In one of his many treaties he speaks to us about the education and business of Cyrus, son of Cambyses (king of the Persians of the sixth century BC) and of Mandane (daughter of Astiage, king of the Medes).
"Xenophon, can I have the pleasure of talking to you about human nature and in particular about Cyrus?" Alexander, well found ... I was waiting for you! I was wondering, in fact, when you would have come to me through my writings. I know you already met Herodotus, Plato, Socrates, whom I also knew ... "Forgive me Master, I try to devote all my free time to my studies ... but my teacher is 'Time' and my guide is 'Curiosity' ... so I do not always arrive where I should and in the expected time ...! " my friends and I have known you for a long time now, you do not have to justify yourself. "Thanks Master ... can I ask you to start talking to me about human nature and about obedience or not? "You know Alexander, in the first place, stop calling me Master, I'm not ... and then you will force me to look for an appellation for you too! We come to the question you made me. I know that you have just finished reading my book "On Education Cyrus" so I will gladly answer you, convinced as I am that discussing what you read is good and helps you understand better ... As you well know, all those we call "shepherds" can be considered leaders, cattle for oxen, horse-groomers for horses and so on. Well, my book on Cyrus is born just as I discussed and reflected on the fact that animals are always willing to obey their pastor, much more than men are not willing to obey their leaders. Indeed it seemed that men conspired above all against those who aspire to become their leader. That is why I assert that human nature is such that it is easier for a man to command all animals than his fellow men! It is clear that this is a general rule and proof is, and I call it a witness 'History'! And always 'History' I call a witness to tell us of an exception, a man who managed not only to command the subjugated people correctly but to make sure that there were many who preferred to have him as a leader that 'freedom'! Ciro, Xenophon, is that correct? "Yes, Alessandro, I speak of Cyrus, son and nephew of kings, and king in turn ... Cyrus was able to rule over all the peoples of Asia and this happened, in my opinion, for the his natural gifts but also thanks to the education he received. Cyrus was in fact educated according to the laws of Persia as Persian but also received the teachings of the Medes, thanks to his grandfather Astiage. Cyrus was educated according to Persian laws, laws that, given their preventive character, are concerned that citizens from the beginning of their formation are incapable of wanting to commit evil or dishonorable actions. At least that was the time of Cyrus, when I lived, things were unfortunately very different, but this is another story! You must know, Alexander, that in those times the people of Persia was divided into four classes on the basis of age and preparation. There were children, the ephebes, adults and the elderly ... each class had its own tasks and everyone grew strong and wise. To tell the truth, not all ... because not everyone could study, life was difficult and to live it was necessary to work. But even today it is so, it seems to me at least! "Yes Xenophon, even today is so ..." I see ... Young people were educated to respect the elderly, to fight, to remove the ingratitude from their hearts. He thinks that those who were able to return a favor and did not do it were punished. This was because ingratitude was considered the basis of neglect of Gods, parents, country and friends! Hunting was the basis of physical preparation and war and had to be exercised by both the king and all the ephebes. The hunt served to temper the physicist and souls. Even on eating the Persians were moderate, they only ate after doing physical activity and were nourished to live and not to feel pleasure. From this point of view they were exactly the opposite of the Medias of Astiage ... "So Cyrus was educated according to these principles ... but who was his educator? "Cyrus Was the son of King and nephew of King ... his educators were many, some gave them himself, but the best educators were his parents and his grandfather. Father Cambise was his teacher of strategy ... at least from the moment when he realized that the teacher that young Cyrus paid was not very good! One day Ciro asked his father for money to pay for the strategy lessons he had received and his father wisely questioned him more or less in these terms: "Son, the man to whom you pay the fee in the matter of strategy has given you some smear of economy? Did he talk to you about health and strength? Did he explain how to instill courage in the troops? Did he tell you about obedience and how to get it from men? "Ciro replied that these things had not been explained to him and said that only tactics had been explained to him. The father then asked:" Tell me, what is the tactic if not there are provisions, if there is no health, if the stratagems are not known to lead the war ... How much can tactics be worth without obedience? "" It seems that Cambyses were a very wise man ... a true King! "Yes, he had to be, and his son would have grown much bigger, perhaps because he listened to his teachings! Cambyses explained to his son that it is always necessary to prevent diseases with a proper life and with the movement to prevent the troops from getting sick, he explained that a leader must preserve his credibility by always refraining from talking about things that do not know or are not safe and that ultimately it is always necessary to encourage obedience with acknowledgments, praises and honors and to punish disobedience with disgrace and blame! And yet he explained to him that obedience can be obtained by force, but that it is much better to obtain it spontaneously ... "Men indeed more willingly obey those who appear more attentive to them when it comes to their own interests ... therefore to obtain obedience it is necessary to appear wiser than one who must obey and the best way to appear wiser than others is to be! "These were the words of Cambyses to his son Cyrus ..." Thanks Xenophon ... thank you for what you wanted to tell ... thank you for your teachings, Master! And if you let me, I want to thank 'Time' and 'History' for their intervention in my favor. Now I have to go Xenophon, but I'll be back soon to see you now that I know the way. "Thanks to you Alessandro for giving me the word and I wait for you ...
Alessandro Rugolo
