On the Cavalry Commander

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.

To fill the ranks between the front and rear, the file-leaders should choose the men to form the second line, and these in turn the men to form the third, and so on throughout. In this way every man will naturally have complete confidence in the man behind him.

You must be very careful to appoint a competent man as leader in the rear.[*](i.e., the last man of each file, cf. 3, who in some cases would have to act as leader. In the Spartan infantry he was the man with the longest service in the file.) For if he is a good man, his cheers will always hearten the ranks in front of him in case it becomes necessary to charge; or, should the moment come to retreat, his prudent leadership will, in all probability, do much for the safety of his regiment.

An even number of file-leaders has this advantage over an odd, that it is possible to divide the regiment into a larger number of equal parts.

The reasons why I like this formation are these. In the first place, all the men in the front rank are officers; and the obligation to distinguish themselves appeals more strongly to men when they are officers than when they are privates. Secondly, when anything has to be done, the word of command is much more effective if it is passed to officers rather than to privates.

Let us assume that this formation has been adopted: every file-leader must know his position in the line of march by word passed along by the colonel, just as every colonel is informed by the commander of his proper place in the charge. For when these instructions are given there will be much better order than if the men hamper one another like a crowd leaving the theatre.

And in the event of a frontal attack, the men in the van are far more willing to fight when they know that this is their station; so is the rear-rank in the event of a surprise attack in the rear, when the men there understand that it is disgraceful to leave their post.

But if no order is kept there is confusion whenever the roads are narrow or rivers are being crossed; and when an action is fought no one voluntarily takes his post in the fighting line.

All these preliminaries must be thoroughly mastered by all the cavalry, if they are to give their leader unflinching support.

Now we come to duties that the cavalry commander must perform himself. First, he must sacrifice to propitiate the gods on behalf of the cavalry; secondly, he must make the processions during the festivals worth seeing; further, he must conduct all the other obligatory displays before the people with as much splendour as possible, that is to say, the reviews in the Academy, in the Lyceum, at Phalerum, and in the Hippodrome.[*](Nothing in the sequel refers to manoeuvres at Phalerum; accordingly it has been proposed to omit καὶ τὰ Φαληροῖ as spurious. The Hippodrome was probably in the N.W. district of the Piraeus. This treatise gives the only information that we possess about these functions.)

These again are only brief notes; and I will now explain exactly how the details of these various functions may be carried out with most splendour.

As for the processions, I think they would be most acceptable both to the gods and to the spectators if they included a gala ride in the market place. The starting point would be the Herms[*](The Herms stood in two rows between the Stoa Basileios and the Poicile. The Eleusinium, probably lay at the western foot of the Acropolis. See Frazer, Pausanias vol. 2., p. 121 and p. 131. Some think the site was at the east foot.); and the cavalry would ride round saluting the gods at their shrines and statues. So at the Great Dionysia the dance of the choruses forms part of the homage offered to the Twelve and to other gods.

When the circuit is completed and the cavalcade is again near the Herms, the next thing to do, I think, is to gallop at top speed by regiments as far as the Eleusinium.

I will add a word on the position in which the lances should be held to prevent crossing. Every man should point his lance between his horse’s ears, if the weapons are to look fearsome, stand out distinctly, and at the same time to convey the impression of numbers.

The gallop finished and the goal reached, the right plan is to ride back to the temples by the same route, but at a slow pace: thus every effect that can be obtained from a horse with a man on his back[*](The Greek text is unreliable here.) will be included in the display, to the satisfaction of gods and men alike.

I know that our cavalrymen are not accustomed to these movements: but I am sure that they are desirable and beautiful, and will delight the spectators. I am aware, too, that the cavalry have exhibited other novel feats of skill in days when the cavalry commanders had sufficient influence to get their wishes carried out.