So Cyrus accepted the invitation, and the elders in council chose him commander of the expedition to Media. And they further permitted him to choose two hundred peers 1 to accompany him, and to each one of the two hundred peers in turn they gave authority to choose four more, these also from the peers. That made a thousand. And each one of the thousand in their turn they bade choose in addition from the common people of the Persians ten targeteers, ten slingers, and ten bowmen. That made ten thousand bowmen, ten thousand targeteers, and ten thousand slingers—not counting the original thousand. So large was the army given to Cyrus.
Cyropaedia. Xenophon. Walter Miller (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1914.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.