The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon


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According to Richard Stoneman, who wrote the notes to the Everyman's Library paperback edition of this book, this was the first novel ever written. By this I assume he means that it was a prose work, and the equivalent of a historical romance of today.

Cyrus was the greatest emperor of the Persian empire, and the antecedent (see what a great scholar I am? I can't remember all the exact facts like a real student should; I read this stuff for fun) of the Persian emperor who Alexander defeated right before Alexander went crazy and decided to conquer the rest of the world while he was on a streak.

In today's Jingoistic anti-Iran & Iraq climate, it's illuminating to get the Persian perspective on world history, and since I haven't found any Persian histories written from the ancient Persian viewpoint, this book is the best I've read.

Xenophon was a student of Socrates and does a pretty good job of spinning out a decent narrative.

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