Page:The works of Xenophon Vol III Part II.djvu/10

vi of a cavalry force at Athens, 365 ., shortly before the battle of Mantinea; horses and horsemanship; dogs, and matters incidental to the chase), they appeal not only to archaeologists and specialists, but to the public at large, and in particular to those members of the community who, professionally or as laymen, happen to take an interest, scientific or antiquarian or directly practical, in the kind of topics dealt with. I think of military experts—members of the mounted service in particular; of the historian of cavalry tactics; of the country gentleman devoted, like Xenophon himself, to horses and dogs, to life in the open air, to sport of many kinds; of non-sportsmen and lay persons, ἰδιῶται, of whichever sex, who are fond of animals, or happen to have a taste for natural history; and lastly, in accordance with the spirit of our own age, of the scientific student bent on examining the evolutional side of the matter, whether in reference to cavalry tactics or to various forms of sport; the fixity or variation of equine, canine, and other animal types; the relation of so-called civilised man to domesticated and wild animals. To each and all of these readers—and clearly the list is not exhaustive—our author will have something to say. It is not about the charm and delectation of his utterance that I am concerned; but rather, lest having undertaken to play the part of an interpreter, I should find that I have played it ill, to the detriment of Xenophon and of those "English readers" to whom these translations are primarily addressed.

The text which I have followed, as heretofore, is that of Gustave Sauppe, his editio stereotypa the occasional variations from which, derived mainly from the texts of Schneider or L. Dindorf, are, I hope, always