I have covered my
face, let no man look on me again, not even you, my sons. [27] But you
shall bid the Persians come, and all our allies, to my sepulchre; and
you shall rejoice with me and congratulate me that I am safe at last,
free from suffering or sorrow, whether I am with God or whether I have
ceased to be. Give all who come the entertainment that is fitting in
honour of a man whose life on earth was happy, and so send them away.
[28] Remember my last saying: show kindness to your friends, and then
shall you have it in your power to chastise your enemies. Good-bye, my
dear sons, bid your mother good-bye for me. And all my friends, who are
here or far away, good-bye."

And with these words he gave his hand to them, and then he covered his
face and died.

EPILOGUE

[C.8] Of all the powers in Asia, the kingdom of Cyrus showed itself to
be the greatest and most glorious. On the east it was bounded by the Red
Sea, on the north by the Euxine, on the west by Cyprus and Egypt, and
on the south by Ethiopia. And yet the whole of this enormous empire was
governed by the mind and will of a single man, Cyrus: his subjects he
cared for and cherished as a father might care for his children, and
they who came beneath his rule reverenced him like a father.

[2] But no sooner was he dead than his sons were at strife, cities and
nations revolted, and all things began to decay. I can show that what I
say is true, and first I will speak of their impiety. In the early days,
I am aware, the king and those beneath him never failed to keep the
oaths they had sworn and fulfil the promises they had given, even to the
worst of criminals. [3] In fact, if such had not been their character
and such their reputation, none of the Hellenic generals who marched
up with the younger Cyrus could have felt the confidence they did: they
would not have trusted a Persian any more than one trusts them to-day,
now that their perfidy is known. As it was, they relied on their old
reputation and put themselves in their power, and many were taken up to
the king and there beheaded. And many of the Asiatics who served in the
same war perished as they did, deluded by one promise or another.

[4] In other ways also the Persians have degenerated. Noble achievement
in the old days was the avenue to fame: the man was honoured who risked
his life for the king, or brought a city or nation beneath his sway. But
now, if some Mithridat