The Cyropaedia is a "partly fictional biography"^[1] of Cyrus the Great, written in the early 4th century BCE by the Athenian gentleman-soldier Xenophon. The Latinized title Cyropedia derives from Greek Kúrou paideía (Κύρου παιδεία), meaning "The Education of Cyrus".

Contents 1 Content 2 Legacy 3 Notes 4 References 5 Full Texts

[edit] Content

In substance, the Cyropaedia is "a political romance, describing the education of the ideal ruler, trained to rule as a benevolent despot over his admiring and willing subjects."^[2]

Although it is "generally agreed" that Xenophon "did not intend Cyropaedia as history"^[1], what other literary genre the work may belong to remains unclear. Its validity as a source of Achaemenid history has been repeatedly questioned, and numerous descriptions of events or personae have been determined to be in error.^[1] Other issues have been noted to be anachronistic and/or have a historic bias.

However it has been argued that to receive a glimpse of Cyrus' character turning to Xenophon's Cyropaedia is a usual practice. The source gives "an artist's portrait" of Cyrus as "the Ideal Ruler and the best form of Government". This is a picture of Cyrus the Great portrayed by Xenophon who, as said above, does not write a history book but his description of Cyrus "could not have been painted had there not been a credible memory of such a Cyrus"- memories from the Old Testament, from his charter, etc.^[3]

The work includes a description of, in later economic jargon, the division of labor as to quality of goods produced and as linited by the extent of the market (in small vs. large towns:

Just as the various trades are most highly developed in large cities, in the same way food at the palace is prepared in a far superior manner. In small towns the same man makes couches, doors, ploughs and tables, and often he even builds houses, and still he is thankful if only he can find enough work to support himself. And it is impossible for a man of many trades to do all of them well. In large cities, however, because many make demands on each trade, one alone is enough to support a man, and often less than one: for instance one man makes shoes for men, another for women, there are places even where one man earns a living just by mending shoes, another by cutting them out, another just by sewing the uppers together, while there is another who performs none of these operations but assembles the parts, Of necessity, he who pursues a very specialised task will do it best." (Book VIII, ch, ii, 4[-6], cited in The Ancient Economy by M. I. Finley. Penguin books 1992, p 135.)

The concept was key to Adam Smith's treatise The Wealth of Nations (1776) and the related concept of gains from trade. ^[4]

Xenophon (c. 431 – 355 BC) was not a contemporary of Cyrus (c. 580 – 530 BC) and it is likely that at least some of the historiographer's observations were based on events that occurred at the later Achaemenid court. It is also probable that stories of the great King were recounted (and embellished) by court society and that these are the basis of Xenophon's text.

Although the work narrates, in its entirety, the life of Cyrus, only the first of the 8 books is — technically speaking — the Cyropaedia. This first book is devoted to Cyrus' descent, education and his stay at the court of his maternal grandfather, the Median dynast Astyages. Books 2 through 7 cover Cyrus' life while still a vassal of the Medes. Book 8 is a sketch of Cyrus' kingship and his views of monarchy.

Other related characters, of questionable historical truth, appear in the narrative as well. For example, the romance of Abradatas and Pantheia forms a part of the latter half of the narrative (v.1.3, vi.1.31ff, vi.4.2ff, vii.3.2ff).^[5]

[edit] Legacy

The book was considered a classic in antiquity: the ancients believed that Xenophon composed it in response to the Republic of Plato, or vice versa, and Plato's Laws seems to allude to the Cyropaedia. Scipio Africanus is said to have carried a copy with him at all times.^[6]

The Cyropaedia was re-discovered in the Renaissance as a practical treatise on political virtue and social organization.^[7] To paraphrase Edmund Spenser in his preface to The Faerie Queene, "Xenophon's Cyropaedia is to be preferred to Plato, for it demonstrates exquisite depth of monarchial judgement. Cyrus' formation of commonwealth is such as it should be, and government by example is much more profitable and gracious than government by rule."^{[n 1]}

Similar sentiments have been expressed in the modern-age. Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from the Cyropaedia, and Thomas Jefferson had two personal copies of the book, "which was a mandatory read for statesmen alongside Machiavelli's The Prince."^[8] In modern times, its reputation has declined, together with the study of the classics; it has been described as "surely one of the most tedious books to have survived from the ancient world,"^[6] a view countered by others, such as Potter, who found it "written in the most captivating, simple and elegant style imaginable."^[9]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] Full Texts