The Cavalry General(骑兵队长)

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The Cavalry General

By Xenophon

Translation by H. G. Dakyns

The Cavalry General

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.

The Cavalry General

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

The Cavalry General

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 Cavalry General

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

The Cavalry General

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

[15] i.e. "would cause you to be suspected of acting from motives of

gain."

[16] Reading {esti de kai ous}, or if as vulg. {eti de kai}, "More

than that, it strikes me one may work on the feelings of young

fellows in such a way as to disarm." See Hartmann, "An. Xen. N."

325.

[17] Cf. Aesch. "P. V." 474; Herod. vi. 35; Dem. 1046. 14; Thuc. vi.

12; Isocr. {peri tou zeugous}, 353 C. {ippotrophein d' epikheiresas, o

ton eudaimonestaton ergon esti.} See Prof. Jebb's note to Theophr.

"Ch." vi. p. 197, note 16.

[18] Lit. "if they mount."

[19] Like that of Pheidippides in the play; see Aristoph. "Clouds," 23

foll. And for the price of horses, ranging from 3 minas (= L12 circa)

for a common horse, or 12 minas (say L50) for a good saddle or

race-horse, up to the extravagant sum of 13 talents (say 3000 guineas)

given for "Bucephalus," see Boeckh, "P. E. A." (Eng. tr.) p. 74. Cf.

Isaeus, 55. 22; 88. 17; Lys. "de Maled." 133. 10; Aul. Gell. "Noct.

Att." v. 2.

To come to the existing body of knights,[20] it would tend,[21] I think,

to better rearing and more careful treatment of their horses if the senate

issued a formal notice that for the future twice the amount of drill will be

required, and that any horse unable to keep up will be rejected. And so, too,

with regard to vicious horses, I should like to see an edict promulgated to

the effect that all such animals will be rejected. This threat would

stimulate the owners of such brutes to part with them by sale, and, what is

more, to exercise discretion at the time of purchase. So, too, it would be a

good thing if the same threat of rejection were made to include horses that

kick on the exercising-grounds, since it is impossible to keep such animals

in the ranks; and in case of an advance against a hostile force at any

point,[22] they must perforce trail in the rear, so that, thanks to the vice of

the animal which he bestrides, the trooper himself is rendered useless.

[20] Or, "As regards those who are actually serving in the cavalry."

For a plausible emend. of this passage (S. 13) see Courier ("Notes

The Cavalry General

sur le texte," p. 54); L. Dind. ad loc.

[21] Lit. "the senate might incite to . . ."

[22] Reading {ean}, or if {kan} with the MSS., trans. "even in case of

an advance against the enemy."

With a view to strengthening the horses' feet: if any one has an easier

or more simple treatment to suggest, by all means let it be adopted; but for

myself, as the result of experience, I maintain that the proper course is to

lay down a loose layer of cobbles from the road, a pound or so in weight,

on which the horse should be put to stand, when taken from the manger to

be groomed.[23] The point is, that the horse will keep perpetually moving

first one foot and then another on the stones, whilst being rubbed down or

simply because he is fidgeted by flies. Let any one try the experiment, and,

I venture to predict, not only will he come to trust my guidance, but he

will see his horse's hoofs grow just as round and solid as the cobbles.

[23] See below, "Horse." iv. 4. The Greeks did not "shoe" their

horses.

Assuming, then, your horses are all that horses ought to be, how is the

trooper to attain a like degree of excellence? To that question I will now

address myself. The art of leaping on to horseback is one which we would

fain persuade the youthful members of the corps to learn themselves;

though, if you choose to give them an instructor,[24] all the greater credit

to yourself. And as to the older men you cannot do better than accustom

them to mount, or rather to be hoisted up by aid of some one, Persian

fashion.[25]

[24] Like Pheidon, in the fragment of Mnesimachus's play "The

Breeder of Horses," ap. Athen. See Courier, ib. p. 55.

[25] See "Anab." IV. iv. 4; "Horsemanship," vi. 12.

With a view to keeping a firm seat on every sort of ground, it may be

perhaps be thought a little irksome to be perpetually marching out, when

there is no war;[26] but all the same, I would have you call your men

together and impress upon them the need to train themselves, when they

ride into the country to their farms, or elsewhere, by leaving the high road

and galloping at a round pace on ground of every description.[27] This

method will be quite as beneficial to them as the regular march out, and at

The Cavalry General

the same time not produce the same sense of tedium. You may find it

useful also to remind them that the state on her side is quite willing to

expend a sum of nearly forty talents[28] yearly, so that in the event of war

she may not have to look about for cavalry, but have a thoroughly efficient

force to hand for active service. Let these ideas be once instilled into their

minds, and, mark my words, your trooper will fall with zest to practising

horsemanship, so that if ever the flame of war burst out he may not be

forced to enter the lists a raw recruit, unskilled to fight for fame and

fatherland or even life itself.

[26] In the piping days of peace.

[27] See "Econ." xi. 17. Cf. Theophr. "Ch." viii. "The Late Learner":

{kai eis agron eph' ippou allotriou katakhoumenos ama meletan

ippazesthai, kai peson ten kephalon kateagenai}, "Riding into the

country on another's horse, he will practise his horsemanship by the

way, and falling, will break his head" (Jebb).

[28] = L10,000 circa. See Boeckh, op. cit. p. 251.

It would be no bad thing either, to forewarn your troopers that one day

you will take them out yourself for a long march, and lead them across

country over every kind of ground. Again, whilst practising the evolutions

of the rival cavalry display,[29] it will be well to gallop out at one time to

one district and again to another. Both men and horses will be benefited.

[29] Lit. "the anthippasia." See iii. 11, and "Horsemanship," viii.

10.

Next, as to hurling the javelin from horseback, the best way to secure

as wide a practice of the art as possible, it strikes me, would be to issue an

order to your phylarchs that it will be their duty to put themselves at the

head of the marksmen of several tribes, and to ride out to the butts for

practice. In this way a spirit of emulation will be roused--the several

officers will, no doubt, be eager to turn out as many marksmen as they can

to aid the state.[30]

[30] On competition cf. "Cyrop." II. i. 22, and our author passim.

And so too, to ensure that splendour of accoutrement which the force

requires,[31] the greatest help may once again be looked for from the

phylarchs; let these officers but be persuaded that from the public point of

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TheCavalryGeneral1TheCavalryGeneralByXenophonTranslationbyH.G.DakynsTheCavalryGeneral2XenophontheAthenianwasborn431B.C.HewasapupilofSocrates.HemarchedwiththeSpartans,andwasexiledfromAthens.SpartagavehimlandandpropertyinScillus,wherehelivedformanyyearsbeforehavingtomoveoncemore,tosettleinCorinth.Hedi...

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