Book 7 (Cyrus)

Book Seven, Chapter One
1. Cyrus takes food while engaged in the sacrifice and shares the food with anyone who needs it most…
2. They all don their magnificent armor…
3. Cyrus identifies a clap of thunder on his right as encouragement from Zeus…
4. He gives orders to keep an eye on the standard, a golden eagle, the same to this day…
5. The armies prepare to meet, with Croesus making a double gamma, surrounding tactic…
6. Cyrus proceeds, remarking to Chrysantas how far forward their wings are moving from the center…
7. Cyrus explains how the enemy plans to surround their flanks with this maneuver…
8. This would be a good strategy for what the enemy can see, but a very bad one for what they cannot… 9. He urges them to press on as soon as he begins the paean…
10. He gives the watchword to the lines…
11. To others he praises the blessings of the gods and exhorts them to be valiant…
12. He describes the battle as a great feast to which they all have brought things for mutual benefit…
13. He enumerates the benefits to the victors and the shame for the cowards…
14. To those who fought with him before he says that they know how the brave and cowardly fare in battle…
15. He meets Abradatas and some others, assuring him that the Persians will support him…
16. Abradatas shows more concern for the flanks than the center…
17. Cyrus instructs him not to engage the enemy until he has put the flanks to flight…
18. He tells Abradatas to encourage his own men to the charge…
19. Cyrus exhorts Hystaspas, commander of half the Persian cavalry, to approach the enemy with speed…
20. Cyrus says that he will join Hystaspas on the flanks…
21. He tells the commander of the chariots to try to break through the lines…
22. He gives further instructions to Artagerses and Pharnachus…
23. Croesus tells his wings to halt and engage with the enemy…
24. All of Cyrus’ army, except the rear, is encompassed and fearful…
25. Nevertheless, when Cyrus gave the command they turned and faced the enemy…
26. After this they raise a shout to Enyalius and Cyrus dashes forward…
27. Artagerses, noting Cyrus’ action, attacks with camels on the left…
28. Artagerses falls upon the confusion and the chariots charge from left and right…
29. Abradatas joins the fight, calling to his friends and whipping his horses mercilessly into action…
30. Abradatas hurls himself directly into the Egyptian phalanx…
31. The Egyptians could not move aside from Abradatas’ charge and are mangled in its path…
32. Abradatas and those who followed him are thrown to the ground and though valorous slain… 33. The Persians struggle with the better-armed Egyptian phalanx…
34. They Persians retreat into range of the towers, which fire on the Egyptians…
35. Dreadful carnage ensues…
36. Cyrus attacks the enemy from the rear…
37. Cyrus’ horse is struck in the belly, throwing him…
38. All of his men lunge to Cyrus’ rescue and one puts him on his horse…
39. The Egyptians are assailed from all sides by the arrival of Hystaspas and Chrysantas…
40. He observes that only the Egyptians are making a stand, but they are in disarray and suffering…
41. Cyrus marvels at their conduct and pities them…
42. Cyrus explains that they are recognized as the only group to hold its ground…
43. Cyrus vows to treat them as friends…
44. They ask only not to have to fight against Croesus and accept everything else in good faith… 45. The Egyptians who stayed with Cyrus have continued in these regions to this day…
46. The Egyptians are the best on the enemy side and the Persian cavalry on Cyrus’ side…
47. The scythe-bearing chariots also did well and have been retained by kings to Xenophon’s time…
48. The camels did nothing but scare the horses and could not be used for combat…
49. They have been retained as pack animals but no gentleman would train to fight on one…

Book Seven, Chapter Two
1. Cyrus rests after dinner…
2. At daylight, Cyrus besieges Sardis…
3. During the next night, some Chaldaeans and Persians scale the most precipitous wall…
4. When the citadel is breeched, the Lydians flee in disarray…
5. Croesus shuts himself in his palace…
6. He explains that he does not want his men to see the insubordinate faring better than the obedient…
7. They offer their spoils to Cyrus, but he will not accept them…
8. The Chaldaeans obey; Cyrus encamps in the city where it is most…
9. Cyrus orders Croesus to be brought to him and Croesus greets him as master…
10. Cyrus returns the greeting, noting that they are both men…
11. Cyrus explains his predicament to Croesus…
12. Croesus asks to tell the Lydians that they will not be plundered but must give up everything valuable…
13. Croesus promises that if he can do this, the people will be grateful…
14. Croesus asks for the opportunity of bringing the wealth before Cyrus…
15. Cyrus asks Croesus about reports from the Delphic oracle…
16. Croesus explains that he has mistreated the god Apollo…
17. Rather than ask for a favor he tested Apollo and lost his love…
18. He also asked about having a male son…
19. After many offerings, Apollo eventually told him that he would have sons…
20. But one was a mute and the other killed in the flower of youth…
21. Croesus is initially happy because he thinks this is an easy instruction…
22. He makes the mistake of letting the Assyrian king persuade him to take the field against Cyrus…
23. Croesus is spoiled again by letting others flatter him into commanding the army…
24. He had thought he could defeat Cyrus…
25. Croesus asserts that he knows himself now and asks Cyrus if he thinks he can still be happy…
26. Cyrus tells Croesus that he will return him to his family if he will fight no more wars…
27. Croesus agrees with this arrangement and declares it happy…
28. He explains that till now only his wife had enjoyed such prosperity…
29. Cyrus marvels at Croesus’ good spirit and henceforth takes him with him wherever he goes…

Book Seven, Chapter Three
1. Cyrus has the spoils given to the gods and divided among the men according to their merits…
2. He enquires after Abradatas…
3. An aide explains that he died by rushing into the Egyptian phalanx…
4. Pantheia has taken the body for burial by the river Pactolus…
5. She holds his head in her lap while the servants and eunuchs dig a grave for his body…
6. As soon as he hears this Cyrus strikes his thigh and rushes to the scene…
7. He instructs Gadatas and Gobryas to bring as many fine things as they can…
8. When he sees Pantheia in mourning, he weeps and laments the loss of Abradatas…
9. Cyrus is even more deeply moved by the severed hand…
10. She explains that the rest of his limbs have been hacked as well…
11. Cyrus gives many ornaments to Pantheia and assures her that Abradatas will not want for honors…
12. He promises to bestow honors on Pantheia and let her go wherever she wants…
13. She admits that she will never be able to hide from Cyrus where she wants to go…
14. Cyrus departs feeling pity for her; she stabs herself in the heart…
15. Cyrus rushes to the scene to help, and three other eunuchs kill themselves…
16. Cyrus laments Pantheia and has a great monument erected to both of them…

Book Seven, Chapter Four
1. Cyrus sends the Persian Adusius to Caria to settle the civil war there…
2. The Cilicians and Cyprians were always so loyal that Cyrus never assigned them a satrap…
3. Adusius meets with both factions of the Carians…
4. He makes an arrangement with each side independently…
5. Adusius tells them that they must live together henceforth without fear of one another…
6. After this everyone lives together in peace and joy…
7. The Carians petition Cyrus to make Adusius their satrap…
8. Cyrus sends Adusius to join Hystaspas on an expedition against Hellespontine Phrygia…
9. The Ionian Greeks agree not to receive the Persians into their walls but to pay tribute…
10. The Phrygian king submits on the condition that Cyrus be his judge…
11. Cyrus had given Adusius instructions to bring the Phrygians who had voluntarily taken their side…
12. Cyrus leaves Sardis with Croesus, who shares with him inventory lists of tribute…
13. Cyrus vows to put the most deserving in charge of these possessions…
14. He allows Lydians who seem to love beauty to remain with him in arms…
15. He considered the sling to be the weapon most suited to a slave…
16. On the way to Babylon, Cyrus subdues Greater Phrygia, Cappadocia, and the Arabians…

Book Seven, Chapter Five
1. Having stationed his force about the city Cyrus rides around with his friends and officers…
2. As he prepares to withdraw a deserter comes from the city…
3. Cyrus takes the center of the army and commands everyone to fall in order around him…
4. This gives the men courage as the ranks are now doubled in thickness…
5. The best men are now in the front and rear with the weakest in between them…
6. They fall back out of range of the missiles from the walls…
7. Cyrus calls the officers together and explains that he does not think the city may be taken by force…
8. Chrysantas raises the question of the river that runs through Babylon…
9. Cyrus proposes then that they divert the Euphrates…
10. He takes measurements around the walls and erects towers by the river to guard it…
11. He builds the towers around the city with foundations of the trunks of date-palms…
12. These are strong enough to support the towers even if the river breaks into the trenches…
13. The enemy observes his actions and laughs in scorn, believing they have 20 years of provisions…
14. The Babylonians are still dismissive…
15. After the trenches are completed Cyrus has them opened up on the night of a festival…
16. Doing so makes the riverbed into the city passable…
17. Cyrus summons the infantry and cavalry…
18. He has them test to see if it is possible to march into the riverbed…
19. They determine that it is…
20. He exhorts his men to take heart that they have defeated this army before…
21. Now he says they are asleep and drunk and not in battle array…
22. He assures them that they do not need to worry about the Babylonians retreating to their houses…
23. He explains that they have plenty of torches and pitch with which to fire their houses…
24. He calls them to arms and asks Gadatas and Gobryas to lead the way…
25. Gobryas agrees and expects to find many of the Babylonians in revelry…
26. They make an easy path to the palace with Gobryas and his men pretending to be fellow-revelers…
27. Gobryas and Gadatas find the palace doors locked…
28. When the king asks what the disturbance is, some of the gates are opened and a few men run out…
29. Gadatas and his men rush in and find the king on the verge of suicide…
30. They kill the king and those around him in a skirmish…
31. Cyrus has an Assyrian interpreter tell all the Assyrians to remain indoors…
32. Gadatas and Gobryas meet Cyrus…
33. At dawn, those in possession of the citadels surrender when they learn the king has been slain…
34. Cyrus takes over the citadels…
35. He summons the magi to take spoils for the gods…