ur men.
[43] All of you alike, officers, and all who respect yourselves, must be
most careful to march in silence. At night the ears, and not the eyes,
are the channels of information and the guides for action, and at night
any confusion is a far more serious matter than by day, and far more
difficult to put right. For this reason silence must be studied and
order absolutely maintained. [44] Whenever you mean to rise before
daybreak, you must make the night-watches as short and as numerous as
possible, so that no one may suffer on the march because of his long
vigil before it; and when the hour for the start arrives the horn must
be blown. [45] Gentlemen, I expect you all to present yourselves on
the road to Babylon with everything you require, and as each detachment
starts, let them pass down the word for those in the rear to follow."

[46] So the officers went to their quarters, and as they went they
talked of Cyrus, and what a marvellous memory he had, always naming
each officer as he assigned him his post. [47] The fact was Cyrus took
special pains over this: it struck him as odd that a mere mechanic could
know the names of all his tools, and a physician the names of all his
instruments, but a general be such a simpleton that he could not name
his own officers, the very tools he had to depend on each time he wanted
to seize a point or fortify a post or infuse courage or inspire terror.
Moreover it seemed to him only courteous to address a man by name when
he wished to honour him. [48] And he was sure that the man who feels he
is personally known to his commander is more eager to be seen performing
some noble feat of arms, and more careful to refrain from all that is
unseemly and base. [49] Cyrus thought it would be quite foolish for him
to give his orders in the style of certain householders: "Somebody fetch
the water, some one split the wood." [50] After a command of that kind,
every one looks at every one else, and no one carries it out, every one
is to blame, and no one is ashamed or afraid, because there are so many
beside himself. Therefore Cyrus always named the officers whenever he
gave an order.

[51] That, then, was his view of the matter. The army now took supper
and posted their guards and got their necessaries together and went to
rest. [52] And at midnight the horn was blown. Cyrus had told Chrysantas
he would wait for him at a point on the road in advance of the troops,
and therefore he went on in fro