The following study is to some extent the result of a long interest in ancient leadership and the emotions. Thus I owe a debt of gratitude to many more friends and mentors than I have space to mention here, including to Dick Gerberding, who converted me to Classics from a budding career in physics, and to Stephen Sandridge, who from my early adolescence showed a Cambyses-like patience and generosity toward my persistent and sometimes forward questions about the character and behavior of others—even his own.

But for the composition of this book I must recognize the friendship and support of my colleagues at Howard University, who over the past several years either read the manuscript in its entirety or listened to my ideas and gave helpful feedback: Matt Amati, David Carlisle, John Chesley, Caroline Dexter, Rudolph Hock, Molly Levine, Arti Mehta, Lee Patterson. I am also grateful to my many colleagues in the field who read drafts, listened to presentations, engaged in dialogue, and challenged me to see Xenophon’s Cyrus from perspectives entirely new to me: Emily Baragwanath, Jeff Beneker, Angelos Chaniotis, Sarah Ferrario, Johannes Haubold, David Konstan, Patrick Miller, Bill Race, Claire Taylor. Thanks are also due to Dan Joseph and Robin Olson, whose copy-edits significantly improved the style, clarity, and concision of this manuscript. This book is far better for their insights and suggestions, but I am fully responsible for any and all of the ways in which a scholarly work might be flawed.

I also wish to thank Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC for a fellowship that afforded me the opportunity to compose this book in the recreational beauty of its library and grounds. I thank especially the director of the Center, Gregory Nagy, for his infectious ebullience and unwavering encouragement. I thank also the library staff for their expert and friendly help in navigating the library’s world-class resources: Erika Bainbridge, Sophie Boisseau, Temple Wright.

Thanks are due to Jill Curry Robbins for her timely and efficient guidance through every stage of the publication process, including her expertise in art history, which helped me select what I believe is a cover image rich in color and meaning.

Finally, I dedicate this book to my wife Kimberly Judge Sandridge. It would be embarrassing and out of place for me to explain the reasons. Suffice it to say that in this life I’ve seen everything I can see, but I’ve never seen nothing like her.