On the Cavalry Commander

The cases that should be brought before the court, I think, are those of men who otherwise might be suspected of having bribed you not to apply for a judgment. For the smaller men will at once have a ground for escaping, unless you first compel the most highly qualified to serve.

I think, too, that, by dwelling on the brilliancy of horsemanship, you might fire some of the young men with ambition to serve in the cavalry, and that you might overcome the opposition of their guardians by informing them that they will be required to keep horses by someone, if not by you, on account of their wealth; whereas, if their

boys join up during your command, you will put an end to their extravagance in buying expensive horses, and see that they soon make good riders. And you must try to suit your actions to your words.

As for the existing cavalry, I think that the Council should give notice that in future double the amount of exercise will be required, and that any horse unable to keep up will be rejected. This warning would put the screw on the men and make them feed their horses better and take more care of them.

I think it would be well, too, if notice were given that vicious horses would be rejected. Under the stimulus of this threat men would break in such animals more thoroughly and would be more careful in buying horses.

Again, it would be well to give notice that horses found kicking at exercise will be rejected. For it is impossible even to keep such animals in line; in a charge against an enemy they are bound to lag behind, and the consequence is, that through the bad behaviour of his horse, the man himself becomes useless.

For getting horses’ feet into the best condition,[*](Horse-shoes being unknown; cf. On Horsemanship chap 4.) if anyone has an easier and cheaper method than mine, by all means adopt it. If not, I hold—and I speak from experience—that the right way is to throw down some stones from the road, averaging about a pound in weight, and to curry the horse on these and to make him stand on them whenever he goes out of the stable. For the horse will constantly use his feet on the stones when he is cleaned and when he is worried by flies. Try it, and you will find your horses’ feet round, and will believe in the rest of my rules.

Assuming that the horses are in good condition, I will explain how to make the men themselves thoroughly efficient.

We would persuade the young recruits to learn for themselves how to mount from the spring; but if you provide an instructor, you will receive well-merited praise. The way to help the older men is to accustom them to get a leg-up in the Persian fashion.

To ensure that the men have a firm seat, whatever the nature of the ground, it is, perhaps, too much trouble to have them out frequently when there is no war going on; but you should call the men together, and recommend them to practise turning off the roads and galloping over all sorts of ground when they are riding to quarters or any other place. For this does as much good as taking them out, and it is less tedious.

It is useful to remind them that the state supports an expenditure of nearly forty talents[*](Say 9,500 pounds as reckoned about the year 1925. The pay is, of course, alluded to. The expenditure would amount daily to nearly 666 drachmae. The cavalryman’s normal pay was a drachma a day. Hence it looks as if the number of the cavalry in 365 B.C. had fallen to about 650.) a year in order that she may not have to look about for cavalry in the event of war, but may have it ready for immediate use. For with this thought in their minds the men are likely to take more pains with their horsemanship, so that when war breaks out they may not have to fight untrained for the state, for glory and for life.

It is well also to give notice to the men that you intend to take them out yourself some day, and lead them over country of all kinds. And during the manoeuvres that precede the sham fight it is proper to take them out to a different piece of country at different times: this is better for both men and horses.

As for throwing the javelin on horseback,[*](At a suspended shield.) I think that the greatest number will practise that if you add a warning to the colonels that they will be required to ride to javelin exercise themselves at the head of the marksmen of the regiment. Thus, in all probability, everyone of them will be eager to turn out as many marksmen as possible for the service of the state.

Towards the proper arming of the men, I think that the greatest amount of assistance will be obtained from the colonels, if they are persuaded that from the point of view of the state the brilliance of the regiment is a far more glorious ornament to them than the brightness of their own accoutrements only.

It is likely that they will not be hard to persuade in such matters, considering that honour and glory were the attractions that the colonelcy held out to them, and they can arm the men in accordance with the regulations laid down in the law without incurring expense themselves, afterwards compelling the men to spend their pay on their arms, as the law ordains.[*](The reference is first to the establishment money for horse and equipment, due to recruits when they had passed the examination by the Council. There is another allusion to it in 9.5. This sum is independent of the pay; and it is probable that on leaving the service the cavalryman had to refund it.)

To make the men who are under your command obedient, it is important to impress on them by word of mouth the many advantages of obedience to authority, and no less important to see that good discipline brings gain and insubordination loss in every respect.

The best way of inducing every colonel to take pride in commanding a well equipped regiment, I think, is to arm your company of couriers as well as you can, to demand of them constant practice in the use of the javelin, and to instruct them in it after making yourself proficient.

And if you could offer prizes to the regiments for skill in all the feats that the public expects the cavalry to perform at the spectacles, I think this would appeal strongly to the spirit of emulation in every Athenian. For evidence of this I may refer to the choruses, in which many labours and heavy expenses are the price paid for trifling rewards. Only you must find judges whose suffrage will shed lustre on a victory.

When your men are well trained in all these points, they must, of course, understand some plan of formation, that in which they will show to greatest advantage in the sacred processions and at manoeuvres, fight, if need be, with the greatest courage, and move along roads and cross rivers with perfect ease in unbroken order. So I will now try to explain the formation that I think will give the best results in these various circumstances.

Now the state has divided the cavalry into ten separate regiments. I hold that within these you should, to begin with, appoint file-leaders[*](Decadarchs, commanding a file of ten δεκάς. X. had in mind the organisation of the Spartan infantry; cp. Constitution of the Lac. 11.5.) after consulting each of the colonels, choosing sturdy men, who are bent on winning fame by some brilliant deed. These should form the front rank.

Next you should choose an equal number of the oldest and most sensible to form the rear rank. To use an illustration, steel has most power to cut through steel when its edge is keen and its back reliable.