SOURCE: "Xenophon's Cyropaedia, 'The Compleat General'," in The Classical Journal, Vol. 29, no. 6, March, 1934, pp. 436-40.

In the essay that follows, Pease advocates for the historical value of the Cyropaedia, claiming it as thorough documentation of ancient Greek military strategy; he ultimately dubs it "the first general military treatise ever written."

Colonel Oliver L. Spaulding, Jr., in the June number of the Classical Journal, (XXVIII, 657-69), gives a list of ancient military writings, with a valuable appreciation of most of them. But Xenophon's Cyropaedia is very much more than "the amusement of his later years, the vehicle for his military fancies." Actually, the Cyropaedia is a work of unique military importance; it is in fact not only the earliest but the most exhaustive of all ancient military treatises; but its character has not been fully realized, because of the importance assigned to the character of Cyrus and because of...