Society and its Purpose
Appendix 7. (326).
Ancient conquests were explained in The Summary Cause, etc. (c. 9) by linking them to the various stages at which nations found themselves at the time. Nations at the last stage, the stage of greatest corruption, were unable to withstand those at the second stage, for whom they were an easy prey. This observation could be illustrated with examples taken from the few remaining records of ancient oriental monarchies, and especially by reference to Cyrus’ victories over the Medes and Assyrians. Everything leads us to believe that at this time the nation of the Medes and Assyrians had been corrupted by unlimited luxury and uncontrolled debauchery. The Persians however, according to Xenophon, were still living in conditions of simplicity and virtue.
It is worthwhile considering here a fact narrated in book 2 of the Cyropaedia. Several Indian ambassadors came to the court of Cyaxares, king of the Medes. He decided to receive them in great splendour and dazzle them with his own magnificence and the sumptuousness of his court. To make the reception more glorious, he sent an order to young Cyrus, his nephew and satrap of the Persian subjects of the Medes, to come to the court wearing extremely expensive clothes that would enable Ciaxare himself to appear in greater splendour. Cyrus, however, lined up all his cohorts in perfect order, dressed them simply in Persian fashion, and appeared at court in all haste with the entire army. Ciaxare wanted to know why they had come dressed so simply. `What do you think?’ said Cyrus. `Would I have done you more honour by obeying and coming more slowly, dressed in purple and adorned with bracelets and necklaces as you desired? Or by coming, as I have done, swiftly and surrounded by this large, highly qualified army? My haste and my sweat does you honour as I present these men and myself in so devoted a fashion.’
Certainly Cyrus, by acting in this way, drew a veil over his political intentions. Nevertheless, it is clear that the king of the Medes, and the future king of the Persians, had very different ideas. Ciaxare thought only of demonstrating his greatness by means of sumptuousness; Cyrus despised luxurious trappings, esteemed military force and almost mocked the lethargy of the Medes and Assyrians as he confronted it with the speed of a military people who had not grown soft.
Clearly, the Persians were still in the first or second stage of power, while the Medes and the Assyrians had arrived at the final stage of sensual desires. It is no surprise that the Assyrians were ripe prey for the Persians. — The same reflections can be made by comparing Persians of a later date with the Greeks who conquered them when Xerxes thought he could invade Greece with impunity.