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Xenophon's Account of Persia in the Cyropaedia
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that the gods sanction the ruler and his chosen course of action. Cyrus learned the utility
of public shows of piety and sacrificing to the gods from his father.
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Perhaps the most important factor contributing to Persia’s stability was that it was
also secure from enemies. Their security stemmed from the fact that they possessed a
well-trained army as well as from the fact that Persia was a small, rocky, and
mountainous state hardly worth conquering. In his descriptions of Persia, Xenophon
never mentions any factors such as valuable natural resources that would make Persia
attractive to potential conquerors. Moreover, even if there was a modest gain to be made
by conquering Persia, their well-trained army probably provided a strong deterrent
against potential conquerors. As we have seen, the army had to defend primarily against
domestic insurrections, rather than foreign threats. But this necessity beget the fortuitous
consequence of keeping the army well trained and well disciplined, which likely helped
to deter foreign threats. In sum, the net gain to a foreign army that could have conquered
Persia would have been very small, given the costs of conquering a stable and secure
regime.
The second point in favor of Persia according to Xenophon is that they were a
virtuous people. Xenophon indicates the extent of the Persians’ virtue by comparing their
virtue with that of the people of other comparatively depraved nations such as Media.
Xenophon also indicates the Persian’s virtue by showing how Cyrus had to work harder
to exhort his troops as more foreign soldiers joined his army. The reason he must exhort
24
Though it is impossible to know and therefore highly speculative, insofar as Machiavelli recognizes the
utility of faith and religion for princes, he may have learned this from his reading of Xenophon. See especially the last paragraph of chapter 18 of The Prince. On the relationship between Xenophon and Machiavelli, see Nadon, Xenophon's Prince: Republic and Empire in the Cyropaedia 13-25. W.R. Newell, "Machiavelli and Xenophon and Princely Rule: A Double-Edged Encounter," The Journal of Politics 50.1 (1988). Harvey C. Mansfield, Machiavelli's Virtue (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996) 12, 20, 59, 61, 125, 88, 99-200, 68-69. Leo Paul de Alvarez, The Machiavellian Enterprise (Dekalb: Northern Illinois Unversity Press, 1999) 21n.6, 30, 31, 44, 67-68, 86, 133. J. Patrick Coby, Machiavelli's Romans (Lanham: Lexington Books, 1999) 3, 22, 182, 85, 259. Leo Strauss, Thoughts on Machiavelli (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1958) 24, 59, 78, 83, 119n2, 39, 61-63, 291, 93, 307, 22, 45. Strauss, On Tyranny 24-25, 64, 70, 106n3, 19, 30n4, 83-86, 92, 240, 76, 94, 300, 03-05.
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| | Authors: Whidden, Christopher. |
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that the gods sanction the ruler and his chosen course of action. Cyrus learned the utility
of public shows of piety and sacrificing to the gods from his father.
Perhaps the most important factor contributing to Persia’s stability was that it was
also secure from enemies. Their security stemmed from the fact that they possessed a
well-trained army as well as from the fact that Persia was a small, rocky, and
mountainous state hardly worth conquering. In his descriptions of Persia, Xenophon
never mentions any factors such as valuable natural resources that would make Persia
attractive to potential conquerors. Moreover, even if there was a modest gain to be made
by conquering Persia, their well-trained army probably provided a strong deterrent
against potential conquerors. As we have seen, the army had to defend primarily against
domestic insurrections, rather than foreign threats. But this necessity beget the fortuitous
consequence of keeping the army well trained and well disciplined, which likely helped
to deter foreign threats. In sum, the net gain to a foreign army that could have conquered
Persia would have been very small, given the costs of conquering a stable and secure
regime.
The second point in favor of Persia according to Xenophon is that they were a
virtuous people. Xenophon indicates the extent of the Persians’ virtue by comparing their
virtue with that of the people of other comparatively depraved nations such as Media.
Xenophon also indicates the Persian’s virtue by showing how Cyrus had to work harder
to exhort his troops as more foreign soldiers joined his army. The reason he must exhort
24
Though it is impossible to know and therefore highly speculative, insofar as Machiavelli recognizes the
utility of faith and religion for princes, he may have learned this from his reading of Xenophon. See
especially the last paragraph of chapter 18 of The Prince. On the relationship between Xenophon and
Machiavelli, see Nadon, Xenophon's Prince: Republic and Empire in the Cyropaedia 13-25. W.R. Newell,
"Machiavelli and Xenophon and Princely Rule: A Double-Edged Encounter," The Journal of Politics 50.1
(1988). Harvey C. Mansfield, Machiavelli's Virtue (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996) 12, 20,
59, 61, 125, 88, 99-200, 68-69. Leo Paul de Alvarez, The Machiavellian Enterprise (Dekalb: Northern
Illinois Unversity Press, 1999) 21n.6, 30, 31, 44, 67-68, 86, 133. J. Patrick Coby, Machiavelli's Romans
(Lanham: Lexington Books, 1999) 3, 22, 182, 85, 259. Leo Strauss, Thoughts on Machiavelli (Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1958) 24, 59, 78, 83, 119n2, 39, 61-63, 291, 93, 307, 22, 45. Strauss, On
Tyranny 24-25, 64, 70, 106n3, 19, 30n4, 83-86, 92, 240, 76, 94, 300, 03-05.
19
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