Book 2
3.8
I think, Cyrus, said he, and all you Persians here assembled, that we are all now starting on an equal footing in a contest of merit; for I observe that we are all taking the same bodily exercise, that we all have the same rations, that we are all considered worthy to move in the same society, and that the prizes are offered alike to all. For obedience to the officers has been enjoined equally upon us all, and whoever shows himself prompt to comply, I observe that he receives honour from Cyrus. Again, to be brave in the face of the enemy is not a thing to be expected of one and not of another, but it is considered far the noblest thing for all alike.
3.9
And now, he continued, we have been initiated into a method of fighting, which, I observe, all men naturally understand, just as in the case of other creatures each understands some method of fighting which it has not learned from any other source than from instinct: for instance, the bull knows how to fight with his horns, the horse with his hoofs, the dog with his teeth, the boar with his tusks. And all know how to protect themselves, too, against that from which they most need protection, and that, too, though they have never gone to school to any teacher.
