t miles, which they regarded as a considerable
security against a surprise. As their most important arm was the
cavalry, and as it was impossible for the cavalry to unfasten and
unhobble their steeds, to equip them properly, to arm themselves, and
then to mount in a short space of time, when darkness and confusion
reigned around, a night attack on the part of an enterprising enemy
would have been most perilous to a Persian army. Hence the precaution
which they observed against its occurrence--a precaution which was
seldom or never omitted where they felt any respect for their foe,
and which seems to have been effective, since we do not hear of their
suffering any disaster of the kind which they so greatly feared.

The Persians do not seem to have possessed any special corps of
pioneers. When the nature of the country was such as to require the
felling of timber or the removal of brushwood, the army was halted, and
the work was assigned to a certain number of the regular soldiers. For
the construction of bridges, however, in important places, and for
other works on a grand scale intended to facilitate an expedition,
preparations were made beforehand, the tasks being entrusted either to
skilled workmen, or to the crews of ships, if they were tolerably easy
of performance.

Commissariat arrangements were generally made by the Persians on a
large scale, and with the best possible results. An ample baggage-train
conveyed corn sufficient to supply the host during some months and in
cases where scarcity was apprehended, further precautions were taken.
Ships laden with corn accompanied the expedition as closely as possible,
and supplemented any deficiency that might arise from a failure on the
part of the land transport department. Sometimes, too, magazines were
established at convenient points along the intended line of march
previously to the setting forth of the army, and stores were thus
accumulated at places where it was probable they would be found of most
service.

Requisitions for supplies were also made upon the inhabitants of the
towns and villages through which lay the route of the army. Whenever the
host rested for a night at a place of any consequence, the inhabitants
seem to have been required to furnish sufficient bread for a meal
to each man, and, in addition, to provide a banquet for the king
(or general) and his suite, which was always very numerous. Such
requisitions, often intolerably burthensome to those