My man Xenophon has this to say about Cyrus the Younger (Anabasis 1.9.13):
Xenophon the son of Gryllus wrote:in Cyrus' province it became possible for either Greek or barbarian, provided he were guilty of no wrongdoing, to travel fearlessly wherever he wished, carrying with him whatever it was to his interest to have.
Now, that is a very old and very young way of praising a ruler. There are a few examples in the Near East, including a Šulgi hymn (ETCSL 2.4.2.01) and one from the upper Euphrates a few years ago:
I am sure that I saw some examples in a 18th or 19th century writer talking about the aftermath of the '45 in Scotland and saying that at least the English had made it safe to travel in Scotland for the first time in 400 years. Putting the question of whether the surviving locals felt safe aside, can you think of the passage, or find other recent examples of this trope?
My blog (Warning: may contain up to 95% non-Alexandrian content, rated shamelessly philobarbarian by 1 out of 1 Plutarchs)
Also, I guess there is an Alexandrian connection! He dutifully marched into the Zagros and subdued various tribes of 'bandits' although not forever. That seems to have been one of the things that a king was expected to do, just like a Babylonian king was expected to rebuild some temples and record the event in cuneiform, or a modern prime minister is expected to change the tax system.
My blog (Warning: may contain up to 95% non-Alexandrian content, rated shamelessly philobarbarian by 1 out of 1 Plutarchs)