SOURCE: "Xenophon's Cyropaedia, 'The Compleat General'," in The Classical Journal, Vol. 29, no. 6, March, 1934, pp. 436-40.

[In the essay that follows, Pease advocates for the historical value of the Cyropaedia, claiming it as thorough documentation of ancient Greek military strategy; he ultimately dubs it "the first general military treatise ever written."]

Colonel Oliver L. Spaulding, Jr., in the June number of the Classical Journal, (XXVIII, 657-69), gives a list of ancient military writings, with a valuable appreciation of most of them. But Xenophon's Cyropaedia is very much more than "the amusement of his later years, the vehicle for his military fancies." Actually, the Cyropaedia is a work of unique military importance; it is in fact not only the earliest but the most exhaustive of all ancient military treatises; but its character has not been fully realized, because of the importance assigned to the character of Cyrus and because of certain romantic additions.

First, we may consider the outline of the various portions. The standard ecphrasis or detailed description of a war, centering in a single climactic battle, is given among the πϱογυμνάσματα of Hermogenes, many centuries after Xenophon. This includes every detail of antecedents, engagement, and consequents, and reads as follows:

First we shall speak of what precedes the war, the gathering of the armies, the expenses, the fears; then the clashes, the slaughter, the deaths; then the trophy, then the paeans of the victors, the tears and the slavery of the others.

It will be worth while to compare in detail the outline of Thymbrara, the climactic battle of the Cyropaedia:—

A. Antecedents:

(Topography and date not included, as the discussion is theoretical.)

Securing of information: prisoners VI, 3, 5, spies VI, 3, 5, spies VI, 3, 15, etc.

Numbers: enemy VI, 2, 9; Cyrus' army in full VI, 2, 7-8.

Arrangement: of enemy given with numbers, of Cyrus VI, 3, 21.

Sacrifices, prayer, libation, breakfast VI, 4, 1, VII, 1.

Omens VII, 1, 2.

Formation: VII, 1, 5; paean 9, watchword 10.

B. Engagement:

Signal, advance VII, 1, 23, silence, paean, shout 25-26.

Vicissitudes: preliminary skirmish, successful maneuvers, flight of enemy, partial success 27.

Retreat of Abradates to tower, chariots 34.

Relief by Cyrus' rear attack on the enemy 36.

The mêlée 38.

C. Consequents:

Rewards and citations, military conclusions 46.

Treatment of prisoners, settlement of Egyptians 41.

General results 45-49 and in various later chapters.

It will be seen that Xenophon here uses the general outline, as does Syrianus, but omits much of the rhetoric; he substitutes morale for all, but a hint of fears; military results, for the joy of success and the sorrows of slavery; even the psychology is purely military, except for the one romantic touch to be described later. In other battles he makes use of all the other elements given by Syrianus, including the detailed rhetorical treatment of feelings.

Second, the work goes into exhaustive detail on almost every point. A partial list of the preparations for this one battle will suffice to show the minuteness and thoroughness of treatment. Cyrus provides for everything: high class and low class spies; details of new scythe chariots and wheeled turrets; encouragement of morale by discussions, hunting, special favors; camel archers; prisoners; incipient mutiny; formal battle speech fifteen days before the battle; necessity for immediate action; twenty days' provisions for a fifteen days' desert march; gradual substitution of water for wine to moisten bread or meal, beginning with the omission of wine after supper; omission of beds; securing of sour, bitter, salty appetizers; hand mills; medical supplies; extra straps; tools; wood for repairs; food for man and beast; road makers, smiths, carpenters, shoemakers; sutlers to sell nothing for fifteen days, but after that a special reward to the one who furnishes the best market (VI, 2). Mere fancy surely does not content itself with giving every detail of physical and psychological equipment for an exhausting march with a decisive battle at the end of fifteen days. And the immediate preparations for the battle, the battle itself, the capture of Sardis together with Croesus, the disposition of prisoners and booty after the battle are given with almost the same detail—fortyfive pages for the one battle, over eighty for the different battles, a quarter of the whole volume.

Third, there is a variety of battle types. Just as Thymbrara is the typical field battle, so Babylon VII, 5) is the typical instance of a siege, the foray of the Assyrian crown prince is the typical border raid (I, 4), the establishing of the border is typical mountain fighting (III, 2), the capture of the Assyrian camp is a typical night surprise (III, 3-IV, 2). Such constant attention to detailed and varied outline, present even in the least of Xenophon's descriptions, indicates a definitely established rhetorical form. This is borne out by descriptions in other books of Xenophon and occurs frequently even in the great battle descriptions of Thucydides.

Fourth, the variety of detailed discussions of military topics is found both in and outside of the battle descriptions. Book I is largely taken up with the training of the young soldier. He is taught to deceive no one but the enemy; his training must embrace actual experience in fighting; in his play he must fight with clods and sticks. The description of the battle in III, 3, 55-70 is mainly a study in ideal morale as illustrative of the qualities listed in section 59 of that chapter. The description of an Assyrian camp at night is a technical excursus (III, 3, 26-28); the value of training is discussed in VI, 4, 10; the value of harangues in III, 3, 49-55.

Fifth, Xenophon undoubtedly intended the Cyropaedia to be a definite link in his chain of military works. The others belong each to a different type. Rhetorically speaking, the Agesilaus is a biography, almost purely epideictic; Book I of the Anabasis is a narrative, but with much biography of the same type; Books II-VII of the Anabasis combine autobiography with a suasoria, almost as if personally addressed to Alexander of Macedon; those portions of the Hellenica which deal with Agesilaus, his relatives, or opponents, closely resemble the Agesilaus, though the work as a whole is intended as a historical monograph.

The two difficulties in the way of understanding the true nature of the Cyropaedia have been the romantic element and the importance assigned to the character of Cyrus himself. But the romantic additions in Books VI-VII only partly conceal the really exhaustive nature of the treatise. We must remember that it is the first general military treatise ever written. As such, it partakes of the nature of early history writing; for as Herodotus has many suggestions from epic and tragedy, so this portion of the Cyropaedia has a double romance motif modeled on the Iliad. In the Iliad the wrath … results in the separation of Achilles and Briseis, who after the double testing are happily reunited; the wrath also brings about the separation of Hector and Andromache, who are reunited only in death. Similarly the refusal of Abradatas to yield to Cyrus brings about separation from his queen Pantheia, with a most startling result as Cyrus tries to console her after her husband's heroic death at Thymbrara (VII, 3, 8); while in contrast, at the distribution of awards at the close of the campaign (VIII, 4, 24), Tigranes of Armenia receives a "best dress" … for his wife, who has accompanied him on the campaign. While there are many parallels with the Iliad, even to the gleaming golden suit of armor given to Abradatas by Pantheia before the battle, the heart of both works is the orderly development of the war as a unit—with enormous digressions in the Iliad, with many very detailed discussions in the Cyropaedia.

In the minds of many readers the character of Cyrus absorbs the chief interest; but closer study shows that practically every concern of Cyrus in this work is military. Xenophon's admiration for Cyrus is based on the three qualities of reverence, justice, and self-control …, as Marchant points out in the Praefatio to his Agesilaus text; these are shared by Xenophon's other heroes, Socrates and Agesilaus. So on the advice of Polybius, a master of physical and psychological military engineering, the Cyropaedia, together with the Memorabilia, was carried by the younger Scipio on all his campaigns. If the importance of the Memorabilia in the minds of Polybius and Scipio may be represented—with due apologies to Izaak Walton—by the title, "The Compleat Gentleman," the Cyropaedia might be called "The Compleat General."