ket, and that he only indulged
himself to this extent for the good of the state, that he might be
strong and able to serve his country in the field. When he was left a
piece of Babylonian tapestry he at once disposed of it; none of his
rooms were whitewashed, and he never bought a slave for more than
fifteen hundred drachmas, seeing that he required, not effeminate and
handsome servants, but hardworking and strong men, to tend his horses
and herd his cattle: and these, too, when they grew old and past work
he thought it best to sell, and not feed them at his expense when they
were useless. His rule was that nothing is cheap which one does not
want, but that superfluities are dearly purchased even if they cost
but one penny: and that it is better to buy land which can be
ploughed, or where cattle can graze, than beds of flowers which
require watering, and paths which have to be swept and kept in order.

V. These habits some ascribed to narrowness of mind, while others
thought that he carried parsimony and avarice to excess in himself in
order by his example to reform and restrain others. Be this as it may,
I for my own part consider that his conduct in treating his slaves
like beasts of burden, and selling them when old and worn out, is the
mark of an excessively harsh disposition, which disregards the claims
of our common human nature, and merely considers the question of
profit and loss. Kindness, indeed, is of wider application than mere
justice; for we naturally treat men alone according to justice and the
laws, while kindness and gratitude, as though from a plenteous spring,
often extend even to irrational animals. It is right for a good man to
feed horses which have been worn out in his service, and not merely to
train dogs when they are young, but to take care of them when they are
old. When the Athenian people built the Parthenon, they set free the
mules which had done the hardest work in drawing the stones up to the
acropolis, and let them graze where they pleased unmolested. It is
said that one of them came of its own accord to where the works were
going on, and used to walk up to the acropolis with the beasts who
were drawing up their loads, as if to encourage them and show them the
way. This mule was, by a decree of the people of Athens, maintained at
the public expense for the rest of its life. The racehorses of Kimon
also, who won an Olympic victory, are buried close to the monument of
their master. Many pe