rgy and lack of spirit. I shook
my head and your examination went on:--Had this teacher laid no stress
on the need for obedience in an army, or on the best means of securing
discipline? [14] And finally, when it was plain that even this had been
utterly ignored, you exclaimed, 'What in the world, then, does your
professor claim to have taught you under the name of generalship?' To
that I could at last give a positive answer: 'He taught me tactics.'
And then you gave a little laugh and ran through your list point by
point:--'And pray what will be the use of tactics to an army without
supplies, without health, without discipline, without knowledge of those
arts and inventions that are of use in war?' And so you made it clear
to me that tactics and manoeuvres and drill were only a small part of all
that is implied in generalship, and when I asked you if you could teach
me the rest of it you bade me betake myself to those who stood high in
repute as great generals, and talk with them and learn from their lips
how each thing should be done. [15] So I consorted with all I thought to
be of authority in these matters. As regards our present supplies I was
persuaded that what Cyaxares intended to provide was sufficient, and, as
for the health of the troops, I was aware that the cities where health
was valued appointed medical officers, and the generals who cared for
their soldiers took out a medical staff; and so when I found myself in
this office I gave my mind to the matter at once: and I flatter myself,
father," he added, "that I shall have with me an excellent staff of
surgeons and physicians." [16] To which the father made reply, "Well,
my son, but these excellent men are, after all, much the same as the
tailors who patch torn garments. When folk are ill, your doctors can
patch them up, but your own care for their health ought to go far deeper
than that: your prime object should be to save your men from falling ill
at all." "And pray, father," asked Cyrus, "how can I succeed in that?"
"Well," answered Cambyses, "I presume if you are to stay long in one
place you will do your best to discover a healthy spot for your camp,
and if you give your mind to the matter you can hardly fail to find it.
Men, we know, are forever discussing what places are healthy and what
are not, and their own complexions and the state of their own bodies is
the clearest evidence. But you will not content yourself with choosing a
site, you will remember