ir work in peace. [25] "And remember," he added, "that even if you
try to hinder my friends, it is only a few whom you could stop, whereas
there is a vast territory of yours that I could allow to be cultivated.
As for the crops," he added, "if we have war, it will be the conqueror,
I make no doubt, who will reap them, but if we have peace, it will be
you. If, however, any of my people take up arms against you, or any of
yours against me, we must, of course, each of us, defend ourselves as
best we can."

[26] With this message Cyrus despatched the herald, and when the
Assyrians heard it, they urged the king to accept the proposal, and so
limit the war as much as possible. [27] And he, whether influenced by
his own people or because he desired it himself, consented to the terms.
So an agreement was drawn up, proclaiming peace to the tillers of the
soil and war to all who carried arms.

[28] Thus Cyrus arranged matters for the husbandmen, and he asked his
own supporters among the drovers to bring their herds, if they liked,
into his dominions and leave them there, while he treated the enemy's
cattle as booty wherever he could, so that his allies found attraction
in the campaign. For the risk was no greater if they took what they
needed, while the knowledge that they were living at the enemy's expense
certainly seemed to lighten the labour of the war.

[29] When the time came for Cyrus to go back, and the final preparations
were being made, Gadatas brought him gifts of every kind, the produce
of a vast estate, and among the cattle a drove of horses, taken from
cavalry of his own, whom he distrusted owing to the late conspiracy.
[30] And when he brought them he said, "Cyrus, this day I give you these
for your own, and I would pray you to make such use of them as you think
best, but I would have you remember that all else which I call mine
is yours as well. For there is no son of mine, nor can there ever be,
sprung from my own loins, to whom I may leave my wealth: when I die
myself, my house must perish with me, my family and my name. [31] And I
must suffer this, Cyrus, I swear to you by the great gods above us, who
see all things and hear all things, though never by word or deed did I
commit injustice or foulness of any kind."

But here the words died on his lips; he burst into tears over his
sorrows, and could say no more. [32] Cyrus was touched with pity at his
suffering and said to him:

"Let me accept the horses, fo