Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/135

Rh 'Anabasis' (see above, p. 11) was a mere pretender to the Persian throne, and died 400. The Cyrus of the 'Cyropædeia' was the Great Cyrus, who founded the Persian Empire, and died about 525. Of this great conqueror's history there are three accounts remaining; the first is that of Herodotus, the father of history; the second is that of Ctesias, a Greek physician, who was employed at the court of Persia, and wrote a history of the country; the third is that given by Xenophon, and of all the three the last mentioned is generally considered as the least to be depended on. The curious thing is that Xenophon, writing what he meant to be a historical romance, has made it infinitely tamer than the account of Cyrus given by Herodotus, who aimed at merely setting down the historical facts as they had been told him. The Cyrus of Herodotus is sent out, when newly born, by his grandfather to be murdered; he is saved by interposition of Providence, brought up as the child of a herdsman, and subsequently recognised; he revolts against his grandfather, overthrows the Median kingdom, founds the Persian Empire, and finally is slain in a great battle against Tomyris, queen of the Massagetæ. The Cyrus of Xenophon is brought up in all decorum as befitted the grandson and nephew of a king; he is duly appointed to high offices in the state, obtains many easy victories, and inaugurates many state improvements; he succeeds peacefully to the throne of his uncle, and on a quiet death-bed gives lectures to his admiring friends upon the arts of government and the immortality of the soul. This was a case, then, in which truth was