recious property: they say they can fight better in the presence of
their beloved, feeling they must defend their treasures, heart and soul.
It may be so, but it may also be that the desire for pleasure is the
cause.

[3] And when Cyrus saw the feats of arms that the Medes and the
Hyrcanians had performed, he came near reproaching himself and those
that were with him; the others, he felt, had risen with the time, had
shown their strength and won their prizes, while he and his had stayed
behind like sluggards. Indeed it was a sight to watch the victors riding
home, driving their spoil before them, pointing it out with some
display to Cyrus, and then dashing off again at once in search of more,
according to the instructions they had received.

But though he ate out his heart with envy Cyrus was careful to set all
their booty apart; and then he summoned his own officers again, and
standing where they could all hear what he had to propose, he spoke as
follows:

[4] "My friends, you would all agree, I take it, that if the spoils
displayed to us now were our own to keep, wealth would be showered on
every Persian in the land, and we ourselves, no doubt, through whom it
was won, would receive the most. But what I do not see is how we are
to get possession of such prizes unless we have cavalry of our own. [5]
Consider the facts," he continued, "we Persians have weapons with which,
we hope, we can rout the enemy at close quarters: but when we do rout
them, what sort of horsemen or archers or light-armed troops could ever
be caught and killed, if we can only pursue them on foot? Why should
they ever be afraid to dash up and harry us, when they know full well
that they run no greater risk at our hands than if we were stumps in
their orchards? [6] And if this be so, it is plain that the cavalry now
with us consider every gain to be as much theirs as ours, and possibly
even more, God wot! [7] At present things must be so: there is no help
for it. But suppose we were to provide ourselves with as good a force
as our friends, it must be pretty evident to all of us, I think, that we
could then deal with the enemy by ourselves precisely as we do now with
their help, and then perhaps we should find that they would carry their
heads less high. It would be of less importance to us whether they chose
to stay or go, we should be sufficient for ourselves without them. [8]
So far then I expect that no one will disagree: if we could get a body