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Cyropaedia (Xenophon)Cyropaedia (lit. "The Education of Cyrus"), sometimes considered the masterpiece of Xenophon of Athens, is a fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, who was the most well known conqueror in antiquity prior to Alexander. In eight books, it follows Cyrus from his education through his ascendency and rule to his death and its effects on his empire. It seems to go beyond the scope of its title as does Xenophon's other great work Cyroanabasis (literally "Cyrus' March Inland"), of which only the first two books deal with the expedition of the younger Cyrus, the rest being devoted to the retreat to the Black Sea of the ten thousand Greek mercenaries under Xenophon's command after the young Cyrus' death. Alternatively, post-modern wags may see a dual sense in the phrase "education of Cyrus", which could mean the education he received or the one he gave, especially since Cyrus' preferred verb seems to be didaskein (to teach) and Xenophon seems concerned primarily with the alterations Cyrus made to Persian society in order to make it fit for empire, which could be described as an education. Prior to Cyrus, the Persians had been interested only in virtue and justice; he persuaded them to turn their virtue to the task of conquest which led to the accumulation of vast territories but also had enduring negative effects on Persian society, as can be seen in the turmoil following Cyrus' death. In many respects, Shaka Zulu is a comparable figure in respect to his social reforms of Zulu society for the development of military strength. As may be apparent, the Cyropaedia is less an historical work and more a practical treatise on political virtue and social organization. It was considered a classic on such subject in antiquity and again in the Renaissance; Scipio Africanus is said to have carried a copy with him at all times. The ancients believed that Xenophon composed it in response to the Republic of Plato, or vice versa, and Plato's Laws seems to allude to the Cyropaedia. Spenser remarked, in the preface to The Faerie Queene: "For this cause is Xenophon preferred before Plato, for that the one, in the exquisite depth of his judgement, formed a Commune welth, such as it should be; but the other in the person of Cyrus, and the Persians, fashioned a governement, such as might best be: So much more profitable and gratious is doctrine by ensample, then by rule."
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