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1、The Cavalry General1The Cavalry GeneralBy XenophonTranslation by H.G.DakynsThe Cavalry General2Xenophon the Athenian was born 431 B.C.He was a pupil of Socrates.He marched with the Spartans,and was exiled from Athens.Sparta gavehim land and property in Scillus,where he lived for many years beforehav
2、ing to move once more,to settle in Corinth.He died in 354 B.C.The Cavalry General is a discourse on the merits a cavalry general,orhipparch,in Athens should have.Xenophon also describes thedevelopment of a cavalry force,and some tactical details to be applied inthe field and in festival exhibition.T
3、he Cavalry General3The Cavalry GeneralIYour first duty is to offer sacrifice,petitioning the gods to grant yousuch good gifts2 as shall enable you in thought,word,and deed todischarge your office in the manner most acceptable to Heaven,and withfullest increase to yourself,and friends,and to the stat
4、e at large ofaffection,glory,and wide usefulness.The goodwill of Heaven3 soobtained,you shall proceed to mount your troopers,taking care that thefull complement which the law demands is reached,and that the normalforce of cavalry is not diminished.There will need to be a reserve ofremounts,or else a
5、 deficiency may occur at any moment,4 looking to thefact that some will certainly succumb to old age,and others,from onereason or another,prove unserviceable.1 For the title,etc.,see Schneid.Praemon.de Xeno.Ipp.Boeckh,P.E.A.251.2 Or,with sacrifice to ask of Heaven those gifts of thought andspeech an
6、d conduct whereby you will exercise your office mostacceptably to the gods themselves,and with.Cf.Plat.Phaedr.273 E;Euthr.14 B.3 The Greek phrase is warmer,theon d ileon onton,the godsbeing kindly and propitious.Cf.Plat.Laws,712 B.4 Lit.at any moment there will be too few.See Les CavaliersAtheniens,
7、par Albert Martin,p.308.But now suppose the complement of cavalry is levied,5 the duty willdevolve on you of seeing,in the first place,that your horses are well fedand in condition to stand their work,since a horse which cannot endurefatigue will clearly be unable to overhaul the foeman or effect es
8、cape;6and in the second place,you will have to see to it the animals are tractable,since,clearly again,a horse that will not obey is only fighting for theThe Cavalry General4enemy and not his friends.So,again,an animal that kicks when mountedmust be cast;since brutes of that sort may often do more m
9、ischief than thefoe himself.Lastly,you must pay attention to the horses feet,and see thatthey will stand being ridden over rough ground.A horse,one knows,ispractically useless where he cannot be galloped without suffering.5 Lit.in process of being raised.6 Or,to press home a charge a loutrance,or re
10、tire from the fieldunscathed.And now,supposing that your horses are all that they ought to be,likepains must be applied to train the men themselves.The trooper,in the firstplace,must be able to spring on horseback easily-a feat to which many aman has owed his life ere now.And next,he must be able to
11、 ride withfreedom over every sort of ground,since any description of country maybecome the seat of war.When,presently,your men have got firm seats,your aim should be to make as many members of the corps as possible notonly skilled to hurl the javelin from horseback with precision,but toperform all o
12、ther feats expected of the expert horseman.Next comes theneed to arm both horse and man in such a manner as to minimise the riskof wounds,and yet to increase the force of every blow delivered.7 Thisattended to,you must contrive to make your men amenable to discipline,without which neither good horse
13、s,nor a firm seat,nor splendour ofequipment will be of any use at all.7 Lit.so that whilst least likely to be wounded themselves,theymay most be able to injure the enemy.The general of cavalry,8 as patron of the whole department,isnaturally responsible for its efficient working.In view,however,of th
14、etask imposed upon that officer had he to carry out these various detailssingle-handed,the state has chosen to associate9 with him certaincoadjutors in the persons of the phylarchs(or tribal captains),10 and hasbesides imposed upon the senate a share in the superintendence of thecavalry.This being s
15、o,two things appear to me desirable;the first is,so towork upon the phylarch that he shall share your own enthusiasm for thehonour of the corps;11 and secondly,to have at your disposal in thesenate able orators,12 whose language may instil a wholesome fear intoThe Cavalry General5the knights themsel
16、ves,and thereby make them all the better men,or tendto pacify the senate on occasion and disarm unseasonable anger.8 See Mem.III.iii.9 Cf.Theophr.xxix.The Oligarchic Man:When the people aredeliberating whom they shall associate with the archon as jointdirectors of the procession.(Jebb.)10 Or,squadro
17、n-leaders.11 Honour and prestige of knighthood.12 To keep a staff of orators.Cf.Anab.VII.vi.41;Cyrop.I.vi.19;Hell.VI.ii.39.The above may serve as memoranda13 of the duties which will claimyour chief attention.How the details in each case may best be carried outis a further matter,which I will now en
18、deavour to explain.13 A sort of notes and suggestions,mementoes.Cf.Horsemanship,iii.1,xii.14.As to the men themselves-the class from which you make your pickof troopers-clearly according to the law you are bound to enrol theablest you can find in point of wealth and bodily physique;and if notby pers
19、uasion,then by prosecution in a court of law.14 And for my part,I think,if legal pressure is to be applied,you should apply it in those caseswhere neglect to prosecute might fairly be ascribed to interestedmotives;15 since if you fail to put compulsion on the greater people first,you leave a backdoo
20、r of escape at once to those of humbler means.Butthere will be other cases;16 say,of young men in whom a realenthusiasm for the service may be kindled by recounting to them all thebrilliant feats of knighthood;while you may disarm the opposition of theirguardians by dwelling on the fact that,if not
21、you,at any rate some futurehipparch will certainly compel them to breed horses,17 owing to theirwealth;whereas,if they enter the service18 during your term of office,you will undertake to deter their lads from mad extravagance in buyinghorses,19 and take pains to make good horsemen of them without l
22、oss oftime;and while pleading in this strain,you must endeavour to make yourpractice correspond with what you preach.14 Lit.by bringing them into court,or by persuasion,i.e.byThe Cavalry General6legal if not by moral pressure.See Martin,op.cit.pp.316,321 foll.15 i.e.would cause you to be suspected o
23、f acting from motives ofgain.16 Reading esti de kai ous,or if as vulg.eti de kai,Morethan that,it strikes me one may work on the feelings of youngfellows in such a way as to disarm.See Hartmann,An.Xen.N.325.17 Cf.Aesch.P.V.474;Herod.vi.35;Dem.1046.14;Thuc.vi.12;Isocr.peri tou zeugous,353 C.ippotroph
24、ein d epikheiresas,oton eudaimonestaton ergon esti.See Prof.Jebbs note to Theophr.Ch.vi.p.197,note 16.18 Lit.if they mount.19 Like that of Pheidippides in the play;see Aristoph.Clouds,23foll.And for the price of horses,ranging from 3 minas(=L12 circa)for a common horse,or 12 minas(say L50)for a good
25、 saddle orrace-horse,up to the extravagant sum of 13 talents(say 3000 guineas)given for Bucephalus,see Boeckh,P.E.A.(Eng.tr.)p.74.Cf.Isaeus,55.22;88.17;Lys.de Maled.133.10;Aul.Gell.Noct.Att.v.2.To come to the existing body of knights,20 it would tend,21 I think,to better rearing and more careful tre
26、atment of their horses if the senateissued a formal notice that for the future twice the amount of drill will berequired,and that any horse unable to keep up will be rejected.And so,too,with regard to vicious horses,I should like to see an edict promulgated tothe effect that all such animals will be
27、 rejected.This threat wouldstimulate the owners of such brutes to part with them by sale,and,what ismore,to exercise discretion at the time of purchase.So,too,it would be agood thing if the same threat of rejection were made to include horses thatkick on the exercising-grounds,since it is impossible
28、 to keep such animalsin the ranks;and in case of an advance against a hostile force at anypoint,22 they must perforce trail in the rear,so that,thanks to the vice ofthe animal which he bestrides,the trooper himself is rendered useless.20 Or,As regards those who are actually serving in the cavalry.Fo
29、r a plausible emend.of this passage(S.13)see Courier(NotesThe Cavalry General7sur le texte,p.54);L.Dind.ad loc.21 Lit.the senate might incite to.22 Reading ean,or if kan with the MSS.,trans.even in case ofan advance against the enemy.With a view to strengthening the horses feet:if any one has an eas
30、ieror more simple treatment to suggest,by all means let it be adopted;but formyself,as the result of experience,I maintain that the proper course is tolay down a loose layer of cobbles from the road,a pound or so in weight,on which the horse should be put to stand,when taken from the manger tobe gro
31、omed.23 The point is,that the horse will keep perpetually movingfirst one foot and then another on the stones,whilst being rubbed down orsimply because he is fidgeted by flies.Let any one try the experiment,and,I venture to predict,not only will he come to trust my guidance,but hewill see his horses
32、 hoofs grow just as round and solid as the cobbles.23 See below,Horse.iv.4.The Greeks did not shoe theirhorses.Assuming,then,your horses are all that horses ought to be,how is thetrooper to attain a like degree of excellence?To that question I will nowaddress myself.The art of leaping on to horsebac
33、k is one which we wouldfain persuade the youthful members of the corps to learn themselves;though,if you choose to give them an instructor,24 all the greater creditto yourself.And as to the older men you cannot do better than accustomthem to mount,or rather to be hoisted up by aid of some one,Persia
34、nfashion.2524 Like Pheidon,in the fragment of Mnesimachuss play TheBreeder of Horses,ap.Athen.See Courier,ib.p.55.25 See Anab.IV.iv.4;Horsemanship,vi.12.With a view to keeping a firm seat on every sort of ground,it may beperhaps be thought a little irksome to be perpetually marching out,whenthere is
35、 no war;26 but all the same,I would have you call your mentogether and impress upon them the need to train themselves,when theyride into the country to their farms,or elsewhere,by leaving the high roadand galloping at a round pace on ground of every description.27 Thismethod will be quite as benefic
36、ial to them as the regular march out,and atThe Cavalry General8the same time not produce the same sense of tedium.You may find ituseful also to remind them that the state on her side is quite willing toexpend a sum of nearly forty talents28 yearly,so that in the event of warshe may not have to look
37、about for cavalry,but have a thoroughly efficientforce to hand for active service.Let these ideas be once instilled into theirminds,and,mark my words,your trooper will fall with zest to practisinghorsemanship,so that if ever the flame of war burst out he may not beforced to enter the lists a raw rec
38、ruit,unskilled to fight for fame andfatherland or even life itself.26 In the piping days of peace.27 See Econ.xi.17.Cf.Theophr.Ch.viii.The Late Learner:kai eis agron eph ippou allotriou katakhoumenos ama meletanippazesthai,kai peson ten kephalon kateagenai,Riding into thecountry on anothers horse,he
39、 will practise his horsemanship by theway,and falling,will break his head(Jebb).28=L10,000 circa.See Boeckh,op.cit.p.251.It would be no bad thing either,to forewarn your troopers that one dayyou will take them out yourself for a long march,and lead them acrosscountry over every kind of ground.Again,
40、whilst practising the evolutionsof the rival cavalry display,29 it will be well to gallop out at one time toone district and again to another.Both men and horses will be benefited.29 Lit.the anthippasia.See iii.11,and Horsemanship,viii.10.Next,as to hurling the javelin from horseback,the best way to
41、 secureas wide a practice of the art as possible,it strikes me,would be to issue anorder to your phylarchs that it will be their duty to put themselves at thehead of the marksmen of several tribes,and to ride out to the butts forpractice.In this way a spirit of emulation will be roused-the severalof
42、ficers will,no doubt,be eager to turn out as many marksmen as they canto aid the state.3030 On competition cf.Cyrop.II.i.22,and our author passim.And so too,to ensure that splendour of accoutrement which the forcerequires,31 the greatest help may once again be looked for from thephylarchs;let these
43、officers but be persuaded that from the public point ofThe Cavalry General9view the splendid appearance of their squadrons32 will confer a title todistinction far higher than that of any personal equipment.Nor is itreasonable to suppose that they will be deaf to such an argument,since thevery desire
44、 to hold the office of phylarch itself proclaims a soul alive tohonour and ambition.And what is more,they have it in their power,inaccordance with the actual provisions of the law,to equip their menwithout the outlay of a single penny,by enforcing that self-equipment outof pay33 which the law prescr
45、ibes.31 Or,a beauty of equipment,worthy of our knights.Cf.Aristoph.Lysistr.561,and a fragment of The Knights,of Antiphanes,ap.Athen.503 B,pant Amaltheias keras.See Hiero,ix.6;Horse.xi.10.32 Lit.tribes,phulai(each of the ten tribes contributingabout eighty men,or,as we might say,a squadron).33 i.e.th
46、e katastasis,allowance,so technically called.Cf.Lys.for Mantitheos;Jebb,Att.Or.i.246;Boeckh,P.E.A.II.xxi.p.263;K.F.Hermann,152,19;Martin,op.cit.p.341.But to proceed.In order to create a spirit of obedience in yoursubordinates,you have two formidable instruments;34 as a matter ofplain reason you can
47、show them what a host of blessings the worddiscipline implies;and as a matter of hard fact you can,within the limitsof the law,enable the well-disciplined to reap advantage,while theundisciplined are made to feel the pinch at every turn.34 The one theoretic,the other practical.But if you would rouse
48、 the emulation of your phylarchs,if you wouldstir in each a personal ambition to appear at the head of his own squadronin all ways splendidly appointed,the best incentive will be your personalexample.You must see to it that your own bodyguard35 are decked withchoice accoutrement and arms;you must en
49、force on them the need topractise shooting pertinaciously;you must expound to them the theory ofthe javelin,yourself an adept in the art through constant training.3635 Techn.prodromoi,possibly=the Hippotoxotai,or corps of 200mounted archers-Scythians;cf.Mem.III.iii.11.Or,probably,mounted skirmishers
50、,distinct from the ippotexotai.Cf.Arrian,The Cavalry General10An.i.12.7.See Aristot.Ath.Pol.49.5.36 Reading as vulg.eisegoio,or if with L.D.egoio(cf.above,S.21),trans.you must lead them out to the butts yourself.Lastly,were it possible to institute and offer prizes to the several tribalsquadrons in