Xenophon was at this time in the full prime of life, being about forty years old. He had been born and brought up at Athens, and in his youth astonished every one by his remarkable beauty, which was of such a kind that it seemed to indicate rare qualities of heart and mind. The wise Socrates met him one day by chance, and was so much attracted by his appearance that he invited him to join the company of his friends. Socrates had a great number of friends, both young and old, with whom he used every day to discuss all manner of questions, in order that he might inspire them with a love of everything that was true and noble and good. Xenophon became one of his favourite pupils, and the teaching of Socrates fell on fruitful soil; the beautiful and gifted youth grew up to be a wise and pious man. It is said that some years afterwards, when Xenophon was about thirty years of age, Socrates had once the opportunity of saving him from a great danger. In a war between the Athenians and Bœotians, Xenophon was serving his country as a cavalry soldier, Socrates was on foot. The Athenians were beaten at Delium, and obliged to flee. In the bustle and confusion, Xenophon fell wounded from his horse, and must either have been trodden to death by his countrymen, or else killed by the enemy, had not Socrates perceived his danger, and rushed to help him, carrying him in his strong arms until he was far away from the place of battle. Another of the friends of Xenophon was Proxenus the Bœotian, who was ten years younger than himself. From a very early age it had been the ambition of Proxenus to gain for himself a high place as leader of the people, and with this end in view he had placed himself under the instruction of the famous orator, Gorgias. But his fate led him in another direction. At the time that Cyrus was preparing for his expedition against Artaxerxes, Proxenus happened to be staying at Sardis. He soon became an honoured friend and guest of Cyrus, and was asked by the prince to raise a company of Hellenes for his service, as had already been done by many of his countrymen. This commission he agreed to accept. For the position of general Proxenus was in many respects well fitted, but his nature was so amiable that he lacked the power of being severe, and he was quite unable to maintain discipline amongst unruly soldiers. He considered it sufficient if the superior officer praised those who did their duty, and simply withheld his praise from those who shirked it. And so it came to pass, that he had more fear of being irksome to his men than they had of incurring his displeasure, and that he took more pains to avoid annoying them than they took to do their duty. The good soldiers were devoted to him, but the bad ones did not scruple to be inattentive to his orders, because they knew that he was easy-going. Proxenus was in fact the exact opposite of the stern Clearchus.