The Works of Xenophon (3, PT. 2)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1897 edition. Excerpt: ... over the other as shall enable him to appear in the position of an expert, trained in all the feats of cavalry performance in the field, and leave his enemy to play the part of raw recruits or amateurs.1 1 See Anab. II. v. 18 (Trans. vol. i. p. 136); Cyrop. III. iii. 47; IV. i. 18. ra/ue6ffaaffai, with the precision of a controller. Cf. Hell. II. iv. 6; VII. i. 16. 3 Or, having first studied. Cf. Mem. III. vi. 10. VOL. lll 2 D And this end may be secured primarily on this wise: those who are to form your guerilla bands2 must be so hardened and inured to the saddle that they are capable of undergoing all the toils of a campaign.3 That a squadron (and I speak of horse and man alike) should enter these lists in careless, disorderly fashion suggests the idea of a troop of women stepping into the arena to cope with male antagonists. But reverse the picture. Suppose men and horses to have been taught and trained to leap trenches and scale dykes, to spring up banks, and plunge from heights without scathe, to gallop headlong at full speed adown a steep: they will tower over unpractised opponents as the birds of the air tower over creatures that crawl and walk.4 Their feet are case-hardened by constant training, and, when it comes to tramping over rough ground, must differ from the uninitiated as the sound man from the lame. And so again, when it comes to charging and retiring, the onward-dashing gallop, the well-skilled, timely retreat, expert knowledge of the ground and scenery will assert superiority over inexpertness like that of eyesight over blindness. Nor should it be forgotten, that in order to be in thorough efficiency the horses must not only be well fed and in good condition, but at the same time so seasoned by toil that they will go...