cavalry general.pdf

The Cavalry

General

____________________

Xenophon

Translated by H. G. Dakyns

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Xenophon the Athenian was born 431 B.C. He was a pupil of

Socrates. He marched with the Spartans, and was exiled from

Athens. Sparta gave him land and property in Scillus, where he

lived for many years before having to move once more, to settle in

Corinth. He died in 354 B.C.

The Cavalry General is a discourse on the merits a cavalry general,

or hipparch, in Athens should have. Xenophon also describes the

development of a cavalry force, and some tactical details to

be applied in the field and in festival exhibition.

PREPARER'S NOTE

This was typed from Dakyns' series, "The Works of Xenophon,"

a four-volume set. The complete list of Xenophon's works

(though there is doubt about some of these) is:

Work Number of books

The Anabasis 7 The Hellenica

7 The Cyropaedia 8 The Memorabilia

4 The Symposium 1 The Economist

1 On Horsemanship 1 The Sportsman

1 The Cavalry General 1 The Apology

1 On Revenues 1 The Hiero

1 The Agesilaus 1 The Polity of the

Athenians and the Lacedaemonians 2

Text in brackets "{}" is my transliteration of Greek text

into English using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table.

The diacritical marks have been lost.

The Cavalry General

By Xenophon

Translation by H. G. Dakyns

THE DUTIES OF A HIPPARCH[1]

Commander of Cavalry at Athens

Your first duty is to offer sacrifice, petitioning the gods to

grant you such good gifts[2] as shall enable you in thought, word,

and deed to discharge your office in the manner most acceptable to

Heaven, and with fullest increase to yourself, and friends, and to

the state at large of affection, glory, and wide usefulness. The

goodwill of Heaven[3] so obtained, you shall proceed to mount

your troopers, taking care that the full complement which the law

demands is reached, and that the normal force of cavalry is not

diminished. There will need to be a reserve of remounts, or else a

deficiency may occur at any moment,[4] looking to the fact that

some will certainly succumb to old age, and others, from one

reason or another, prove unserviceable.

[1] For the title, etc., see Schneid. "Praemon. de Xeno." {Ipp}.

Boeckh, "P. E. A." 251.

[2] Or, "with sacrifice to ask of Heaven those gifts of thought and

speech and conduct whereby you will exercise your office most

acceptably to the gods themselves, and with . . ." Cf. Plat.

"Phaedr." 273 E; "Euthr." 14 B.

[3] The Greek phrase is warmer, {theon d' ileon onton}, "the gods

being kindly and propitious." Cf. Plat. "Laws," 712 B.

[4] Lit. "at any moment there will be too few." See "Les Cavaliers

Atheniens," par Albert Martin, p. 308.

But now suppose the complement of cavalry is levied,[5] the duty

will devolve on you of seeing, in the first place, that your horses

are well fed and in condition to stand their work, since a horse

which cannot endure fatigue will clearly be unable to overhaul the

foeman or effect escape;[6] and in the second place, you will have

to see to it the animals are tractable, since, clearly again, a horse

that will not obey is only fighting for the enemy and not his friends.

So, again, an animal that kicks when mounted must be cast; since

brutes of that sort may often do more mischief than the foe himself.

Lastly, you must pay attention to the horses' feet, and see that they

will stand being ridden over rough ground. A horse, one knows, is

practically useless where he cannot be galloped without suffering.

[5] Lit. "in process of being raised."

[6] Or, "to press home a charge a l'outrance, or retire from the field

unscathed."

And now, supposing that your horses are all that they ought to

be, like pains must be applied to train the men themselves. The

trooper, in the first place, must be able to spring on horseback

easily--a feat to which many a man has owed his life ere now. And

next, he must be able to ride with freedom over every sort of

ground, since any description of country may become the seat of

war. When, presently, your men have got firm seats, your aim

should be to make as many members of the corps as possible not

only skilled to hurl the javelin from horseback with precision, but

to perform all other feats expected of the expert horseman. Next

comes the need to arm both horse and man in such a manner as to

minimise the risk of wounds, and yet to increase the force of every

blow delivered.[7] This attended to, you must contrive to make

your men amenable to discipline, without which neither good

horses, nor a firm seat, nor splendour of equipment will be of any

use at all.

[7] Lit. "so that whilst least likely to be wounded themselves, they

may most be able to injure the enemy."

The general of cavalry,[8] as patron of the whole department,

is naturally responsible for its efficient working. In view, however,

of the task imposed upon that officer had he to carry out these

various details single-handed, the state has chosen to associate[9]

with him certain coadjutors in the persons of the phylarchs (or

tribal captains),[10] and has besides imposed upon the senate a

share in the superintendence of the cavalry. This being so, two

things appear to me desirable; the first is, so to work upon the

phylarch that he shall share your own enthusiasm for the honour of

the corps;[11] and secondly, to have at your disposal in the senate

able orators,[12] whose language may instil a wholesome fear into

the knights themselves, and thereby make them all the better men,

or tend to pacify the senate on occasion and disarm unseasonable

anger.

[8] See "Mem." III. iii.

[9] Cf. Theophr. xxix. "The Oligarchic Man": "When the people

are deliberating whom they shall associate with the archon as

joint directors of the procession." (Jebb.)

[10] Or, "squadron-leaders."

[11] "Honour and prestige of knighthood."

[12] "To keep a staff of orators." Cf. "Anab." VII. vi. 41; "Cyrop."

I. vi. 19; "Hell." VI. ii. 39.

The above may serve as memoranda[13] of the duties which will

claim your chief attention. How the details in each case may best be

carried out is a further matter, which I will now endeavour to

explain.

[13] "A sort of notes and suggestions," "mementoes." Cf.

"Horsemanship," iii. 1, xii. 14.

As to the men themselves--the class from which you make your

pick of troopers--clearly according to the law you are bound to

enrol "the ablest" you can find "in point of wealth and bodily

physique"; and "if not by persuasion, then by prosecution in a court

of law."[14] And for my part, I think, if legal pressure is to be

applied, you should apply it in those cases where neglect to

prosecute might fairly be ascribed to interested motives;[15] since

if you fail to put compulsion on the greater people first, you leave a

backdoor of escape at once to those of humbler means. But there

will be other cases;[16] say, of young men in whom a real

enthusiasm for the service may be kindled by recounting to them all

the brilliant feats of knighthood; while you may disarm the

opposition of their guardians by dwelling on the fact that, if

not you, at any rate some future hipparch will certainly compel

them to breed horses,[17] owing to their wealth; whereas, if they

enter the service[18] during your term of office, you will undertake

to deter their lads from mad extravagance in buying horses,[19] and

take pains to make good horsemen of them without loss of time;

and while pleading in this strain, you must endeavour to make your

practice correspond with what you preach.

[14] Lit. "by bringing them into court, or by persuasion," i.e. by

legal if not by moral pressure. See Martin, op. cit. pp. 316, 321

foll.

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