pothos.org

... a man the kingliest and most worthy to rule, according to the concurrent testimony of all who are reputed to have known him intimately ... when still a boy, his unrivalled excellence was recognized …he was held to be a paragon of modesty among his fellows … and next he bore away the palm for skill in horsemanship and for love of the animal itself. ... nothing was more noticeable in his conduct than the importance which he attached to the faithful fulfillment of every treaty or compact or undertaking entered into with others. ... He made no secret of his endeavour to outdo his friends and his foes alike in reciprocity of conduct. ... no one, at least in our days, ever drew together so ardent a following of friends, eager to lay at his feet their money, their cities, their own lives and persons; nor is it to be inferred from this that he suffered the malefactor and the wrongdoer to laugh him to scorn; on the contrary, these he punished most unflinchingly ... However, as all allowed, it was for the brave in war that he reserved especial honour … Being himself at the head of an expedition into those territories, he could observe those who voluntarily encountered risks; these he made rulers of the territory which he subjected, and afterwards honoured them with other gifts. ... So again, wherever he might discover any one ready to distinguish himself in the service of uprightness, his delight was to make this man richer than those who seek for gain by unfair means. On the same principle, his own administration was in all respects uprightly conducted, and, in particular, he secured the services of an army worthy of the name. ... if he saw any skilful and just steward who furnished well the country over which he ruled, and created revenues, so far from robbing him at any time, to him who had, he delighted to give more. ... Towards the friends he had made, whose kindliness he knew, or whose 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.

karen wrote:I didn't know who it was describing, so I cheated with Google.

But before I did that, yes, I did notice a lot of parallels with Alexander. The big differences being the lack of the usual mentions of vanity, overambition, drink, taking on the ways of the barbarians, etc. that you get with potted descriptions of Alexander. You also usually don't see so much emphasis on honesty and integrity in dealings... of course Alexander tended not to make treaties but just to smash through every disagreement through force, so there were fewer tests of his integrity.

If this gentleman had a bad side, this author didn't notice it.

I won't give it away.

Warmly,
Karen

karen wrote:If this gentleman had a bad side, this author didn't notice it.

I won't give it away.

karen wrote:You also usually don't see so much emphasis on honesty and integrity in dealings... of course Alexander tended not to make treaties but just to smash through every disagreement through force, so there were fewer tests of his integrity.

Our brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw our navy broke and tried to fund it, saw our defeat and tried to reverse it, saw the war and tried to win it.

Those of us who loved him and who take his pay today as we did yesterday, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for our nation will some day come to pass for all the world.

As he said many times, in many parts of this empire, to those he supported and who sought to support him:

"Some men see the King enthroned and say why.
I dream a King that never was and say why not."

dario wrote:it could be cyrus the great , alexander admired his policies and asked the persians much about his. remember the ambasadors from persia.

sikander wrote:If I am guessing correctly, yes, there are parallels, but that would not be surprising. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery; more important, emulation of the best is a time-tested method to reach for something higher and better in oneself...

Alexander knew his Xenophon, and seems to have been particularly influenced by the Cyropaedia, a fictionalized and laudatory account of the life of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire. This work, written by an intelligent and pragmatic Athenian aristocrat catalogues the virtues of an ideal leader, while addressing the questions of authority and imperial governance. Simon Hornblower points out that the theory of kingship found in this work, wherein a ruler earns his right to govern through his own exertions (philoponia, askesis) as a glorious servant of his people, has its model in Heracles.

The Cyropaedia contains an imaginary conversation in which Xenophon has Cyrus tell his father Cambyses, “that the ruler ought to surpass those under his rule not in self-indulgence, but in taking forethought and willingly undergoing toil.” Cambyses advises Cyrus that nothing is more important for a leader than winning the affection of his men, and this can be accomplished by sharing in their happiness, sorrow, pleasure, and pain. In war, Cambyses tells Cyrus, “if they (the campaigns) fall in the summer time, the general must show that he can endure the heat of the sun better than his soldiers can, and that he can endure cold better than they if it be in winter; if the way lead through difficulties, that he can endure hardships better. All this contributes to his being loved by his men.”

Xenophon’s Cyrus is a prototype of the ideal ruler, and Alexander was, as Strabo says, “a lover of Cyrus” (11.11.4). To Xenophon the Persian monarch is an intrepid conqueror who consistently displays courage and a military inventiveness that confounds the enemy. He keeps his troops on the march as much as possible, and sponsors competitive games when they are stationary. These games encourage an esprit de corps, advocate fitness, and cultivate a benign paternal image for the ruler who doles out rewards for excellence. He constantly monitors their health, morale, and discipline. He must learn “from the gods by the soothsayer’s art,” which will give him a special wisdom that is respected by his subjects.” “For people are only to glad to obey the man who they believe takes wiser thought for their interests than they themselves do.”

Image is of the utmost importance, and appearance is sometimes more important than reality. We seem to learn from Cyrus, Xenophon says, that it is necessary for a successful ruler “to excel his subjects not only in point of being actually better than they, but that he ought also to cast a sort of spell upon them.” Cyrus may have had this in mind, Xenophon infers, when he adopted the Median dress “and persuaded his associates also to adopt it; for he thought that it any one had any personal defect that dress would help to conceal it, and that it made the wearer look very tall and handsome …”

amyntoros wrote:Yes, it is Cyrus.

Whoever wants to keep alive must aim at victory. It is the winners who do the killing and the losers who get killed. And those who want money must try to win battles.The winners can not only keep what they have themselves, but can take what belongs to the losers.

Xenophon, Anabasis 1.4 As they forded, never a man was wetted above the chest: nor ever until this moment, said the men of Thapascus, had the river been so crossed on foot, boats had always been required; but these, at the present time, Abrocomas, in his desire to hinder Cyrus from crossing, had been at pains to burn. Thus the passage was looked upon as a thing miraculous; the river had manifestly retired before the face of Cyrus, like a courtier bowing to his future king.

Plutarch, Alexander 17.6 His rapid passage along the coasts of Pamphylia has afforded many historians material for bombastic and terrifying description. They imply that by some great and heaven-sent good fortune the sea retired to make way for Alexander, although at other times it always came rolling in with violence from the main, and scarcely ever revealed to sight the small rocks which lie close up under the precipitous and riven sides of the mountain.

Xenophon, Anabasis 1.5 On the opposite side of the Euphrates to the point reached on one of these desert stages, was a large and flourishing city named Charmande. From this town the soldiers made purchases of provisions, crossing the river on rafts, in the following fashion: They took the skins which they used as tent coverings, and filled them with light grass; they then compressed and stitched them tightly together by the ends, so that the water might not touch the hay.

Arrian, Anabasis 1.3.6 He himself embarked in the fleet; he filled the leather tent covers with hay …

Arrian, Anabasis 5.9.3 His boats sailing in this and that direction, the filling with chaff of the rafts made of skins …

Xenophon, Anabasis 1.8 The enemy's chariots, reft of their charioteers, swept onwards, some through the enemy themselves, others past the Hellenes. They, as they saw them coming, opened a gap and let them pass.

Arrian, Anabasis 3.13.5-6 At this point the Persians launched their scythe-carrying chariots direct against Alexander, to throw his line out of formation; but in this they were significantly disappointed. . . . Some did pass right through the Greek lines, which, as they had been ordered, parted where the chariots attacked; this was the main reason why the chariots passed through unscathed and the troops against them which were launched were unharmed.

Xenophon, Anabasis 1.9 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 ..." 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."

Plutarch, Alexander 23.9 In the matter of delicacies, too, he himself, at all events, was master of his appetite, so that often, when the rarest fruits or fish were brought to him from the sea-coast, he would distribute them to each of his companions until he was the only one for whom nothing remained.