Xenophon’s Cyropaedia — “The Education of Cyrus” — is a semi-fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Rather than strict history, Xenophon uses Cyrus as a vehicle to explore his ideal of the just, wise, and effective ruler. The work was enormously influential in antiquity and the Renaissance, read by Cicero, Scipio Africanus, and Machiavelli as a model of enlightened kingship.
This free EPUB is formatted for e-readers. The Cyropaedia is a fascinating hybrid of history, political philosophy, and proto-novel — an essential text for understanding how the ancient world thought about leadership and empire.