 Throughout the Memorabilia, Xenophon weaves the theme of the craft of ruling (basilikê technê).  This craft is the finest of virtues and technai, by which men, public and private, become capable of ruling and benefiting other men and themselves (IV.ii.11). Kings and rulers are not simply those who are chosen but those who know how to rule (tous epistamenous archein). In this regard they are compared to others who exercise a technê, such as ship’s pilots (III.ix.10–11). A good king does not just manage his own life well but also that of the ones he rules and he is the cause of their happiness (III.ii.2–3). However, he also argues that rulers have a more pleasant life than those who are ruled. His interlocutor, Aristippus, takes him to be claiming that the ruling craft is happiness. In answer, Socrates describes the life of what is obviously a gentleman, capable of winning good friends and subduing enemies, fit in body and soul to manage his household, to help his friends, and serve his country (II.i.19–20). These constitute the happy life of the gentleman; they also make him able to make others happy (IV.i.2–3). Although ruling is associated with happiness (eudaimonia), Socrates is not tempted to generalize about happiness; instead of an account of happiness, he enumerates the activities of a flourishing member of the dominant class.