Cyropaedia

How would it do, then,Cyrus asked, since[*](The captains are unanimous) we are all so very well agreed upon this matter, if we should make a rule for ourselves that it be considered improper for any one of us whom I provide with a horse to be seen going anywhere on foot, whether the distance he has to go be long or short, so that people may think that we are really Centaurs?

He put the question thus and they all voted aye. And so from that time even to this day, the Persians follow that practice, and no Persian gentleman would be seen going anywhere on foot, if he could help it. Such were their discussions on this occasion.

And when it was past midday, the Median and[*](The allies return with prisoners of war) Hyrcanian horsemen came in, bringing both horses and men that they had taken. For they had spared the lives of all who had surrendered their arms.

And when they had ridden up, Cyrus asked them first whether his men were all safe. And when they answered this in the affirmative, he asked how they had fared. And they narrated to him what they had accomplished and proudly told how gallantly they had behaved in every particular.

And he listened with pleasure to all they wished to tell him, and then he praised them in these words: It is quite evident that you have conducted yourselves as brave men; and any one can see it, for you appear taller and handsomer and more terrible to look upon than heretofore.

Then he enquired of them further how far they had ridden and whether the country was inhabited. And they replied, first, that they had ridden a long way, and second, that all the country was inhabited and that it was full of sheep and goats, cattle and horses, grain and all sorts of produce.

There are two things, said he, that it were[*](What to do with these prisoners) well for us to look out for: that we make ourselves masters of those who own this property, and that they stay where they are. For an inhabited country is a very valuable possession, but a land destitute of people becomes likewise destitute of produce.