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it seems to me to be a mark of character for the ruler, having made his power manifest, from this to strive for virtue. And so I," he said, "wish to show you as many of my possessions as it is possible to see, and to describe those which it is not possible to see." Having said these things, he showed many and beautiful treasures, and described those that were stored away so that it was not easy to see them. And 1.259 he said, "O men, you must consider these things no more mine than also yours; for I collect these things, so that I may have something to give to the one of you who does something noble, and so that, if any of you should need anything, he may receive it by coming to me." And when he had settled matters in Babylon well, he prepared to depart for Persia. And when in his journey he came to Media, Cyrus turned aside to Cyaxares, and after greeting him said that a house had been set apart for him in Babylon, and he presented him with many and beautiful gifts. And Cyaxares sent his daughter to him, bearing a golden crown and bracelets and a necklace and a most beautiful Median robe. And the girl crowned Cyrus, and Cyaxares said, "I give you, O Cyrus, this very woman as your wife, she being my daughter, and I give with her as dowry all of Media; for I have no legitimate male child." But Cyrus said, "Her lineage, O Cyaxares, I commend, and the girl and the gifts, but I wish to marry her with the consent of both my father and my mother." And having said these things, he journeyed to Persia. And having come to the borders of Persia, he left the army there, but he himself with his friends entered the city, bringing sacrificial victims sufficient for all the Persians to sacrifice and to feast. And he brought gifts to his father and mother such as were fitting, and to his friends, and such as were proper for the magistrates and elders; and he gave also to all the Persian men, and indeed to the Persian women. And having spent some time with his parents, he departed. And having arrived in Media, with his father's approval he married the daughter of Cyaxares; and having married her, he immediately set out, taking her with him. 1.260 And when he came to Babylon, he sent satraps over the conquered nations, namely to Arabia and Cappadocia, to Greater Phrygia, to Lycia and Ionia, to Caria, to Phrygia on the Hellespont and Aeolis. But to the Cilicians and Cyprians and Paphlagonians he did not send satraps, because they seemed to him to have campaigned with him voluntarily; nevertheless, they too paid tribute. And so that, since his empire was large, messages might be brought to him quickly even from afar, he considered how great a distance a horse could cover when ridden, and he made stables that far apart from one another, and he stationed horses in them and men to care for them, and at each one he appointed a suitable man to receive the letters that were brought and hand them on, and to take the tired horses and send on fresh ones. And when a year had already passed, he made an expedition, in which it is said he subdued all the nations which inhabit the region from the entrance to Syria as far as the Red Sea. And after this he campaigned against Egypt and subdued it as well; so that from then on his empire was bounded on the east by the Red Sea, on the north by the Euxine Sea, on the west by Cyprus and Egypt, and on the south by Ethiopia. And he himself, establishing his residence in the center of these, spent seven months in Babylon during the winter season, for that country is warm, and three months around springtime in Susa, and he spent two months in Ecbatana at the height of summer. And having lived thus, Cyrus, having become very old, came to Persia for the seventh time, his parents having died long ago. And as he was sleeping 1.261 in the palace, it seemed to him in a dream that someone greater than a human approached him, saying, "Prepare yourself, O Cyrus; for the gods are already summoning you." And from this he conjectured that the end of his life was at hand, and on the third day he called his sons, for they accompanied him, and his friends and the rulers of the Persians, and said, "For me, the end of life is now at hand, and it is necessary to make clear to whom the kingship will belong after me, so that it may not cause you trouble by becoming a matter of dispute. You therefore, O

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μοι δοκεῖ ειναι ηθους τὸ τὴν δύναμιν τὸν αρχοντα φανερὰν ποιησάμενον ἐκ ταύτης ἀγωνίζεσθαι περὶ καλοκἀγαθίας. κἀγὼ ουν" εφη "βούλομαι ὑμῖν οσα μὲν οιόν τέ ἐστι τῶν ἐμοὶ οντων ἰδεῖν δεῖξαι, οσα δὲ μὴ οιόν τε ἰδεῖν, διηγήσασθαι." ταῦτα εἰπὼν τὰ μὲν ἐδείκνυ πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ χρήματα, τὰ δὲ κείμενα ὡς μὴ ῥᾴδιον ειναι ἰδεῖν διηγήσατο. καὶ 1.259 ειπεν "ω ανδρες, ταῦτα οὐδὲν μᾶλλον ἐμὰ δέον ἡγεῖσθαι η καὶ ὑμέτερα· ἐγὼ γὰρ ταῦτα ἀθροίζω, οπως εχω τῷ καλόν τι ὑμῶν ποιοῦντι διδόναι, καὶ οπως, ην τις ὑμῶν τινος δέηται, λάβῃ πρός με ἰών." Οτε δὲ τὰ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ευ κατεστήσατο, εἰς Πέρσας ἀπελθεῖν ἡτοιμάζετο. ἐπεὶ δὲ πορευόμενος γίνεται κατὰ τὴν Μηδικήν, τρέπεται ὁ Κῦρος πρὸς Κυαξάρην, καὶ ἀσπασάμενος αὐτὸν ειπεν οτι οικος αὐτῷ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ἐξῃρημένος ειη, καὶ δῶρα παρέσχεν αὐτῷ πολλὰ καὶ καλά. ὁ δὲ Κυαξάρης προσέπεμψεν αὐτῷ τὴν θυγατέρα στέφανόν τε χρυσοῦν καὶ ψέλια φέρουσαν καὶ στρεπτὸν καὶ στολὴν Μηδικὴν καλλίστην. καὶ ἡ μὲν παῖς ἐστεφάνου τὸν Κῦρον, ὁ δὲ Κυαξάρης "δίδωμί σοι" εφη, "ω Κῦρε, καὶ αὐτὴν ταύτην γυναῖκα, θυγατέρα ουσαν ἐμήν, ἐπιδίδωμι δὲ αὐτῇ καὶ φερνὴν Μηδίαν πᾶσαν· οὐδὲ γὰρ εστι μοι αρρην παῖς γνήσιος." ὁ δὲ Κῦρος "τὸ μὲν γένος, ω Κυαξάρη, ἐπαινῶ" ειπε, "καὶ τὴν παῖδα καὶ τὰ δῶρα, βούλομαι δὲ σὺν γνώμῃ τοῦ πατρός τε καὶ τῆς μητρὸς γῆμαι αὐτήν." καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν εἰς Πέρσας ἐπορεύετο. ἐν δὲ τοῖς Περσῶν ὁρίοις ἐλθὼν τὸ μὲν στράτευμα ἐκεῖ κατέλιπεν, αὐτὸς δὲ σὺν τοῖς φίλοις τὴν πόλιν εἰσῄει, ἱερεῖα αγων πᾶσι Πέρσαις ἱκανὰ θύειν καὶ ἑστιᾶσθαι. δῶρα δὲ τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ εφερεν οια εἰκὸς ην καὶ τοῖς φίλοις, οια δ' επρεπεν ἀρχαῖς καὶ γεραιτέροις· εδωκε δὲ καὶ πᾶσι Πέρσαις, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ Περσίσι. καὶ χρόνον τινὰ τοῖς τεκοῦσι συνδιατρίψας ἀπῄει. καὶ γενόμενος ἐν Μήδοις συνδόξαν τῷ πατρὶ γαμεῖ τὴν Κυαξάρου θυγατέρα· γήμας δ' εὐθὺς εχων αὐτὴν ἀνεζεύγνυεν. 1.260 ̔Ως δ' ηκεν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα, σατράπας ἐπὶ τὰ κατεστραμμένα επεμπεν εθνη, εἰς ̓Αραβίαν δηλαδὴ καὶ Καππαδοκίαν, εἰς Φρυγίαν τε τὴν μεγάλην, εἰς Λυκίαν τε καὶ ̓Ιωνίαν, εἰς Καρίαν, εἰς Φρυγίαν τὴν παρ' ̔Ελλήσποντον καὶ Αἰολίδα. Κίλιξι δὲ καὶ Κυπρίοις καὶ Παφλαγόσιν οὐκ επεμψε σατράπας, οτι ἑκόντες ἐδόκουν αὐτῷ συστρατεύεσθαι· δασμοὺς μέντοι καὶ ουτοι ἀπέφερον. ινα δέ, μεγάλης αὐτῷ τῆς ἀρχῆς ουσης, ταχέως καὶ πόρρωθέν οἱ κομίζοιντο ἀγγελίαι, ἐσκέψατο πόσην αν ὁδὸν ιππος ἐλαυνόμενος ἀνύοι, καὶ ἱππῶνας τοσοῦτον ἀλλήλων διέχοντας ἐποιήσατο, καὶ ιππους κατέστησεν ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ τοὺς αὐτῶν ἐπιμελομένους, καὶ ανδρα ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ εταξε τὸν ἐπιτήδειον παραδέχεσθαι τὰ φερόμενα γράμματα καὶ παραδιδόναι καὶ παραλαμβάνειν τοὺς ἀπειρηκότας ιππους καὶ αλλους πέμπειν νεαλεῖς. Ηδη δὲ παρελθόντος ἐνιαυτοῦ στρατείαν ἐποιήσατο, ἐν ῃ λέγεται καταστρέψασθαι πάντα τὰ εθνη οσα Συρίαν εἰσβάντι οἰκεῖ μέχρις ̓Ερυθρᾶς θαλάσσης. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα στρατεύει ἐπ' Αιγυπτον καὶ καταστρέφεται καὶ αὐτήν· ὡς ἐντεῦθεν ὁρίζειν αὐτῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν πρὸς εω μὲν τὴν ̓Ερυθρὰν θάλασσαν, πρὸς αρκτον δὲ τὸν πόντον τὸν Ευξεινον, πρὸς δ' ἑσπέραν Κύπρον καὶ Αιγυπτον, τὴν δ' Αἰθιοπίαν πρὸς μεσημβρίαν. αὐτὸς δ' ἐν μέσῳ τούτων πεποιημένος τὴν δίαιταν, ἐν Βαβυλῶνι μὲν μῆνας διῆγεν ἑπτὰ τὸν χρόνον δὴ τὸν χειμέριον, ἀλεεινὴ γὰρ αυτη ἡ χώρα, τρεῖς δὲ μῆνας τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸ εαρ ἐν Σούσοις, ἐν δ' ̓Εκβατάνοις δύο διῆγε μῆνας τὴν τοῦ θέρους ἀκμήν. Ουτω δὲ ζήσας ὁ Κῦρος καὶ μάλα πρεσβύτης γενόμενος ἀφικνεῖται εἰς Πέρσας τὸ εβδομον, πάλαι τῶν τοκέων τετελευτηκότων αὐτῷ. καὶ κοιμωμένῳ 1.261 κατὰ τὰ βασίλεια εδοξεν αὐτῷ κατ' οναρ τις προσελθεῖν κρείττων η κατὰ ανθρωπον, λέγων "συσκευάζου, ω Κῦρε· ηδη γάρ σε μεταπέμπονται οἱ θεοί." ἐκ τούτου δ' εικαζεν οτι παρείη τοῦ βίου ἡ τελευτή, καὶ τριταῖος τοὺς παῖδας ἐκάλεσε, συνείποντο γὰρ αὐτῷ, καὶ τοὺς φίλους καὶ τὰς Περσῶν ἀρχάς, καὶ ειπεν "ἐμοὶ μὲν τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος ηδη πάρεστι, δεῖ δὲ σαφηνίσαι περὶ τῆς βασιλείας τίνι εσται μετ' ἐμέ, ινα μὴ πράγματα ὑμῖν παράσχῃ γενομένη ἀμφίλογος. σὺ μὲν ουν, ω