an make for his own good and not for ours. Our needs are
the same as his, and our foes the same."

[6] When Chrysantas had said his say, many others followed to support
him, Persians and allies alike, and it was agreed that the men of rank
and honour should be in attendance continually at the palace gates,
ready for Cyrus to employ, until he gave them their dismissal. That
custom is still in force, and to this day the Asiatics under the Great
King wait at the door of their rulers. [7] And the measures that Cyrus
instituted to preserve his empire, as set forth in this account, are
still the law of the land, maintained by all the kings who followed him.
[8] Only as in other matters, so here; with a good ruler, the government
is pure; with a bad one, corrupt. Thus it came about that the nobles of
Cyrus and all his honourable men waited at his gates, with their weapons
and their horses, according to the common consent of the gallant men who
had helped to lay the empire at his feet.

[9] Then Cyrus turned to other matters, and appointed various overseers:
he had receivers of revenue, controllers of finance, ministers of works,
guardians of property, superintendents of the household. Moreover, he
chose managers for his horses and his dogs, men who could be trusted
to keep the creatures in the best condition and ready for use at
any moment. [10] But when it came to those who were to be his
fellow-guardians for the commonwealth, he would not leave the care and
the training of these to others; he regarded that as his own personal
task. He knew, if he were ever to fight a battle, he would have to
choose his comrades and supporters, the men on his right hand and
left, from these and these alone; it was from them he must appoint his
officers for horse and foot. [11] If he had to send out a general alone
it would be from them that one must be sent: he must depend on them for
satraps and governors over cities and nations; he would require them for
ambassadors, and an embassy was, he knew, the best means for obtaining
what he wanted without war. [12] He foresaw that nothing could go well
if the agents in his weightiest affairs were not what they ought to be,
while, if they were, everything would prosper. This charge, therefore,
he took upon his own shoulders, and he was persuaded that the training
he demanded of others should also be undergone by himself. No man could
rouse others to noble deeds if he fell short of what he ought to be