Written for the hipparch, the officer elected to command the cavalry of Athens, this short treatise covers recruiting riders, keeping horses sound, drilling squadrons for festival parades, scouting, ambush and the moment to strike where the enemy is weakest. Xenophon, who had led men through Persia, mixes practical tactics with insistence that a commander begin every undertaking by asking the favour of the gods.
A rare first-hand window on Greek military practice from the author of the Anabasis, in H. G. Dakyns’s English translation. Download the free EPUB.