But the object of the _Education of Kuros_ is, after all, to teach generalship. A couple of examples of the way in which this is done will suffice. On one occasion[730] Kuros orders the foot-cuirassiers to lead the way in a forced march, and kindly explains the object of such a manœuvre. “This command I give,” he says, “because they are the heaviest part of the army. When the heaviest part is in the van, obviously it is quite easy for the other arms, being lighter, to keep up. But if the quickest detachment is in front on a night march, it is not surprising if the army straggles, for the vanguard goes faster than the rest.” Again, Kuros could call all his officers by name, to their great surprise.[731] “For he thought it very absurd that tradesmen should know the names of all their tools, and yet a general should be so stupid as not to know the names of his officers whom he must use as his tools in the most serious emergencies. Soldiers who thought that their general knew their names would, he considered, be more eager to do heroic deeds in his presence, and less eager to play the coward. It seemed also to be foolish to be obliged to give orders, when he wanted something done, in the way some masters do in their households, ‘Fetch me some water, Somebody’; or ‘Cut some firewood, Someone.’ For when the order is addressed to no one in particular, each stands looking at his neighbour and expecting him to carry it out.” The military part is exceedingly well done. Xenophon was one of the few good strategists whom Hellas produced, and his remarks on tactics, the hygiene of an army, and discipline are sound and useful. What is more, his novel is interesting and occasionally witty: it is distinctly good reading. He has disguised his powder in the most appetising jam, and so has achieved with success the difficult task of writing a novel with a purpose. Had books been common then, his work would have been both popular and useful in Boys’ Libraries, and have done good service as a school prize. But from Plato it only provoked the malicious and not very deep criticism that it was unhistorical and unsound.[732] “Of Kuros,” he says, “I conjecture that, though he was a good general and a patriot, he had not come across the merest scrap of sound education, and never applied his mind to the art of managing a household.[733] For, being absent on campaigns all his life, he allowed the women to bring up his children. The women spoilt the boys, letting no one gainsay them, and made them effeminate, not teaching them the Persian habits or their father’s profession, but Median luxury. Hence the collapse of Persia under Kambuses.” [716] Xen. _Econ._ 19. [717] Aristotle (_Pol._ vii. 12) says that “Free Agoras” were customary in Thessaly. He adopts the system for his ideal state――a clear compliment to Xenophon. [718] Floggings were apparently to be frequent. “Tears are a master’s instruments of instruction” (ii. 2. 14).