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the cavalry general-第2章

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    than that; it strikes me one may work on the feelings of young



    fellows in such a way as to disarm。〃 See Hartmann; 〃An。 Xen。 N。〃



    325。







'17' Cf。 Aesch。 〃P。 V。〃 474; Herod。 vi。 35; Dem。 1046。 14; Thuc。 vi。



    12; Isocr。 {peri tou zeugous}; 353 C。 {ippotrophein d'



    epikheiresas; o ton eudaimonestaton ergon esti。} See Prof。 Jebb's



    note to Theophr。 〃Ch。〃 vi。 p。 197; note 16。







'18' Lit。 〃if they mount。〃







'19' Like that of Pheidippides in the play; see Aristoph。 〃Clouds;〃 23



    foll。 And for the price of horses; ranging from 3 minas (= L12



    circa) for a common horse; or 12 minas (say L50) for a good saddle



    or race…horse; up to the extravagant sum of 13 talents (say 3000



    guineas) given for 〃Bucephalus;〃 see Boeckh; 〃P。 E。 A。〃 (Eng。 tr。)



    p。 74。 Cf。 Isaeus; 55。 22; 88。 17; Lys。 〃de Maled。〃 133。 10; Aul。



    Gell。 〃Noct。 Att。〃 v。 2。







To come to the existing body of knights;'20' it would tend;'21' I



think; to better rearing and more careful treatment of their horses if



the senate issued a formal notice that for the future twice the amount



of drill will be required; and that any horse unable to keep up will



be rejected。 And so; too; with regard to vicious horses; I should like



to see an edict promulgated to the effect that all such animals will



be rejected。 This threat would stimulate the owners of such brutes to



part with them by sale; and; what is more; to exercise discretion at



the time of purchase。 So; too; it would be a good thing if the same



threat of rejection were made to include horses that kick on the



exercising…grounds; since it is impossible to keep such animals in the



ranks; and in case of an advance against a hostile force at any



point;'22' they must perforce trail in the rear; so that; thanks to



the vice of the animal which he bestrides; the trooper himself is



rendered useless。







'20' Or; 〃As regards those who are actually serving in the cavalry。〃



    For a plausible emend。 of this passage (S。 13) see Courier (〃Notes



    sur le texte;〃 p。 54); L。 Dind。 ad loc。







'21' Lit。 〃the senate might incite to 。 。 。〃







'22' Reading {ean}; or if {kan} with the MSS。; trans。 〃even in case of



    an advance against the enemy。〃







With a view to strengthening the horses' feet: if any one has an



easier or more simple treatment to suggest; by all means let it be



adopted; but for myself; as the result of experience; I maintain that



the proper course is to lay down a loose layer of cobbles from the



road; a pound or so in weight; on which the horse should be put to



stand; when taken from the manger to be groomed。'23' The point is;



that the horse will keep perpetually moving first one foot and then



another on the stones; whilst being rubbed down or simply because he



is fidgeted by flies。 Let any one try the experiment; and; I venture



to predict; not only will he come to trust my guidance; but he will



see his horse's hoofs grow just as round and solid as the cobbles。







'23' See below; 〃Horse。〃 iv。 4。 The Greeks did not 〃shoe〃 their



    horses。







Assuming; then; your horses are all that horses ought to be; how is



the trooper to attain a like degree of excellence? To that question I



will now address myself。 The art of leaping on to horseback is one



which we would fain persuade the youthful members of the corps to



learn themselves; though; if you choose to give them an



instructor;'24' all the greater credit to yourself。 And as to the



older men you cannot do better than accustom them to mount; or rather



to be hoisted up by aid of some one; Persian fashion。'25'







'24' Like Pheidon; in the fragment of Mnesimachus's play 〃The Breeder



    of Horses;〃 ap。 Athen。 See Courier; ib。 p。 55。







'25' See 〃Anab。〃 IV。 iv。 4; 〃Horsemanship;〃 vi。 12。







With a view to keeping a firm seat on every sort of ground; it may be



perhaps be thought a little irksome to be perpetually marching out;



when there is no war;'26' but all the same; I would have you call your



men together and impress upon them the need to train themselves; when



they ride into the country to their farms; or elsewhere; by leaving



the high road and galloping at a round pace on ground of every



description。'27' This method will be quite as beneficial to them as



the regular march out; and at the same time not produce the same sense



of tedium。 You may find it useful also to remind them that the state



on her side is quite willing to expend a sum of nearly forty



talents'28' yearly; so that in the event of war she may not have to



look about for cavalry; but have a thoroughly efficient force to hand



for active service。 Let these ideas be once instilled into their



minds; and; mark my words; your trooper will fall with zest to



practising horsemanship; so that if ever the flame of war burst out he



may not be forced to enter the lists a raw recruit; unskilled to fight



for fame and fatherland or even life itself。







'26' In the piping days of peace。







'27' See 〃Econ。〃 xi。 17。 Cf。 Theophr。 〃Ch。〃 viii。 〃The Late Learner〃:



    {kai eis agron eph' ippou allotriou katakhoumenos ama meletan



    ippazesthai; kai peson ten kephalon kateagenai}; 〃Riding into the



    country on another's horse; he will practise his horsemanship by



    the way; and falling; will break his head〃 (Jebb)。







'28' = L10;000 circa。 See Boeckh; op。 cit。 p。 251。







It would be no bad thing either; to forewarn your troopers that one



day you will take them out yourself for a long march; and lead them



across country over every kind of ground。 Again; whilst practising the



evolutions of the rival cavalry display;'29' it will be well to gallop



out at one time to one district and again to another。 Both men and



horses will be benefited。







'29' Lit。 〃the anthippasia。〃 See iii。 11; and 〃Horsemanship;〃 viii。



    10。







Next; as to hurling the javelin from horseback; the best way to secure



as wide a practice of the art as possible; it strikes me; would be to



issue an order to your phylarchs that it will be their duty to put



themselves at the head of the marksmen of several tribes; and to ride



out to the butts for practice。 In this way a spirit of emulation will



be rousedthe several officers will; no doubt; be eager to turn out



as many marksmen as they can to aid the state。'30'







'30' On competition cf。 〃Cyrop。〃 II。 i。 22; and our author passim。







And so too; to ensure that splendour of accoutrement which the force



requires;'31' the greatest help may once again be looked for from the



phylarchs; let these officers but be persuaded that from the public



point of view the splendid appearance of their squadrons'32' will



confer a title to distinction far higher than that of any personal



equipment。 Nor is it reasonable to suppose that they will be deaf to



such an argument; since the very desire to hold the office of phylarch



itself proclaims a soul alive to honour and ambition。 And what is



more; they have it in their power; in accordance with the actual



provisions of the law; to equip their men without the outlay of a



single penny; by enforcing that self…equipment out of pay'33' which



the law prescribes。







'31' Or; 〃a beauty of equipment; worthy of our knights。〃 Cf。 Aristoph。



    〃Lysistr。〃 561; and a fragment of 〃The Knights;〃 of Antiphanes;



    ap。 Athen。 503 B; {pant' 'Amaltheias keras}。 See 〃Hiero;〃 ix。 6;



    〃Horse。〃 xi。 10。







'32' Lit。 〃tribes;〃 {phulai} (each of the ten tribes contributing



    a

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