ose fitness as fellow-workers with himself, in aught which
he might wish to carry out, he had tested, he showed himself in turn
an adept in the arts of courtesy. Just in proportion as he felt the
need of this friend or that to help him, so he tried to help each of
them in return in whatever seemed to be their heart's desire.

Many were the gifts bestowed on him, for many and diverse reasons; no
one man, perhaps, ever received more; no one, certainly, was ever more
ready to bestow them upon others, with an eye ever to the taste of
each, so as to gratify what he saw to be the individual requirement.
Many of these presents were sent to him to serve as personal
adornments of the body or for battle; and as touching these he would
say, "How am I to deck myself out in all these? to my mind a man's
chief ornament is the adornment of nobly-adorned friends." Indeed,
that he should triumph over his friends in the great matters of
welldoing is not surprising, seeing that he was much more powerful
than they, but that he should go beyond them in minute attentions, and
in an eager desire to give pleasure, seems to me, I must confess, more
admirable. Frequently when he had tasted some specially excellent
wine, he would send the half remaining flagon to some friend with a
message to say: "Cyrus says, this is the best wine he has tasted for a
long time, that is his excuse for sending it to you. He hopes you will
drink it up to-day with a choice party of friends." Or, perhaps, he
would send the remainder of a dish of geese, half loaves of bread, and
so forth, the bearer being instructed to say: "This is Cyrus's
favourite dish, he hopes you will taste it yourself." Or, perhaps,
there was a great dearth of provender, when, through the number of his
servants and his own careful forethought, he was enabled to get
supplies for himself; at such times he would send to his friends in
different parts, bidding them feed their horses on his hay, since it
would not do for the horses that carried his friends to go starving.
Then, on any long march or expedition, where the crowd of lookers-on 28
would be large, he would call his friends to him and entertain them
with serious talk, as much as to say, "These I delight to honour."

So that, for myself, and from all that I can hear, I should be
disposed to say that no one, Greek or barbarian, was ever so beloved.
In proof of this, I may cite the fact that, though Cyrus was the
king's vassal and slave,