not at all unlikely, I suppose, that he is for the moment in such a state of mind. However, it seems to me that we expect of a man who is insolent in success and abject in failure that, when set on his feet once more, he will again wax arrogant and again cause more trouble.

Well, by Zeus, Cyrus, said he, our wrong-doing[*](Tigranes discusses plans for adjustment) does, no doubt, give you cause to distrust us; but you may build forts in our country and occupy the strongholds already built and take whatever else you wish as security. And yet, he added, you will not find us very much aggrieved by your doing so; for we shall remember that we are to blame for it all. But if you hand over our government to some one of those who have done no wrong and yet show that you distrust them, see to it lest they regard you as no friend, in spite of your favours to them. But if again, on your guard against incurring their hatred, you fail to place a check upon them to keep them from rebellion, see to it lest you need to bring them to discretion even more than you did in our case just now.

Nay, by the gods, said he, I do not think I should like to employ servants that I knew served me only from compulsion. But if I had servants who I thought assisted me, as in duty bound, out of goodwill and friendship toward me, I think I should be better satisfied with them when they did wrong than with others who disliked me, when they performed all their tasks faithfully but from compulsion. To this Tigranes replied: From whom could you ever get such friendship as you now can from us? From those, I presume, said he, who have never been my enemies, if I would do them such favours as you now bid me do you.

But, Cyrus, said he, as things now are,[*](He argues for the continuance of his father’s reign) could you find any one to whom you could do as great favours as you can to my father? For example, if you grant any one of those who have done you no wrong his life, what gratitude do you think he will feel toward you for that? And again, who will love you for not depriving him of his wife and children more than he who thinks that it would serve him right to lose them? And do you know of any one who would be more grieved than we, not to have the throne of Armenia? Well, then, he added, it is evident that he who would be most grieved not to be king, would also be most grateful for receiving the throne.

And if you care at all to leave matters here in as little confusion as possible when you go away, consider whether you think the country would be more tranquil under the beginning of a new administration than if the one we are used to should continue. And if you care to take with you as large an army as possible, who do you think would be in a better position to organize the troops properly than he who has often employed them? And if you need money also, who do you think could supply it better than he who knows and commands all the sources of supply? My good Cyrus,” he added, beware lest in casting us aside you do yourself a greater injury than any harm my father has been able to do you. Thus he spoke.

And Cyrus was more than pleased at hearing him, for he thought that everything that he had promised Cyaxares to do was in course of accomplishment; for he remembered having told him that he would make the Armenian more his friend than he was before. Tell me, king of Armenia, he therefore asked,[*](Cyrus takes a conciliatory attitude) if I yield to you in this matter, how large an army will you send with me and how much money will you contribute to the war?

I have nothing to propose more simple or more fair, Cyrus, the Armenian replied to this, than for me to show you all the forces I have and for you, when you have seen them, to take as many as you see fit, leaving the rest here to protect the country. And in the same way in regard to the money, it is proper for me to show you all that I have, and for you to decide for yourself and take as much as you please and to leave as much as you please.

Come then, said Cyrus, tell me how large your forces are and how much money you have. Well, the Armenian then answered, there are about eight thousand cavalry and about forty thousand infantry. And the property, said he, including the treasures that my father left me, amounts, when reduced to cash, to more than three thousand talents.

And without hesitation, Cyrus replied: Send[*](His demands) with me then, said he, only half the army, since your neighbours, the Chaldaeans, are at war with you. And of the money, instead of the fifty talents which you used to pay as tribute, pay Cyaxares double that sum because you are in arrears with your payments. And lend me personally a hundred more, said he; and I promise you that if God prospers me, I will in return for your loan either do you other favours worth more than that amount or at least pay you back the money, if I can; but if I cannot, I may seem insolvent, I suppose, but I should not justly be accounted dishonest.