Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Xenophon, Cyropaedeia, Vol. 1: With Introduction and Notes
After ravaging unopposed the Assyrian territory up to the walls of Babylon, he postpones his attack on that city. Meanwhile the Assyrian monarch had collected and placed under the com mand of Croesus, king of Lydia, a much larger force, which, however, is routed by Cyrus in a decisive battle fought against Sardis. The Lydian capital surrenders, after a short siege, to the conqueror. The other states of Western Asia are rapidly subdued, and Cyrus ends by taking Babylon, the capital of Assyria, at which he establishes his court and the central seat of government. There he adopts measures for consolidating his dominions, organising his offices of state and court ceremonial, and rewarding his companions in arms After a solemn religious thanksgiving for his successes, he visits his royal uncle and his father. The former bestows on him his daughter in marriage and appoint's him heir to the throne of Media. After the death of Cambyses Cyrus becomes king of Persis, and of Media likewise on the death of Cyaxares. At a late period of his reign, Egypt and several new provinces of Southern and Eastern Asia are added to his former conquests. When far advanced in years, forewarned by a vision of his approaching end, he gathered round him his sons and chief officers of state, in whose presence he expires, after giving them much sound advice concerning their future conduct and the administration of his empire after his death. With the death-bed scene Xenophon's narrative should have ended, but a long chapter of moral commentary is added, in which the writer describes how the precepts and example of Cyrus were set at nought by his successors and all his good arrangements reversed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.