would not think he
had the right to over-reach a eunuch: while there was every reason to
suppose that the eunuch would be the most faithful of all servants. [62]
As for the customary notion that the eunuch must be weak and cowardly,
Cyrus was not disposed to accept it. He studied the indications to be
observed in animals: a vicious horse, if gelded, will cease to bite and
be restive, but he will charge as gallantly as ever; a bull that has
been cut will become less fierce and less intractable, but he will not
lose his strength, he will be as good as ever for work; castration
may cure a dog of deserting his master, but it will not ruin him as a
watch-dog or spoil him for the chase. [63] So, too, with men; when cut
off from this passion, they become gentler, no doubt, but not less quick
to obey, not less daring as horsemen, not less skilful with the javelin,
not less eager for honour. [64] In war and in the chase they show
plainly enough that the fire of ambition is still burning in their
hearts. And they have stood the last test of loyalty in the downfall
of their masters. No men have shown more faithfulness than eunuchs when
ruin has fallen on their lords. [65] In bodily strength, perhaps, the
eunuchs seem to be lacking, but steel is a great leveller, and makes
the weak man equal to the strong in war. Holding this in mind, Cyrus
resolved that his personal attendants, from his doorkeepers onwards,
should be eunuchs one and all.

[66] This guard, however, he felt was hardly sufficient against the
multitude of enemies, and he asked himself whom he could choose among
the rest. [67] He remembered how his Persians led the sorriest of lives
at home owing to their poverty, working long and hard on the niggard
soil, and he felt sure they were the men who would most value the life
at his court. [68] Accordingly he selected ten thousand lancers from
among them, to keep guard round the palace, night and day, whenever
he was at home, and to march beside him whenever he went abroad. [69]
Moreover, he felt that Babylon must always have an adequate garrison,
whether he was in the country or not, and therefore he stationed a
considerable body of troops in the city; and he bade the Babylonians
provide their pay, his object being to make the citizens helpless,
and therefore humble and submissive. [70] This royal guard that he
established there, and the city guard for Babylon, survive to this day
unaltered.

Lastly, as he pondered how th