Xenophon's romantic tales.--Panthea a Susian captive.--Valuable spoil.--Its division.--Share of Cyrus.--Panthea given to Cyrus.--Araspes.--Abradates.--Account of Panthea's capture.--Her great loveliness.--Attempts at consolation.--Panthea's renewed grief.--Cyrus declines to see Panthea.--His reasons.--Araspes's self-confidence.--Panthea's patience and gentleness.--Araspes's kindness to Panthea.--His emotions master him.--Araspes in love.--Progress of the army.--Araspes confesses his love.--Panthea offended.--Panthea appeals to Cyrus.--Cyrus reproves Araspes.--Cyrus's generosity.--Araspes's continued distress.--Plan of Cyrus.--Araspes pretends to desert.--Panthea proposes to send for her husband.--Cyrus consents.--Joyful meeting of Panthea and her husband.--The armed chariots.--Abradates's eight-horse chariot.--Panthea's presents for her husband.--Imposing spectacle.--Panthea's preparations.--Panthea offers her presents.--Abradates's pleasure.--Abradates departs for the field.--The farewell.--The order of battle.--Appearance of Abradates.--The charge.--Terrible havoc made by the chariots.--The great victory.--The council of war.--Abradates slain.--Panthea's grief.--Cyrus's kindness to Panthea.--She is inconsolable.--Panthea kills herself on the dead body of her husband. In the preceding chapters of this work, we have followed mainly the authority of Herodotus, except, indeed, in the account of the visit of Cyrus to his grandfather in his childhood, which is taken from Xenophon. We shall, in this chapter, relate the story of Panthea, which is also one of Xenophon's tales. We give it as a specimen of the romantic narratives in which Xenophon's history abounds, and on account of the many illustrations of an ancient manners and customs which it contains, leaving it for each reader to decide for himself what weight he will attach to its claims to be regarded as veritable history. We relate the story here in our own language, but as to the facts, we follow faithfully the course of Xenophon's narration. Panthea was a Susian captive. She was taken, together with a great many other captives and much plunder, after one of the great battles which Cyrus fought with the Assyrians. Her husband was an Assyrian general, though he himself was not captured at this time with his wife. The spoil which came into possession of the army on the occasion of the battle in which Panthea was taken was of great value. There were beautiful and costly suits of arms, rich tents made of splendid materials and highly ornamented, large sums of money, vessels of silver and gold, and slaves--some prized for their beauty, and others for certain accomplishments which were highly valued in those days. Cyrus appointed a sort of commission to divide this spoil. He pursued always a very generous policy on all these occasions, showing no desire to secure such treasures to himself, but distributing them with profuse liberality among his officers and soldiers.