Free Hiero the Tyrant and Other Treatises (Penguin Classics) by Xenophon

won.
    However, too much should not be made of these possible specific references and applications. As usual in Xenophon’s works, the primary emphasis is placed on morality, in this instance on the moral and religious qualities required to lead men as a cavalry commander in any situation, place or time. The work assumes, no doubt autobiographically, that it is the individual skills and actions of the commanders that determine the overall efficiency of the cavalry. The next treatise in this selection,
On Horsemanship
, may or may not have been written by Xenophon as a companion piece. But it is in any case by no means the only other work in the Xenophontic corpus that attempts to make horse sense. Some parts of
Cavalry Commander
closely resemble
Memoirs of Socrates
3.3, for example, and Ischomachus, the gentleman-farmer hero of
Estate-manager
, is naturally an excellent horseman who has his horse led to and from his farm, where he mounts and performs military exercises (9.17–20).

HOW TO BE A GOOD CAVALRY COMMANDER

CHAPTER 2
    Let us suppose that your men are now fully trained in all these respects; [1] it is of course also necessary for them to know a formation which will enable them to look their most magnificent in religious processions and out on the riding-grounds, fight their best if called upon to do so, and make their way along roads and across rivers with the least difficulty and disorder. I will now try to explain which formation they should adopt, in my opinion, to achieve all this.
    In the Athenian system, the cavalry is divided by tribe into ten [2] regiments. I think you should begin by appointing, with the approval of the relevant regimental commander, fit, ambitious men, who long for success and glory, as officers to lead each section often men within these regiments. These are the men you should post in the front rank. Next you should choose some of your most level-headed veterans – [3] the same number as the section leaders – to occupy the rear rank of each section of ten. To use an analogy: iron best cuts through iron when the cutter’s leading edge is strong and is backed up by sufficient impetus.
    [4] As for the ranks between the front and the rear, the section leaders should select whom they want to stand behind them, and then every rank in turn should do the same; this would make it likely that everyone would have behind him someone he particularly trusted.[5] However, you must make absolutely certain that a capable man backs up each file, because it takes a brave man to stiffen the resolve of the men in front of him if they are ever called on to attack an enemy position, and such a man is also more likely to provide sound leadership [6] and save the lives of his fellow tribesmen if it is time to retreat. Of course, having an even number of section leaders makes it possible to divide each regiment into equal parts in more ways than if there were an odd number of them.
    There are two reasons why I like this formation. In the first place, all the men in the front rank are officers, and men are more likely to think they ought to strive for success if they are in positions of responsibility than if they are ordinary rank-and-file soldiers. In the second place, passing an order on to officers rather than ordinary soldiers is a far more efficient way of getting something done. 1
    [7] With this formation, the regimental commanders should post each of the section leaders as * they want them for an outing, just as it is the cavalry commander who stations the regimental commanders as he wishes before an expedition. If orders are given in advance like this, matters proceed in a far more disciplined fashion than they would if the men imitated the chaos of people leaving the theatre and getting [8] in one another’s way. Moreover, faced with a frontal assault, the men in the front rank are far more willing to fight when they know that is where they have been stationed, and the same goes for the men in the