"Xenophon of Athens( 430 BC – 355 / 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies of the Achaemenid Empire, the Ten Thousand, that marched on and came close to capturing Babylon in 401 BC. Xenophon established precedents for many logistical operations, and was among the first to describe strategic flanking maneuvers and feints in combat.
Xenophon's Anabasis recounts his adventures with the Ten Thousand while in the service of Cyrus the Younger, Cyrus's failed campaign to claim the Persian throne from Artaxerxes II of Persia, and the return of Greek mercenaries after Cyrus's death in the Battle of Cunaxa. Anabasis is a unique first-hand, humble, and self-reflective account of a military leader's experience in antiquity. On the topic of campaigns in Asia Minor and in Babylon, Xenophon wrote Cyropaedia outlining both military and political methods used by Cyrus the Great to conquer the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. Anabasis and Cyropaedia inspired Alexander the Great and other Greeks to conquer Babylon and the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BC.
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Song Title: Legend of The King Artist: Whitesand"
Anything forced is not beautiful.
The man who doesn't know his own ability is ignorant of himself.
He had put on the best-looking uniform that he could,
thinking that victory deserved the best-looking armor.
No human being will ever know the truth.
For even if they happened to say it by chance, they would not know they had done so.
For that it is not numbers or strength that bring the victories in war.
No, it is when one side goes against the enemy with the God's gift of a stronger morale
that their adversaries as a rule cannot withstand them.
Self-confidence should always ride side by side with a strong sense of humility.
To quote a dictum of Simon,
what a horse does under compulsion he does,
and his performance is no more beautiful than would be that.
People often say what is right and do and may hate cruelty and lies,
but if he's never given an opportunity to show what he's made of,
no one will rise.
Most people, when they are set upon looking into other people's affairs,
never turn to examine themselves.
If you consider what are called the virtues in mankind,
you will find their growth is assisted by education and cultivation.
Leaders must always set the highest standard.
In a summer campaign, leaders must always endure their share of the sun and the heat,
and in winter the cold and the frost.
Laborers, leaders must prove tireless if they want to enjoy the trust of their followers,
the lessons of history.
Remember how often whole peoples have allowed themselves to be persuaded to go to war by wise men,
and then been utterly destroyed by the very enemy they agreed to attack.
Brevity is the soul of command.
There is a deep and usually frustrated desire in the heart of everyone
to act with benevolence rather than selfishness,
and one fine instance of generosity can inspire dozens more.
We had a chance of enjoying a quiet time,
and waiting until I become a little older,
people understand the crucial difference between modesty and self-control.
The modest person I told them will do nothing blameworthy in the light of
but a true paragon of self-control,
which we all should strive to be,
avoids unworthy actions even in the deepest secrecy of his private life.
In the face of danger, be eager, not intimidated.
For as they who use no bodily exercises are awkward and unwieldy in the actions of the body,
so they who exercise not their minds are incapable of the noble actions of the mind,
and have not courage enough to undertake anything worthy of praise,
nor command enough over themselves to abstain from things that are forbid.
Battles are decided more by the morale of the troops than by their bodily strength.
Men often fail to understand their own weaknesses, I said neutrally,
and their lack of self-knowledge can bring terrible disasters down on their own heads.
If you can see our all that stands between us and the place we have for so long been determined to reach,
we must find a way to eat them alive.
Most of us are always trying to increase our wealth,
but you and your officers seem far more concerned with perfecting your souls.
When a horse wants to display himself,
he lifts his neck up high and flexes his pole haughtily,
and picks his legs up freely, and keeps his tail up.
Who marries a beautiful woman in hopes of being happy with her,
knows not but that even she herself may be the cause of all his uneasinesses,
yet against none so readily as against those whom they see attempting to rule over them.
An imposter is a man who claims more wealth and courage than he actually possesses.
He's a man who begins what he can never finish,
and those who can make their friends laugh are men of good taste.
