[2] Proxenus, like Cyrus, is to some extent a prototype of the Cyrus
    of the “Cyropaedia.”  In other words, the author, in delineating
    the portrait of his ideal prince, drew from the recollection of
    many princely qualities observed by him in the characters of many
    friends.  Apart from the intrinsic charm of the story, the
    “Anabasis” is interesting as containing the raw material of
    experience and reflection which “this young scholar or
    philosopher,” our friend, the author, will one day turn to
    literary account.

As to Menon the Thessalian[3], the mainspring of his action was obvious; what he sought after insatiably was wealth.  Rule he sought after only as a stepping-stone to larger spoils.  Honours and high estate he craved for simply that he might extend the area of his gains; and if he studied to be on friendly terms with the powerful, it was in order that he might commit wrong with impunity.  The shortest road to the achievement of his desires lay, he thought, through false swearing, lying, and cheating; for in his vocabulary simplicity and truth were synonyms of folly.  Natural affection he clearly entertained for nobody.  If he called a man his friend it might be looked upon as 23 certain that he was bent on ensnaring him.  Laughter at an enemy he considered out of place, but his whole conversation turned upon the ridicule of his associates.  In like manner, the possessions of his foes were secure from his designs, since it was no easy task, he thought, to steal from people on their guard; but it was his particular good fortune to have discovered how easy it is to rob a friend in the midst of his security.  If it were a perjured person or a wrongdoer, he dreaded him as well armed and intrenched; but the honourable and the truth-loving he tried to practise on, regarding them as weaklings devoid of manhood.  And as other men pride themselves on piety and truth and righteousness, so Menon prided himself on a capacity for fraud, on the fabrication of lies, on the mockery and scorn of friends.  The man who was not a rogue he ever looked upon as only half educated.  Did he aspire to the first place in another man’s friendship, he set about his object by slandering those who stood nearest to him in affection.  He contrived to secure the obedience of his solders by making himself an accomplice in their misdeeds, and the fluency with which he vaunted his own capacity and readiness for enormous guilt was a sufficient title to be honoured and courted by them.  Or if any one stood aloof from him, he set it down as a meritorious act of kindness on his part that during their intercourse he had not robbed him of existence.

[3] For a less repulsive conception of Menon’s character, however
    unhistorical, see Plato’s “Meno,” and Prof.  Jowlett’s
    Introduction, “Plato,” vol. i. p. 265:  “He is a Thessalian
    Alcibiades, rich and luxurious—­a spoilt child of fortune.”