Complete Works of Xenophon (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) (160 page)

As for throwing the javelin on horseback, I think that the greatest number will practise that if you add a warning to the colonels that they will be required to ride to javelin exercise themselves at the head of the marksmen of the regiment. Thus, in all probability, everyone of them will be eager to turn out as many marksmen as possible for the service of the state.
[22]

Towards the proper arming of the men, I think that the greatest amount of assistance will be obtained from the colonels, if they are persuaded that from the point of view of the state the brilliance of the regiment is a far more glorious ornament to them than the brightness of their own accoutrements only.
[23]
It is likely that they will not be hard to persuade in such matters, considering that honour and glory were the attractions that the colonelcy held out to them, and they can arm the men in accordance with the regulations laid down in the law without incurring expense themselves, afterwards compelling the men to spend their pay on their arms, as the law ordains.
[24]

To make the men who are under your command obedient, it is important to impress on them by word of mouth the many advantages of obedience to authority, and no less important to see that good discipline brings gain and insubordination loss in every respect.
[25]

The best way of inducing every colonel to take pride in commanding a well equipped regiment, I think, is to arm your company of couriers as well as you can, to demand of them constant practice in the use of the javelin, and to instruct them in it after making yourself proficient.
[26]
And if you could offer prizes to the regiments for skill in all the feats that the public expects the cavalry to perform at the spectacles, I think this would appeal strongly to the spirit of emulation in every Athenian. For evidence of this I may refer to the choruses, in which many labours and heavy expenses are the price paid for trifling rewards. Only you must find judges whose suffrage will shed lustre on a victory.

2.
When your men are well trained in all these points, they must, of course, understand some plan of formation, that in which they will show to greatest advantage in the sacred processions and at manoeuvres, fight, if need be, with the greatest courage, and move along roads and cross rivers with perfect ease in unbroken order. So I will now try to explain the formation that I think will give the best results in these various circumstances.
[2]

Now the state has divided the cavalry into ten separate regiments. I hold that within these you should, to begin with, appoint file-leaders after consulting each of the colonels, choosing sturdy men, who are bent on winning fame by some brilliant deed. These should form the front rank.
[3]
Next you should choose an equal number of the oldest and most sensible to form the rear rank. To use an illustration, steel has most power to cut through steel when its edge is keen and its back reliable.
[4]

To fill the ranks between the front and rear, the file-leaders should choose the men to form the second line, and these in turn the men to form the third, and so on throughout. In this way every man will naturally have complete confidence in the man behind him.
[5]

You must be very careful to appoint a competent man as leader in the rear. For if he is a good man, his cheers will always hearten the ranks in front of him in case it becomes necessary to charge; or, should the moment come to retreat, his prudent leadership will, in all probability, do much for the safety of his regiment.
[6]

An even number of file-leaders has this advantage over an odd, that it is possible to divide the regiment into a larger number of equal parts.

The reasons why I like this formation are these. In the first place, all the men in the front rank are officers; and the obligation to distinguish themselves appeals more strongly to men when they are officers than when they are privates. Secondly, when anything has to be done, the word of command is much more effective if it is passed to officers rather than to privates.
[7]

Let us assume that this formation has been adopted: every file-leader must know his position in the line of march by word passed along by the colonel, just as every colonel is informed by the commander of his proper place in the charge. For when these instructions are given there will be much better order than if the men hamper one another like a crowd leaving the theatre.
[8]
And in the event of a frontal attack, the men in the van are far more willing to fight when they know that this is their station; so is the rear-rank in the event of a surprise attack in the rear, when the men there understand that it is disgraceful to leave their post.
[9]
But if no order is kept there is confusion whenever the roads are narrow or rivers are being crossed; and when an action is fought no one voluntarily takes his post in the fighting line.

All these preliminaries must be thoroughly mastered by all the cavalry, if they are to give their leader unflinching support.

3.
Now we come to duties that the cavalry commander must perform himself. First, he must sacrifice to propitiate the gods on behalf of the cavalry; secondly, he must make the processions during the festivals worth seeing; further, he must conduct all the other obligatory displays before the people with as much splendour as possible, that is to say, the reviews in the Academy, in the Lyceum, at Phalerum, and in the Hippodrome.

These again are only brief notes; and I will now explain exactly how the details of these various functions may be carried out with most splendour.
[2]

As for the processions, I think they would be most acceptable both to the gods and to the spectators if they included a gala ride in the market place. The starting point would be the Herms; and the cavalry would ride round saluting the gods at their shrines and statues. So at the Great Dionysia the dance of the choruses forms part of the homage offered to the Twelve and to other gods.

When the circuit is completed and the cavalcade is again near the Herms, the next thing to do, I think, is to gallop at top speed by regiments as far as the Eleusinium.
[3]
I will add a word on the position in which the lances should be held to prevent crossing. Every man should point his lance between his horse’s ears, if the weapons are to look fearsome, stand out distinctly, and at the same time to convey the impression of numbers.
[4]

The gallop finished and the goal reached, the right plan is to ride back to the temples by the same route, but at a slow pace: thus every effect that can be obtained from a horse with a man on his back will be included in the display, to the satisfaction of gods and men alike.
[5]

I know that our cavalrymen are not accustomed to these movements: but I am sure that they are desirable and beautiful, and will delight the spectators. I am aware, too, that the cavalry have exhibited other novel feats of skill in days when the cavalry commanders had sufficient influence to get their wishes carried out.
[6]

During the parade at the Lyceum, before the javelin-throwing, the right way is to ride in two divisions in line of battle, each division consisting of five regiments with its commander at the head and the colonels; and the line should be so extended that the whole breadth of the course will be covered.
[7]
As soon as they reach the highest point looking down on the Theatre opposite, I think it would clearly be useful if you displayed your men’s ability to gallop downhill in fairly large companies.
[8]
To be sure, I know well enough that, if they feel confident of their ability to gallop, they will welcome the opportunity of showing off their skill: but you must see that they are not short of practice, or the enemy will compel them to do it against their will.
[9]

The formation that would add most to the beauty of the exercises at the inspections has already been explained. Provided his horse is strong enough, the leader should ride round with the file that is on the outside every time. He will be galloping all the time himself, and the file whose turn it is to be on the outside with him will also be galloping. Thus the eyes of the Council will always be on the galloping file, and the horses will get a breathing space, resting by turns.
[10]

When the Hippodrome is the scene of the display, the right plan would be that the men should first be drawn up on a front broad enough to fill the Hippodrome with horses and drive out the people standing there.
[11]
In the sham fight when the regiments pursue and fly from one another at the gallop in two squadrons of five regiments, each side led by its commander, the regiments should ride through one another. How formidable they will look when they charge front to front; how imposing when, after sweeping across the Hippodrome, they stand facing one another again; how splendid, when the trumpet sounds and they charge once more at a quicker pace!
[12]
After the halt, the trumpet should sound once more, and they should charge yet a third time at top speed; and when they have crossed, they should all range themselves in battle line preparatory to being dismissed, and ride up to the Council, just as you are accustomed to do.
[13]
I think that these manoeuvres would look more like war and would have the charm of novelty. It is unworthy of his high rank that a cavalry commander should gallop at a slower pace than the colonels, and ride in the same way as they do.
[14]

When the ride is to take place in the Academy on the hard ground, I have the following recommendations to make. To avoid being thrown the riders should throw the body back in charging, and collect their horses when wheeling, to keep them from falling. In the straight, however, they should gallop. The Council will thus watch a safe as well as a beautiful performance.

4.
During a march the cavalry commander must always think ahead, in order that he may rest the horses’ backs and relieve the men by walking, giving moderate spells of alternate riding and marching. You can’t misjudge what is a moderate spell, since every man is himself the measure that will show you when they are getting tired.
[2]

But when it is uncertain whether you will encounter an enemy on your way to any place, you must give the regiments a rest in turn. For it would be a bad job if all the men were dismounted when the enemy is close at hand.
[3]

If you are riding along narrow roads, the order must be given to form column; but when you find yourself on broad roads, the order must be given to every regiment to extend front. When you reach open ground, all the regiments must be in line of battle. Incidentally these changes of order are good for practice, and help the men to get over the ground more pleasantly by varying the march with cavalry manoeuvres.
[4]

When riding on difficult ground away from roads, whether in hostile or friendly country, it is very useful to have some of the aides-de-camp in advance of each regiment, that they may find a way round into the open in case they come across pathless woodland, and show the men what line they should follow, so that whole companies may not go astray.
[5]

If your route lies in dangerous country, a prudent commander will have a second advanced guard ahead of his scouts for reconnaissance purposes. For it is useful both for attack and defence to discover an enemy as far off as possible. It is useful also to halt at the passage of a river, that the rear guard may not wear out their horses in chasing their leader. These rules, no doubt, are familiar to nearly everybody; but few will take the trouble to observe them.
[6]

A cavalry commander should be at pains even in time of peace to acquaint himself with hostile and friendly country alike. In case he is without personal experience, he should at least consult the men in the force who have the best knowledge of various localities. For the leader who knows the roads has a great advantage over one who does not. In making plans against the enemy, too, a knowledge of the district makes a great difference.
[7]

You must also have taken steps to enlist the services of spies before the outbreak of war. Some of these should be citizens of neutral states, and some merchants, since all states invariably welcome the importer of merchandise. Sham deserters, too, have their use on occasions.
[8]
Still, you must never neglect to post guards through reliance on spies; on the contrary, your precautions must at all times be as complete as when you have information that the enemy is approaching. For even if the spies are entirely reliable, it is difficult to report at the critical moment, since many things happen in war to hinder them.
[9]

The advance of cavalry is less likely to be detected by the enemy if orders are not given by a herald or in writing beforehand, but passed along. Accordingly, for this purpose, too, that the order to advance may be given by word of mouth, it is well to post fileleaders, and half file-leaders behind them, so that each may pass the word to as few men as possible. Thus, too, the half file-leaders will wheel and extend the line without confusion, whenever there is occasion to do so.
[10]

When it is necessary to keep a look out, I am all in favour of the plan of having hidden outposts and guards. For these serve at once as guards to protect your friends and snares to trap the enemy.
[11]
And the men, being unseen, are more secure themselves and at the same time more formidable to the enemy. For the enemy, conscious that there are outposts somewhere, but ignorant of their whereabouts and their strength, feels nervous and is forced to suspect every possible position; whereas visible outposts show them where danger lies and where all is safe.
[12]
Besides, if you conceal your outposts, you will have the chance of luring the enemy into an ambush by placing a few guards in the open to screen the hidden men. Occasionally, too, a cunning trap may be laid by posting a second body of exposed guards behind the men in hiding; for this plan may prove as deceptive to the enemy as the one just referred to.
[13]