Cyrus the Younger by Jodi

Cyrus the Younger by Jodi - February 2016 Scholarship Essay

Cyrus the Younger was an extraordinary leader. With words alone, he did something that no other Persian had ever done; he convinced the Greeks to fight for him. In an effort to take the Persian Empire from his older brother, Artaxerxes II, Cyrus, who had been designated to oversee land on the very outskirts of the empire, made such an impression on the Greeks that men from all over Greece raised their weapons and followed him into battle.
What has always fascinated me was the way in which Cyrus accomplished his taming of the Greeks. The soldiers who followed him loved him. There was a historian among his Greek army, Xenophon, who wrote about Cyrus the Younger, the devotion of his soldiers, their devastating defeat at Cunaxa, and the Greeks journey home in his Anabasis. Thucydides also writes about Cyrus the Younger in History of the Peloponnesian Wars, explaining some of the things Cyrus did to nurture such fidelity. One example is that Cyrus would send an open bottle of wine to officers now and then, partially consumed, with a note that read something like “This is the best wine I have had. After one taste, I knew that I must share it with you.” Imagine being a Greek officer serving a Persian prince who sends his personal wine to you rather than enjoy it himself. According to Thucydides, it made quite an impression on the Greeks.
Now imagine what a natural leader like Cyrus the Younger could have accomplished had he not been killed so young. A Persian prince who won the loyalty of Greece? I imagine that he could have surpassed even the accomplishments of Alexander the Great. I love Greek, Roman, and Persian history. To have the chance at dining with Cyrus the Younger would be the highlight of a lifetime, assuming I could form an intelligent conversation out of my daze at sitting across from him.