Cyropaedia

Xenophon takes the life of Cyrus the Great and turns it into an argument about how men are best led: the training of a prince, the management of an army, the handling of allies who have ideas of their own. It is the earliest surviving work of its kind in Greek and was read as a working manual by Scipio, by Machiavelli and by Jefferson. Xenophon had commanded troops in Persia himself and knew what was practicable. Fifty-nine plates, from Turner to John Martin, gather the fire, water and ruin that shadow every empire, matching Xenophon's theme of command and its costs.