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Friday, April 29, 2011

Catullus, Poem 40

 Gaius Valerius Catullus
84-54 BCE (over 2,000 years ago)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Golden Age/Republican Era)


 QVAENAM te mala mens, miselle Rauide,
agit praecipitem in meos iambos?
[Whatever pathetic mind, you snivelling little Ravidus, drove you to meet my iambic attacks?]

quis deus tibi non bene aduocatus
uecordem parat excitare rixam?
[What god fails you in his advice and now sets you to cackle up that disgusting laugh of yours?]

an ut peruenias in ora uulgi?
[or better yet, makes you even go out into the public eye?]

quid uis?
[What do you want?]

 qualubet esse notus optas?
[Do you want to become famous by any means necessary?]

eris, quandoquidem meos amores
cum longa uoluisti amare poena.
[You will be, no doubt ever since you wanted to jack it to my "affairs" with a long wanker.]

Catullus, Poem 39

 Gaius Valerius Catullus
84-54 BCE (over 2,000 years ago)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Golden Age/Republican Era)



EGNATIVS, quod candidos habet dentes,
[Egnatius, because he has shining white teeth,]

renidet usque quaque.
[reflects light right back to whatever place there is.]

si ad rei uentum est
subsellium,
[if one comes down the lower seats of a play,]

cum orator excitat fletum,
[when the orator has stirred the crowd to weeping,]

renidet ille;
[this fella smiles;]

 si ad pii rogum fili
lugetur,
[If you're mourning at the funeral pyre of a dutiful son,]

 orba cum flet unicum mater,
[when his bereaved mother weeps for her only son,]

renidet ille.
[this guy is smiling.]

 quidquid est,
[Whatever the case is,]

ubicumque est,
[no matter where you are,]

quodcumque agit,
[whatever he's doing,]

 renidet:
[he's smiling:]

hunc habet morbum,
[a disease possesses him,]

neque elegantem, ut arbitror, neque urbanum.
[and not an elegant one, in my opinion, nor a sophisticated one.]

quare monendum est te mihi, bone Egnati.
[That's why I must warn you, by good man, Egnatius.]

si urbanus esses
[If you were a man from the city]

 aut Sabinus aut Tiburs
[or a Sabine, or from Tivoli]

aut pinguis Vmber
[or a fat Umbrian]

 aut obesus Etruscus
[or a chunky Tuscan]

aut Lanuuinus ater
[or a dark-skinned fellow from Lanuvium]

atque dentatus
aut Transpadanus,
[who happened to have big-ass teeth, or a man from across the Po,]

 ut meos quoque attingam,
[as I too claim my folks to be from,]

aut quilubet, qui puriter lauit dentes,
[or whoever washed his teeth to the point of purity,]

tamen renidere usque quaque te nollem:
[And yet, I would not wish for you to smile back at every single place you find:]

nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est.
[you see, nothing is more idiotic than an idiotic laugh.]

nunc Celtiber es:
[Now consider, you are a Celt-Iberian:]

 Celtiberia in terra,
[in the land of Celtiberia,]

quod quisque minxit,
[whatever thing a person pissed on,]

 hoc sibi solet mane
dentem atque russam defricare gingiuam,
[his habit is to brush his teeth, early in the morning, with it, as well as his ruddy gums,]

ut quo iste uester expolitior dens est,
[and what then? For the very reason your teeth seem to be more thoroughly clean,]

hoc te amplius bibisse praedicet loti.
[a man can predict that you've drunk this pot of piss all the more.]

Catullus, Poem 38

 Gaius Valerius Catullus
84-54 BCE (over 2,000 years ago)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Golden Age/Republican Era)


MALEST, Cornifici, tuo Catullo
malest,
[It fares badly, Cornificius, it fairs badly for you friend Catullus,]

me hercule, et laboriose,
[my god, and with great toil]

et magis magis in dies et horas.
[and more and more, day by day, and hour by hour.]

quem tu, quod minimum facillimumque est,
qua solatus es allocutione?
[Whom, and by what form of address you are acclimated to, that is easiest and requires the least effort?]

irascor tibi.
[I'm pissed at you.]

sic meos amores?
[Do you tell about my love affairs so?]

paulum quid lubet allocutionis,
maestius lacrimis Simonideis?
[Why does so little of your speech give you pleasure, when it is more mournful than the tears of Simonides?]

Catullus, Poem 37

 Gaius Valerius Catullus
84-54 BCE (over 2,000 years ago)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Golden Age/Republican Era)


SALAX taberna uosque contubernales,
[You filthy street shop, and all you shopgoers,]

a pilleatis nona fratribus pila,
[there is a single hair among you nine hair-plucked brothers,]

solis putatis esse mentulas uobis,
[do you think that you alone have little dicks,]

solis licere, quidquid est puellarum,
confutuere et putare ceteros hircos?
[and that you alone can fuck all any amount of girls you want, and think other men to be *hircos?]  

an, continenter quod sedetis insulsi
centum an ducenti,
[or, since you now sit all in a row, insolently, numbering a hundred, or even two hundred,]

 non putatis ausurum
me una ducentos irrumare sessores?
[do you imagine that I wouldn't dare to fuck two hundred seated fellows all by my lonesome?]

atqui putate:
[no, go ahead and think it:]

namque totius uobis
frontem tabernae sopionibus scribam.
[after that, I'll just graffiti the front of your entire shop with dicks.]

puella nam mi, quae meo sinu fugit,
[let me explain: my girl, who now abandons my side,]

amata tantum quantum amabitur nulla,
[a girl will never be so loved as much as she will be loved,]

pro qua mihi sunt magna bella pugnata,
[for her sake, I've fought great battles,]

consedit istic.
[now she sits with them.]

 hanc boni beatique
omnes amatis,
[You make love to this girl, cause you are wealthy and lucky,]

 et quidem, quod indignum est,
omnes pusilli et semitarii moechi;
[and really, because you are all snivelling little whoremongers, which makes you unworthy;]

tu praeter omnes une de capillatis,
cuniculosae Celtiberiae fili,
Egnati.
[And you, Egnatius, most of all, king of stringy haired fellows, and spawn of a little Celtiberian cunny.]

opaca quem bonum facit barba
[You're the kind of man that a dark beard makes legitimate,]

et dens Hibera defricatus urina.
[and whose teeth have been brushed down with Spanish piss.]

Catullus, Poem 36

Gaius Valerius Catullus
84-54 BCE (over 2,000 years ago)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Golden Age/Republican Era)


 XXXVI. ad Lusi cacatam

ANNALES Volusi, cacata carta,
[The histories of Volusus, pieces of paper fit to shit on.]

uotum soluite pro mea puella.
[let loose a prayer for the sake of my girlfriend.]

nam sanctae Veneri Cupidinique
uouit,
[You see, she now prays to sacred Venus, and Cupid,]

si sibi restitutus essem
[if only I had been restored to her]

desissemque truces uibrare iambos,
[and had stopped rattling your disgusting verses]

electissima pessimi poetae
scripta tardipedi deo daturam
infelicibus ustulanda lignis.
[while she is about to give the choicest lines of the very worst poet to the slow-footed god, set to be burned upon ominous logs of wood.]

et hoc pessima se puella uidit
iocose lepide uouere diuis.
[And my girlfriend now thinks herself to be the very worst for here devoting this, in her charming and funny demeanor, to the gods.]

nunc o caeruleo creata ponto,
[Now, you goddess, created by the dark blue sea,]

quae sanctum Idalium
[you who created holy Idalios,]

Vriosque apertos
[and the open-range Urios,]

quaeque Ancona
[and Ancona]

Cnidumque harundinosam
colis
[and Cnidos with her hills full of swallow-birds]

quaeque Amathunta
[and Amathunta]

quaeque Golgos
[and Golgos]

quaeque Durrachium Hadriae tabernam,
[and Dyrrachium, the market center of the Adriatic,]

acceptum face redditumque uotum,
[receive and return my prayer,]

si non illepidum neque inuenustum est.
[if this is nothing that lacks charm, or enticement.]

at uos interea uenite in ignem,
[But you, in the meantime, run to the fire,]

pleni ruris et inficetiarum.
[since you are full of country spirit, and lack any sense of sophistication.]

annales Volusi, cacata carta.
[You are the histories of Volusius, pieces of paper fit to shit on.]

Martial, Epigram 1.3

Marcus Valerius Martialis
1st-2nd c. AD (over 1,900 years ago)
Trans. RMBullard
Latin (Silver Age)


 3

Argiletanas mauis habitare tabernas,
[You prefer to occupy the shops of Argiletus,]

     cum tibi, parue liber, scrinia nostra uacent.
[when, you small book, my own desks do not have you.]

Nescis, heu, nescis dominae fastidia Romae:
[You don't know, alas, you don't know the toils of our mistress, Rome:]

     crede mihi, nimium Martia turba sapit.
[believe me: she knows the sound of war trumpets all too much.]

Maiores nusquam rhonchi:
[The older generations are never *rhonchus]

 iuuenesque senesque              5
     et pueri nasum rhinocerotis habent.
[young fellows, old ones, and even children have noses like rhinos.]

Audieris cum grande sophos,
[You shall've made an audience with great wisdom,]

 dum basia iactas,
[so long as you toss out kisses]

     ibis ab excusso missus in astra sago.
[you will go up to the stars from the dust that's shaken out.]

Sed tu ne totiens domini patiare lituras
[But, for your sake, lest you so often suffer the trash baskets of your master]

     neue notet lusus tristis harundo tuos,              10
[or lest a sad swallow-bird mark your jokes]

aetherias, lasciue, cupis uolitare per auras:
[you lusty thing, you desire to flit through the upper skies of the air:]

     i, fuge;
[go now, make your escape;]

sed poteras tutior esse domi.
[but you could have been safer at home.]

Martial, Epigram 1.2

Marcus Valerius Martialis
1st-2nd c. AD (over 1,900 years ago)
Trans. RMBullard
Latin (Silver Age)




2

Qui tecum cupis esse meos ubicumque libellos
[You, who desire that to take my work everywhere,]

     et comites longae quaeris habere uiae,
[and who seek to have associates for your long journey.]

hos eme,
[well buy them,]

 quos artat breuibus membrana tabellis:
[that is, those ones join the outer binding of my short little tablets.]

     scrinia da magnis,
[give your desks to long works,]

 me manus una capit.
[a single hand can hold me.]

Ne tamen ignores ubi sim uenalis
[And still, don't ignore the places where I am sold,]

et erres
     urbe uagus tota,
[and when you wander around listlessly through the whole city,]

 me duce certus eris:
[and you can feel sure with me as your guide:]

libertum docti Lucensis quaere Secundum
     limina post Pacis Palladiumque forum.
[look for the freedmen Secundus, of wise Lucensis, right by the entrance of the Temple of Peace, and Palladium in the Forum.]

Martial, Epigram 1.1

Marcus Valerius Martialis
1st-2nd c. AD (over 1,900 years ago)
Trans. RMBullard
Latin (Silver Age)



1

Hic est quem legis ille, quem requiris,
[Here he is, the one whom you--yeah, you--read, and the one whom you seek,]

toto notus in orbe Martialis
argutis epigrammaton libellis:
[you will be known all over the world as an 'epigram' in the clever little works of Martial:]

cui, lector studiose,
[this is yours, zealous reader,]

quod dedisti
uiuenti decus atque sentienti,              5
[the very honor you gave to a man who lives and experiences,]

rari post cineres habent poetae.
[few poets will attain after they've turned to ashes.]

Plautus, Little Punic Boy

Titus Maccius Plautus {Plautus}
254-185 BC
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era)


 T. MACCI PLAVTI POENVLVS

PERSONAE [Characters]

AGORASTOCLES ADULESCENS [Agorastocles the young man]
MILPHIO SERVVS [Milphio the slave]
ADELPHASIVM PUELLA [Adelphasium the young girl]
ANTERASTILIS PUELLA [Anterastilis the young girl]
LYCVS LENO [Lycus the pimp]
ANTAMONIDES MILES [Antamonides the soldier]
ADVOCATI [the lawyers]
COLLYBISCVS VILICVS [Collybiscus the overseer]
SYNCERASTVS SERVVS [Syncerastus the slave]
HANNO POENVS [Hanno the Carthaginian]
GIDDENIS NUTRIX [Giddenis the nurse]
PVER [Slave boy]

ARGVMENTVM

Puer septuennis surripitur Carthagine.
[A seven year old boy is secretly stolen away from Carthage.]

Osor mulierum emptum adoptat hunc senex
[An old man, who hates women, buys him and later adopts him,]

Et facit heredem.
[and he also makes him his heir.]

 deinde eius cognatae duae
Nutrixque earum raptae.
[Later on two of his daughters, and also his nursemaid, are ravished in affairs.]

 mercatur Lycus,
[Lycus goes to the market,]

Vexatque amantem.
[and he hounds the lover.]

at ille cum auro vilicum
Lenoni obtrudit,
[But he, with gold obtain from some overseers, he plays the Pimp for a fool,]

 itaque eum furto alligat.
[and therefore lies him up in secret.]

Venit Hanno Poenus,
[Then a Punic named Hanno comes on the scene]

 gnatum hunc fratris repperit
[and he finds out that this man is his brother]

Suasque adgnoscit quas perdiderat filias.
[and he gets acquainted with the daughters that he had previously lost.]

PROLOGVS

Achillem Aristarchi mihi commentari lubet:
[As Aristarchus, I love to rant on about Achilles.]

inde mihi principium capiam, ex ea tragoedia.
[But from this point, let me take my starting point from this particular tragedy.]

'sileteque et tacete atque animum advortite,
["But silent, and shut the hell up, and pay attention too,]

audire iubet vos imperator' —
[the commander now orders you to listen up"--]

  histricus,
[an actor]

bonoque ut animo sedeate in subselliis,          5
[and why? So that you can sit there in the lower levels of the theater, in a good mood,]

et qui esurientes et qui saturi venerint:
[and whatever people cramped with hunger will come surely to be stuffed:]

qui edistis, multo fecistis sapientius,
[you folks who have eaten, acted by far the wiser,]

qui non edistis, saturi fite fabulis;
[and you who've not eaten, will have be sated with stories;]

nam cui paratumst quod edit,
[you see, to whom the thing that he publishes, is now ready,]

 nostra gratia
nimia est stultitia sessum impransum incedere.    10
[and my good intention goes too far to the realm of idiocy to approach a seated man who's not eaten his lunch yet.]

Exsurge, praeco, fac populo audientiam;
[Get up, criar, announce an audience for the public;]

iam dudum exspecto,
[I've already been waiting for ages]

 si tuom officium scias:
[if you even now that this is your duty;]

exerce vocem, quam per vivisque et ~ colis.
[Work that voice of yours, as though you were screaming for the live men and <suggestions?>]

nam nisi clamabis, tacitum te obrepet fames.
[you see, unless you shout out, hunger will creep upon you in your silence.]

age nunc reside,
[so come on with it then, sit back down]

duplicem ut mercedem feras.     15
[so that you can haul off a double paycheck.]

* * *                                                                    15a
Bonum factum esse, edicta ut servetis mea.
[Announce that "it's been well done", so that you can save my own pronouncements.]

scortum exoletum ne quis in proscaenio
sedeat,
[Do let a single greased-up hoebag sit in front of the stage,]

 neu lictor verbum aut virgae muttiant,
[or let the lictor and his "rods" mumble a word,]

neu dissignator praeter os obambulet
[or the stage designer walk out in front of our very eyes,]

neu sessum ducat,
[or let him direct the sitting arrangement,]

 dum histrio in scaena siet.    20
[so long as the actor is still on the stage.]

diu qui domi otiosi dormierunt,
[For the men who've slept at home in the time off work,]

 decet
animo aequo nunc stent,
[it befits them to now be fair-minded and patient,]

vel dormire temperent.
[or otherwise, they should try to sleep within reasonable measure.]

servi ne obsideant,
[and don't let any slaves sit in your way]

liberis ut sit locus,
[you see, we want this place to belong to free men,]

vel aes pro capite dent;
[or otherwise, make them give us some cash for every one of them;]

 si id facere non queunt,
[If they cannot manage to do this,]

domum abeant,
[make them go home,]

 vitent ancipiti infortunio,          25
[let them not avoid a double misfortune,]

ne et hic varientur virgis et loris domi,
[so that they not get their asses beaten here with sticks, and at home with whips,]

si minus curassint,
[even if they should care all the less,]

quom eri reveniant domum.
[still, make them return home to their master.]

nutrices pueros infantis minutulos
domi ut procurent
[And let the nursemaids watch over their little tiny babes at home]

neu quae spectatum adferat,
[nor let her come here to watch,]

ne et ipsae sitiant et pueri pereant fame             30
[you don't want these same women to grow thirsty and their children to die of hunger]

neve esurientes hic quasi haedi obvagiant.
[and you don't these starving men here to wander in your way like wild goats.]

matronae tacitae spectent,
[Let respectable women watch in silence,]

 tacitae rideant,
[and let them giggle in silence,]

canora hic voce sua tinnire temperent,
[in this place, the chambers should moderately ring with their voice,]

domum sermones fabulandi conferant,
[as they had beforehand collected the speeches of the storyteller,]

ne et hic viris sint et domi molestiae.            35
[but don't let them pester their husbands both here and at home.]

Quodque ad ludorum curatores attinet,
[Whatever a man offers to the organizers of our public games,]

ne palma detur quoiquam artifici iniuria
[don't let a palm of victory be granted to anybody out of some fake scheme]

neve ambitionis causa extrudantur foras,
[or let them, by reason of ambition, be pushed outside,]

quo deteriores anteponantur bonis.
[when worse folks are placed ahead of good ones.]

et hoc quoque etiam, quod paene oblitus fui:    40
[and this is also something which I almost forgot:]

dum ludi fiunt,
[while the games are going on,]

in popinam, pedisequi,
inruptionem facite;
[you streetwalkers should make a break into the cookhouse;]

 nunc dum occasio est,
[now so long as the occasion stands,]

nunc dum scriblitae aestuant,
[and so long as graffiti now swelters on,]

 occurrite.
[go ahead and approach.]

Haec quae imperata sunt pro imperio histrico,
[These are the kinds of things that were ordered by the power of the actor,]

bonum hercle factum pro se quisque ut meminerit.
[and by god, this thing was done well by its own virtue, as anyone can recall.]




     45
Ad argumentum nunc vicissatim volo
remigrare,
[And now, changing my pace, I wish to sail back to the plot of this play,]

 ut aeque mecum sitis gnarures.
[so that you can sit there just as hungry as I am.]

eius nunc regiones, limites, confinia
determinabo:
[I will now point out its places, it borders, and its confines.]

 ei rei ego finitor factus sum.
[I've been made the conductor of this affair.]

sed nisi molestumst,
[But unless it's a trouble,]

nomen dare vobis volo       50
comoediai;
[I want to tell you the name of this comedy;]

sin odiost,
[even if it sucks,]

dicam tamen,
[I'll still tell you,]

siquidem licebit per illos quibus est in manu.
[if truly it will be allowed to those men who are at hand.]

Carchedonius vocatur haec comoedia,
[This comedy is called the "Charcedonius"]

* * *                                                            53a
latine Plautus Patruus Pultiphagonides.
[but in Latin, "Plautus , Uncle Pultiphagonides"]

nomen iam habetis.
[So now you know the name.]

nunc rationes ceteras
accipite;
[now hear the other parts;]

nam argumentum hoc hic censebitur:
[you see, at this point, this will be the plot agreed upon:]

locus argumentost suom sibi proscaenium,
[the setting for his plot will be the stage before you,]

vos iuratores estis.
[and you will be the critics.]

 quaeso, operam date.
[so please, pay attention.]

Carthaginienses fratres patrueles duo
fuere,
[There were down stepbrothers from Carthage,]

 summo genere et summis ditiis;       
[born from the most important lineage and wealth;]

 60
eorum alter vivit,
[one of them survives,]

alter est emortuos.
[but the other died off.]

propterea apud vos dico confidentius,
[I now speak with great confidence in your presence,] 




quia mihi pollictor dixit qui eum pollinxerat.
[because the one who had promised him, that is, who said so, is I.]

sed illi seni qui mortuost, <ei> filius,
[but the son that belongs to that vey man, is dead,]

unicus qui fuerat,
[who had been his only one,]

ab divitiis a patre               65
puer septuennis surripitur Carthagine,
[as the boy was stolen away  from the father's property, out of Carthage, at the age of seven,]

sexennio prius quidem quam moritur pater.
[and in fact, before he was six years old, his father died.]

Quoniam periisse sibi videt gnatum unicum,
[Since he saw his only son had died,]

conicitur ipse in morbum ex aegritudine:
[this man too was stricken to sickness, out of grief:]

facit illum heredem fratrem patruelem suom,    70
[he made his stepbrother his heir,]

ipse abit ad Acheruntem sine viatico.
[and he goes to Acheron, without warning.]

ille qui surripuit puerum Calydonem avehit,
[the very man who stole his son, Calydones, away, carries him off,]

vendit eum domino hic diviti quoidam seni,
[and he sells him to a rich man here,]

cupienti liberorum,
 osori mulierum.
[who was desirous to have children, but not fond of women.]

emit hospitalem is filium imprudens senex       75
puerum ilslum eumque adoptat sibi pro filio
[And this old man unknowingly bought the stranger's boy, and he adopted him as his own son,]

eumque heredem fecit,
[and he made him his heir]

quom ipse obiit diem.
[on the very day that he died.]

is illic adulescens habitat in illisce aedibus.
[From then on, the young man lives in this here house in front of you.]

Revertor rursus denuo Carthaginem:
[At last, I've returned to Carhage:]

si quid mandare voltis aut curarier,               80
[If you have any requests, and I can be of service,]

argentum nisi qui dederit,
[but unless someone shall've paid money]

 nugas egerit;
[he should miss out on the jokes;]

[verum] qui dederit,
[actually, whoever shall've paid,]1

 magis maiores nugas egerit.
[he should miss out on the funnier jokes.]

Sed illi patruo huius, qui vivit senex,
Carthaginiensi duae fuere filiae,
altera quinquennis, altera quadrimula:
[But to our story's uncle of this guy, from Carthage that is, the old man living here, there belonged two daughters, a 5 year old, and the other, a 4 year old]

        85
cum nutrice una periere a Magaribus.
[when they were taken alongside their nursemaid by Magare raiders.]


eas qui surripuit, in Anactorium devehit,
[The man who stole them away, rode them down to Anactorium,]

vendit eas omnis,
[and sold all three of them,]

et nutricem et virgines,
[and the nursemaid, and the young girls,]

praesenti argento homini, si leno est homo,
[to any many who showed up with money, as if the man's a pimp,]

quantum hominum terra sustinet sacerrumo.     90
[how great the quantity of men the world sustains from the worst vice.]

vosmet nunc facite coniecturam ceterum,
[But now you all, yeah you, need to understand another plot point,]

quid id sit hominis, cui Lyco nomen siet.
[why this matter might pertain to a man named Lycus.]

is ex Anactorio, ubi prius habitaverat,
huc commigravit in Calydonem hau diu,
[He's a fellow from Anactorium, where he had previously lived, but he moved away from there to Calydon, and not long ago,]

sui quaesti causa.
[in order to find a living.]

 is in illis habitat aedibus.          95
[The fellow lives in that house over there.]

Earum hic adulescens alteram efflictim perit,
[He, when he was a young man, sorely fell in love with one of these girls,]

suam sibi cognatam, imprudens, neque scit
[and unwisely, he did not know that she was his kin,]

quae siet
neque eam umquam tetigit,
[nor who she really is, and he never gave her shelter,] 



 ita eum leno macerat:
[and so the pimp softened him up:]

neque quicquam cum ea fecit etiamnum stupri
neque duxit umquam,
[neither did he do anything with the girl, at least not anything that would cause a scandal, nor did he ever lead her away,]

 neque ille voluit mittere       100
[nor that other fellow wish to send her away]

quia amare cernit,
[because he saw that he loved her,]

 tangere hominem volt bolo.
[and he wished to lead the man around by the nose.]

illam minorem in concubinatum sibi
volt emere miles quidam,
[A soldier wants to buy that young girl, and include her in his harem,]

qui illam deperit.
[as he has completely lost it for her.]

Sed pater illarum Poenus, postquam eas perdidit,
[But the Carthaginian, the father of these girls, ever since he lost them,]

mari te<rraque> usquequaque quaeritat.                105
[has been searching land and sea for them, wherever he can manage.]

ubi quamque in urbem est ingressus,
[When he came into this particular city,]

 ilico
omnes meretrices, ubi quisque habitant, invenit;
[he straightaway located all the high-town prostitutes, and the place each of them live now.]

dat aurum, ducit noctem, rogitat postibi
unde sit,
[He gives them gold, spends the night, and after that, asks them where they are from,]

quoiatis, captane an surrupta sit,
[and how old they are, and whether they had been captured, or stolen away,]


quo genere gnata, qui parentes fuerint.              110
[and from what family they were born, and who their parents were.]

ita docte atque astu filias quaerit suas.
[And so, he also interrogated the

et is omnis linguas scit,
[And the fellow knows how to speak all kinds of languages,]

sed dissimulat sciens
se scire:
[but he pretends that he doesn't know how to, even though he does know.]

Poenus plane est.
[I mean, he's clearly a Carthaginian.]

quid verbis opust?
[What's the point in explaining?]

Plautus, Epidicus

Titus Maccius Plautus {Plautus}
254-185 BC
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era)


 T. MACCI PLAVTI EPIDICVS

PERSONAE [Characters]

EPIDICVS SERVVS [Epidicus the slave]
THESPRIO SERVVS [Thresprio the slave]
STRATIPPOCLES ADVLESCENS [Stratippocles the young man]
CHAERIBVLVS ADVLESCENS [Chaeribulus the young man]
PERIPHANES SENEX [Periphanes the old man]
APOECIDES SENEX [Apoicides the old man]
FIDICINA
MILES [Soldier]
PHILIPPA MVLIER [Philippa a woman]
ACROPOLISTIS FIDICINA [Acropolistis the flute player]
DANISTA
TELESTIS VIRGO [Telestis the maiden]

ARGVMENTVM
Emit fidicinam, filiam credens, senex
Persuasu servi,
[An old man, through the persuasion of his slave, and through the confidence of his daughter, bought a flute-player, ]

 atque conductam
Iterum pro amica ei subiecit filii.
[and he traded her back again in exchange for his son's girlfriend.]

Dat erili argentum.
[He gives the owner, just a boy, some money.]

 eo sororem destinat
Imprudens iuvenis.
[The reckless young man directs his sister to him.]

compressae ac militis
Cognoscit opera sibi senex os sublitum —
[The old man recognizes the covered-up face of the girl and the tricks of a soldier--]

Vt ille amicam, haec quaerebat filiam —
[What happens is that the later begins to request his girlfriend , and she, her daughter--]

Sed inventa gnata servolum emittit manu.
[The daughter, once she's been discovered, frees the little slave boy.]

ACTVS I

I.i
EPIDICVS Heus, adulescens.
[EP Hallo there, young man!]

THESPRIO Quis properantem me
                                           reprehendit pallio?
[TH Who's that holding me back by my cloak while I trying to hurry on?]

EP. Familiaris.
[EP A relative.]

TH. Fateor, nam odio es nimium familiariter.
[TH Then I confess you're right, because you are much too familiar in becoming a thorn in my side.]

EP. Respice vero, THESPRIO.
[Now really, look behind you, Thesprio.]

 TH. Oh,
Epidicumne ego conspicor?
[TH Oh, now is that Epidicus that I gaze up now?]

EP. Satis recte oculis uteris.                                        5
[EP, Yessiree, that's correct by either eye.]

TH. Salve.
[TH Good day.]

EP. Di dent quae velis.
[EP May the gods grant whatever you wish for.]

venire salvom gaudeo.
[I'm happy to come in a good day fashion.]

 TH. Quid ceterum?
[TH But why so?]

 EP. Quod eo adsolet:
[EP Because this happens to be case:]

cena tibi dabitur.
[You will be given a supper.]

 TH. Spondeo.
[I promise!]

 EP. Quid?
[EP Why's that?]

 TH. Me accepturum, si dabis.
[TH I'll no doubt accept, if you will give it.]

EP. Quid tu agis?
[EP So how you are?]

 ut vales?
[Are you ok?]

 exemplum adesse intellego.
[I now take you for a good example that's walked up.]

euge,
corpulentior videre atque habitior.
[That's awesome, you seem fatter, and more well-adjusted.]

TH. Huic gratia. 
[Thanks to this.]
                                     10
EP. Quam quidem te iam diu
perdidisse oportuit.
[Really now, you needed to have gotten rid of that long ago.]
                                   11a
T. Minus iam furtificus sum quam antehac.
[I'm no less a scoundrel now than I was before.]

E. Quid ita?
[Why's that?]

T. Rapio propalam.
[I steal out in the open.]

EP. Di immortales te infelicent,
[Good gods, let them make you miserable]

ut tu es gradibus grandibus.
[as you are like hailstones on stairways.]

nam ut apud portum te conspexi,
[You see, as soon as I saw you standing by the gate,]

 curriculo occepi sequi:
[I took upon to follow you in a tiny wagon.]

vix adipiscendi potestas modo fuit.
[Bearly did I have the power to even acquire one of these.]

 TH. Scurra es.
[You're a buffoon.]

EP. Scio                                15
te esse equidem hominem militarem.
[And really now, I know you are a man of the army.]

 TH. Audacter quam vis dicito.
[Let it be said as boldly as you wish.]

quid ais?
[What are you saying?]

 perpetuen valuisti?
[And have you fared well so far?]

 EP. Varie.
[So so.]

Nepos, Timotheus

Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)


 CORNELI NEPOTIS TIMOTHEUS

[1] TIMOTHEUS, Cononis filius, Atheniensis.
[Timotheus, the son of Conon, was Athenian.]

Hic a patre acceptam gloriam multis auxit virtutibus.
[This man increased the grand reputation he had received from his father through the employment of his many good qualities.]

Fuit enim disertus, impiger, laboriosus, rei militaris peritus neque minus civitatis regendae.
[You see, he was eloquent, industrious, hardworking, experienced in warfare, and no less in governing in his city.]

2 Multa huius sunt praeclare facta, sed haec maxime illustria.
[Many of this man's deeds are distinguished, but the following are by far the most illustrious.]

 Olynthios et Byzantios bello subegit.
[He conquered Olyntium and Byzantium in war.]

 Samum cepit;
[he captured Samos;]

 in quo oppugnando superiori bello Athenienses mille et CC talenta consumpserant,
[when, on this occasion, Athenian had previously confiscated 1200 talents of gold for the purpose of waging the previous war ]

 id ille sine ulla publica impensa populo restituit;
[he restored this to his people with no cost to the public.]

adversus Cotum bella gessit
[He waged wars against Cotus]

ab eoque mille et CC talenta praedae in publicum rettulit.
[and from this place, he carried back 1200 talents-worth of plunder to the public treasury.]

 Cyzicum obsidione liberavit.
[He freed Cyzicus from a seige.]

3 Ariobarzani simul cum Agesilao auxilio profectus est;
[At the same time, he advanced against Ariobarzanes, in accompaniment with aid from Agesilaus;]

a quo cum Laco pecuniam numeratam accepisset,
[from this man, alongside Lacos, he had previously received a registered amount of money,]

 ille civis suos agro atque urbibus augeri maluit quam id sumere,
[and he was the kind of man who preferred to have his citizens enhanced through agriculture and their cities, than for him to spend it,]

cuius partem domum suam ferre posset.
[the part of which he could've brought to his own domicile.]

[2] Itaque accepit Crithoten et Sestum.
[And so he commissioned Crithotes, and Sestos.]

 Idem classi praefectus, circumvehens Peloponnesum Laconicen populatus, classem eorum fugavit,
[At the same time, after he sailed out with his fleet, and sailed around the Peloponnese, he plundered the Spartan countryside, and he put to flight their fleet of ships,]

Corcyram sub imperium Atheniensium redegit,
[and he brought Corcyra under the power of Athens,]

sociosque idem adiunxit Epirotas, Athamanas, Chaonas omnesque eas gentes,
[and at the same time, he made alliances with the Epirotes, Athamanes, Chaones, and all like nations,]

quae mare illud adiacent.
[that is, those that bordered that side of the sea.]

 2 Quo facto Lacedaemonii de diutina contentione destiterunt
[After that happened, the Spartans put a stop to their day-to-day skirmishing,]

et sua sponte Atheniensibus imperii maritimi principatum concesserunt
[and by their own volition, they conceded the dominance of maritime power to Athens,]

pacemque his legibus constituerunt,
[and they established a peace try by these tenets,]

ut Athenienses mari duces essent.
[thereby allowing Athens to become the prevailing superpower over the sea.]




 Quae victoria tantae fuit Atticis laetitiae,
[This victory brought such great happiness to the Athenians,]

 ut tum primum arae Paci publice sint factae
[that, for the first time in that era, altars to Peace were constructed in public view,]

 eique deae pulvinar sit institutum.
[and a sacred seating area was drawn up to honor this god.]

 3 Cuius laudis ut memoria maneret,
[Such did the memory of this man's high praise remain,]

 Timotheo publice statuam in foro posuerunt.
[that they erected a statue in their public square to Timotheus.]

 Qui honos huic uni ante id tempus contigit,
[And this honor was allowed to only a single man before this period of time,]

ut, cum patri populus statuam posuisset, filio quoque daret.
[and what happened was that, when the people had previously erected a statue to the father, they also gave one to his son.]

Sic iuxta posita regens filii veterem patris renovavit memoriam.
[Thus, with a statue of his son placed right by, he stirred back up the old memory of his father.]

[3] Hic cum esset magno natu et magistratus gerere desisset,
[At this point, since he had a great son, and had ceased performing his civic duties,]

bello Athenienses undique premi sunt coepti.
[the Athenians began to be pressed in battle on all sides.]

Defecerat Samus,
[Samos defected from them,]

descierat Hellespontus,
[the Hellespont rebelled,]

 Philippus iam tum valens, Macedo, multa moliebatur;
[and Philip of Macedon, already beginning to become a strong leader, was causing many problems;]

cui oppositus Chares cum esset,
[to whom, when Chares begun to put up a resistance,]]

 non satis in eo praesidii putabatur.
[they began to think that there were no enough garrisons in this area.]

 2 Fit Menestheus praetor, filius Iphicratis, gener Timothei,
[Menestheus became the lieutenant, being the son of Iphicrates and the son-in-law of Timotheus,]

et ut ad bellum proficiscatur, decernitur.
[and he given the distinction so that he could enter the theater of war.]

Huic in consilium dantur viri duo usu sapientiaque praestantes,
[Two men were granted to be his advisors, as they excelled in their usefulness and wisdom,]

 [quorum consilio uteretur]
[and whose advise he constantly used,]

 pater et socer,
[his father, and his father in law,]

 quod in his tanta erat auctoritas,
[which was something that was of such great prestige among these men,]

 ut magna spes esset per eos amissa posse recuperari.
[that a great hope began to emerge that all the losses could be recovered through their agency.]



 3 Hi cum Samum profecti essent
[When these men left Samos]

et eodem Chares illorum adventu cognito cum suis copiis proficisceretur,
[and at the same time, Chares, recognizing the advance of those aforesaid men, set out with its own forces,]

 ne quid absente se gestum videretur,
[lest it should seem that the matter was settled while they were absent,]

 accidit, cum ad insulam appropinquarent, ut magna tempestas oriretur;
[it turned out that a great storm was beginning to gather, at the time they were approaching the island;]

 quam evitare duo veteres imperatores utile arbitrati suam classem suppresserunt.
[so the two older commanders, thinking that it would be best avoid it, held up their fleet.]
 


 4 At ille temeraria usus ratione non cessit maiorum natu auctoritati,
[But <Timotheus>, not accustomed to using reason, did not cede to the authority of his elders,]

 velut in sua manu esset fortuna.
[feeling as though a good outcome rested in his own hands.]

 Quo contenderat, pervenit,
[He reached the placed he had aimed for,]

eodemque ut sequerentur,
[and at the very time they began to make pursuit,]

 ad Timotheum et Iphicratem nuntium misit.
[he sent Timotheos and Iphicrates a messenger.]

Hinc male re gesta, compluribus amissis navibus eo, unde erat profectus,
[Hence, since the affair went foul, and a great deal of his ships were missing from the area from where he had set out,]

 se recipit litterasque Athenas publice misit,
[he received him, and in public view, sent letters Athens,]

 sibi proclive fuisse Samum capere,
[saying that he would have been able to have captured Samos,]

nisi a Timotheo et Iphicrate desertus esset.
[except that he had been abandoned by Timotheus and Iphicrates.]

 5 Populus ater, suspicax ob eamque rem mobilis, adversarius, invidus - etiam potentiae in crimen vocabantur - domum revocat:
[The people, dark and gloomy, suspicious and shifty on this matter, having grown jealous called him back home; even his official powers were being slandered as crimes]

accusantur proditionis.
[they began to accuse him of sedition.]

 Hoc iudicio damnatur Timotheus,
[In their courts, Timotheus was found guilty,]

lisque eius aestimatur centum talentis.
[and his legal penalty rendered up to 100 talents.]

Ille odio ingratae civitatis coactus Chalcidem se contulit.
[Our protagonist, out of sheer disgust towards the ungrateful city, settled himself down in Chalcidon, once he was forced out.]

[4] Huius post mortem cum populum iudicii sui paeniteret,
[After his death, when the people's judgment began to become a cause of regret,]

 multae novem partis detraxit
[it dragged down nine from various sources]

 et decem talenta Cononem, filium eius, ad muri quandam partem reficiendam iussit dare.
[and ordered that the state pay Conon, his son, ten talents, as a token of restoring his estate.]

 In quo fortunae varietas est animadversa.
[After this, the shifting of fortune grew hostile.] 



Nam quos avus Conon muros ex hostium praeda patriae restituerat,
[You see, walls that his grandfather Conon had previously restored from the plunder of his nation by the enemy,]

 eosdem nepos cum summa ignominia familiae ex sua re familiari reficere coactus est.
[these were the very ones that his grandson was forced to restore, with the greatest shame upon the family's honor, out of a familial obligation.]
 

Nepos, Pausanias

Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)


 CORNELI NEPOTIS PAVSANIAS

[1] Pausanias Lacedaemonius magnus homo,
[Pausanias the Spartan, was a great man,]

sed varius in omni genere vitae fuit:
[but he was so shifty in every respect of his life:]

 nam ut virtutibus eluxit,
[you see, by the very same fashion as he profitted greatly from his good qualities,]

 sic vitiis est obrutus.
[he was thusly undone by his bad ones.]

Huius illustrissimum est proelium apud Plataeas.
[His most illustrious role in battle occurred at Plataea.]

 2 Namque illo duce Mardonius, satrapes regius, natione Medus, regis gener, in primis omnium Persarum et manu fortis et consilii plenus,
[By which account, Mardonius was the leader of the opposing side, he also being the son in law of the king, and a Mede by nationality, with a strong arm and also full of advice among the leading men of all the Persians,]

 cum CC milibus peditum, quos viritim legerat,
[and with 200,000 infantry that he had previously selected down to the very man,]

 et XX equitum haud ita magna manu Graeciae fugatus est,
[and 200 of his armored horsemen, but they were put to flight by the strong arm of Greece]

eoque ipse dux cecidit proelio.
[and the commander himself fell to his death in this battle.]

 Qua victoria elatus plurima miscere coepit
[After he was promoted by this victory, he began to engage in more affairs,]

et maiora concupiscere.
[and he desired for even greater ones.]

 3 Sed primum in eo est reprehensus,
[But in the beginning, he was charged at this time,]

 quod [cum] ex praeda tripodem aureum Delphis posuisset epigrammate scripto,
[that he had taken a golden tripod as plunder from Delphi, which had an epigram written,]

in quo haec erat sententia:
[on which there was the following pronouncement:]

 suo ductu barbaros apud Plataeas esse deletos,
[that barbarians were defeated on the field of Plataea, by his leadership,]

 eiusque victoriae ergo Apollini id donum dedisse.
[and that he had this as a gift to Apollo, in celebration of his victory.]

4 Hos versus Lacedaemonii exsculpserunt
[The Spartans wrote these verses down]

neque aliud scripserunt quam nomina earum civitatum,
[and they did not write anything other than the names of their cities,]

 quarum auxilio Persae erant victi.
[the ones that had been defeated by the aid of Persia.]

[2] Post id proelium eundem Pausaniam cum classe communi Cyprum atque Hellespontum miserunt,
[After this very battle, they sent Pausanias with a national fleet to Cyprus and the Hellespont too,]

 ut ex his regionibus barbarorum praesidia depelleret.
[with the mission of stamping out garrisons of the barbarians from these areas.]

2 Pari felicitate in ea re usus elatius se gerere coepit maioresque appetere res.
[In similar good fortune, and now experienced in this affair, he began to devote himself more diligently, and to seek greater assignments.]

 Nam cum Byzantio expugnato cepisset complures Persarum nobiles
[You see, when he had previously began to take a great deal of Persian nobles captive, after he had besieged Byzantium,]

 atque in his nonnullos regis propinquos,
[and on top of these, many relatives of the king,]

hos clam Xerxi remisit,
[he secretly sent these men back to Xerxes,]

 simulans ex vinclis publicis effugisse,
[pretending that they had made an escape from the state's prisons,]

et cum his Gongylum Eretriensem,
[and alongside these men, a man named Gongylos of Eretries]

 qui litteras regi redderet,
[who brought his letters to the kings,]

 in quibus haec fuisse scripta Thucydides memoriae prodidit:
[in which Thucydides relates by memory that the following things were written:]

 3 `Pausanias, dux Spartae, quos Byzantii ceperat,
 postquam propinquos tuos cognovit, tibi muneri misit seque tecum affinitate coniungi cupit.
["Pausanias, the commander of Sparta, has sent the men whom he had previously captured at Byzantium, after he learned that they were relatives of yours, as a token to you, and he desires to be allowed to marry into your family.]

Quare, si tibi videtur, des ei filiam tuam nuptum.
[For that reason, if it seems acceptable to you, please grant your daughter as a bride to him.]

 4 Id si feceris,
[Should you agree to do this,]

 et Spartam et ceteram Graeciam sub tuam potestatem se adiuvante te redacturum pollicetur.
[he will promise to bring both Sparta and the rest of Greece
under your power, in accompaniment with your aid.]

 His de rebus si quid geri volueris,
[Should you wish anything to be carried out concerning these affairs,]

 certum hominem ad eum mittas face, cum quo colloquatur.'
[be sure to send a trusted man to him, and he will speak with this man."]

5 Rex tot hominum salute tam sibi necessariorum magnopere gavisus confestim cum epistula Artabazum ad Pausaniam mittit,
[The king, enormously overjoyed, sent so great a number of his underlings to Pausanias, immediately, and including Artabazus with a letter]

in qua eum collaudat petit,
[in which he sought to return his praise,]

 ne cui rei pareat ad ea efficienda,
[in fear that he not agree to a matter of things to be done,]

quae pollicetur:
[that is, the things he promised:]

 si perfecerit, nullius rei a se repulsam laturum.
[if he should do this, he would be allowed whatever he wanted without rejection.]

 6 Huius Pausanias voluntate cognita alacrior ad rem gerendam factus,
[When this plan of Pausanias was recognized, and he had grown more passionate about carrying the affair out,]

in suspicionem cecidit Lacedaemoniorum.
[he incurred the suspicion of the Spartans.]

Quo facto domum revocatus, accusatus capitis absolvitur,
[After this happened, he was called home, and though accused of a capital crime, he was acquitted,]

 multatur tamen pecunia;
[though he had to pay a monetary fine;]

 quam ob causam ad classem remissus non est.
[and on that account, he was not reassigned to command over the fleet.]




[3] At ille post non multo sua sponte ad exercitum rediit
[But he not only returned, very much by his own volition, to military duty,]

et ibi non callida,
[though out of enthusiasm at that point,]

 sed dementi ratione cogitata patefecit.
[but rather he revealed his true intention, which as a strange one.]

 Non enim mores patrios solum, sed etiam cultum vestitumque mutavit.
[You see, he not only altered the customs of his forefathers, but even his style of dress and religion.]

 2 Apparatu regio utebatur, veste Medica;
[He began to like a king, and dress like a Mede;]

satellites Medi et Aegyptii sequebantur,
[He was followed by henchmen from Media and Egypt,]

 epulabatur more Persarum luxuriosius,
[he began to dine more luxuriously, in the fashion of the Persians,]

 quam, qui aderant, perpeti possent.
[as these, which had happened, could carry on and on.]

 3 Aditum petentibus conveniundi non dabat,
[He did not give passage to those seeking to accompany him,]

superbe respondebat, crudeliter imperabat.
[he gave haughty replies, and cruel commands.]

Spartam redire nolebat:
[he no longer wished to return to Sparta:]

Colonas, qui locus in agro Troade est se contulerat:
 ibi consilia cum patriae tum sibi inimica capiebat.
[he settled himself in Colonae, which was located in the Troad territory: there, he began to seize upon plans that, at that time, posed a threat to his nation.]

4 Id postquam Lacedaemonii rescierunt,
[After the Spartans realized this,]

 legatos cum clava ad eum miserunt,
[they sent ambassaders to him, with a nailed board,]

 in qua more illorum erat scriptum:
[upon which, in accordance to their customs, was written:]

nisi domum reverteretur, se capitis eum damnaturos.
[that unless he returned home, they would have to condemn him to death.]

 5 Hoc nuntio commotus,
[Deeply troubled by this message,]

sperans se etiam tum pecunia
 et potentia instans periculum posse depellere,
[hoping and intending to manage to beat down them down, even at that time, with his money and influence,]

 domum rediit.
[he returned home.]

 Huc ut venit,
[When he arrived there,]

ab ephoris in vincla publica est coniectus;
[he was tied up in chains, in public, by the ephors;]

 licet enim legibus eorum cuivis ephoro hoc facere regi.
[you see, it's allowed for their ephor to do this even to anyone, even the king.]

 Hinc tamen se expedivit;
[Nevertheless, he sped himself off from there;]

 neque eo magis carebat suspicione.
[nor did he leave any more suspicion from there.]

 Nam opinio manebat eum cum rege habere societatem.
[You see, opinion remained that he had alliance with the ruling king.]

 6 Est genus quoddam hominum,
[There was a particular race of men,]

 quod Hilotae vocatur,
[named the Helots,]

quorum magna multitudo agros Lacedaemoniorum colit
[whose great number tills the fields of the Spartans]

 servorumque munere fungitur.
[and serves the function of slaves.]

Hos quoque sollicitare spe libertatis existimabatur.
[Also, their hopes of liberty seemed to worry them.] 




7 Sed quod harum rerum nullum erat apertum crimen,
[But none of these affairs was an open crime,]

quo argui posset,
[to which he could be held to account,]

 non putabant de tali tamque claro viro suspicionibus oportere iudicari et exspectandum,
[and they did not think that it would be appropriate for a case to tried involving such a great and distinguished man, on the account of suspicions, nor did they expect it to happen,]

dum se ipsa res aperiret.
[until the moment when the affair revealed itself.]

[4] Interim Argilius quidam adulescentulus, quem puerum Pausanias amore venerio dilexerat,
cum epistulam ab eo ad Artabazum accepisset,
[In the meantime, a young man named Argilius, whom Pausanias had been intimately involved since he was boy,]

 eique in suspicionem venisset aliquid in ea de se esse scriptum,
[and had grown suspicious that something had been written about him, on these matters,]

quod nemo eorum redisset,
[something which none of these men had yet revealed,]

qui super tali causa eodem missi erant,
[I mean, the men above who had been commissioned at the same time, and for such a reason,]

vincla epistulae laxavit
[he broke the locks of his letter]

signoque detracto cognovit,
[and after removing the seal, he learned]

si pertulisset, sibi esse pereundum.
[that if he had indeed presented the opportunity, he was obligated to see carried out.]

 2 Erant in eadem epistula,
quae ad ea pertinebant, quae inter regem Pausaniamque convenerant.
[There were things in the very same letter, things which pertained to these matters, and which had been transacted between the king and Pausanias.]

Has ille litteras ephoris tradidit.
[That man just described turned over these letters to the ephors.]

3 Non est praetereunda gravitas Lacedaemoniorum hoc loco.
[The severity of the Spartans was no matter to ignore at this point.]

 Nam ne huius quidem indicio impulsi sunt,
[You see, they in fact were not put in straits by the designs of this man,]

ut Pausaniam comprehenderent,
[that is, on the matter of how they could to take Pausanias into custody,]

 neque prius vim adhibendam putaverunt,
[nor did they think that they must be forced to react violently,]

quam se ipse indicasset.
[given the fact that the man had just revealed himself.]

 4 Itaque huic indici, quid fieri vellent, praeceperunt.
[And so, they decided upon this plan of action, which is what they desired to bring about.]

 Fanum Neptuni est Taenari,
[There is a shrine in Taenaris dedicated to Neptune,]

quod violari nefas putant Graeci.
[one which the Greeks think is the utmost sacrilege to desecrate.]

 Eo ille confugit in araque consedit.
[Our protagonist fled there, and sat remaining in the altar.]

 Hanc iuxta locum fecerunt sub terra,
[They constructed this place next to an underground location,]

ex quo posset audiri,
[from where it could be heard,]

si quis quid loqueretur cum Argilio.
[whether someone was saying anything with Argilius.]

 Huc ex ephoris quidam descenderunt.
[Men chosen from the ephors moved down to that place.]

 5 Pausanias ut audivit Argilium confugisse in aram,
[As soon as Pausanius heard that Argilius had fled as well to the altar,]

perturbatus venit eo.
[he, completely panicked, went to the same place.]

 Quem cum supplicem dei videret in ara sedentem, quaerit,
[As soon as he saw him sitting as a supplicant in the god's altar, he asked:]

 causae quid sit tam repentini consilii.
["What's the reason for so unexpected an action?"]

 6 Huc ille, quid ex litteris comperisset, aperit.
[The other in response revealed to him what he had just found out from his letters.]

 Modo magis Pausanias perturbatus orare coepit,
[And now, Pausanias, even more shocked, began to pray,]

 ne enuntiaret nec se meritum de illo optime proderet:
[that he would not speak out, nor would not betray a man so illustrious like himself:]

 quod si eam veniam sibi dedisset
[but if he had found a way to forgive him]

tantisque implicatum rebus sublevasset,
[and could have pardoned his being implicated in such dangerous affairs,]

magno ei praemio futurum.
[the reward would be tremendous for him in the future.]

[5] His rebus ephori cognitis satius putarunt in urbe eum comprehendi.
[The ephors, when they had been more than satisfied by these statements, decided to have him taken into custody in the city.]

 Quo cum essent profecti et Pausanias placato Argilio, ut putabat,
 Lacedaemonem reverteretur,
[Whereby, when they approached, and Pausanias, having won over Argilius, as he thought, returned to Sparta,]

 in itinere, cum iam in eo esset,
[on the journey, where he had already been in the middle of,

 ut comprehenderetur,
 ex vultu cuiusdam ephori, qui eum admoneri cupiebat, insidias sibi fieri intellexit.
[he then deduced from the face of one of the ephors, who desired to warn him, and figured out that the trap set for him.]


 2 Itaque paucis ante gradibus, quam qui eum sequebantur, in aedem Minervae, quae Chalcioicos vocatur, confugit.
[And so, being a few steps ahead of the the men who were following him, he suddenly fled into the temple of Minerva, at the time named the Chalceoecus.]

 Hinc ne exire posset,
[So that he could find no means of escape from here,]

 statim ephori valvas eius aedis obstruxerunt tectumque sunt demoliti,
[the ephors immediately walled up the doors of this temple, and demolished the roof,]

 quo celerius sub divo interiret.
[from which he quickly met his death in the open air.]

 3 Dicitur eo tempore matrem Pausaniae vixisse eamque iam magno natu,
 postquam de scelere filii comperit, in primis ad filium claudendum lapidem ad introitum aedis attulisse.
[It is said that, at that time, Pausanias' mother had still been alive, and that after she, learned about her now-grown son's crime, had brought the very first stone among those that had been gathered to block the entrance of the temple.]

 4 Hic cum semianimis de templo elatus esset confestim animam efflavit.
[He, along with those dying, was drag down from the temple, and immediately exhausted the very last breath of his life.]

 Sic Pausanias magnam belli gloriam turpi morte maculavit.
[In this way, Pausanias stained the tremendous glory he gained in battle, with his disgraceful death.]

 5 Cuius mortui corpus cum eodem nonnulli dicerent inferri oportere,
[Some say that, at that time, his dead body had to be carried out,]

quo ii, qui ad supplicium essent dati,
[that is, to a place for men who had been condemned to death,]

displicuit pluribus,
[which displeased a great deal of people,]

et procul ab eo loco infoderunt,
[and they buried a grave for him far away from that aforesaid location,]

 quo erat mortuus.
[I mean, the place where he had died.]

 Inde posterius dei Delphici responso erutus
[After that, he was dug about, on account of the mandate by the god of Delphi, much later on,]

atque eodem loco sepultus est, ubi vitam posuerat.
[and was buried in the very same place where he had lost his life.]

Nepos, Lysander

Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)


 CORNELI NEPOTIS LYSANDER

[1] LYSANDER Lacedaemonius magnam reliquit sui famam, magis felicitate quam virtute partam.
[Lysander the Spartan leaves behind a grand reputation of his own, the great part of it coming more his good fortune than his virtue.]

Atheniensis enim in Peloponnesios sexto et vicesimo anno bellum gerentes confecisse apparet.
[You see, he appears to have finished off those Athenians who had been waging war against the Spartans, by the 26th year.]

Id qua ratione consecutus sit, haud latet.
[Let this thing be explained by its cause: it is no secret.]

 2 Non enim virtute sui exercitus, sed immodestia factum est adversariorum,
[You see, it was not accomplished by his own good merit, but by the irrationality of his adversaries,]

 qui, quod dicto audientes imperatoribus suis non erant,
[that is, men who did not heed the advice of their own commanders,]

dispalati in agris relictis navibus in hostium venerunt potestatem.
[and completely disorganized on the battlefields, once they had left their ships behind, they were overwhelmed by the power of their enemies.]

Quo facto Athenienses se Lacedaemoniis dediderunt.
[After this happened, the Athenians surrendered to the Spartans.]

 3 Hac victoria Lysander elatus,
[Lysander was ecstatic from this victory,]

cum antea semper factiosus audaxque fuisset,
[even though beforehand he had always been full of deeds and bold,]

 sic sibi indulsit,
[he thus took it upon himself,]

 ut eius opera in maximum odium Graeciae Lacedaemonii pervenerint.
[to see that the Spartans accomplish his goals, to the greatest disdain of Greece.]




 4 Nam cum hanc causam Lacedaemonii dictitassent sibi esse belli,
[You see, when the Spartans had begun to argue that this was a justification for war for them,

 ut Atheniensium impotentem dominationem refringerent,
[so that they could break apart the snivelling hegemony of the Athenians,]

 postquam apud Aegos flumen Lysander classis hostium est potitus,
[Lysander afterwards was able to gain control over their foe's fleet on the River Aegus,]

 nihil aliud molitus est,
[and nothing else was a goal for him,]

quam ut omnes civitates in sua teneret potestate,
[than that he could gain possession of all the city-states under his control,]

cum id se Lacedaemoniorum causa facere simularet.
[while he pretended that he did this for the reason stated by the Spartans.]

 5 Namque undique, qui Atheniensium rebus studuissent,
eiectis, decem delegerat in unaquaque civitate,
[You see, in every single place, which had previously supported the affairs of Athens, but had been mistreated, he could assign ten men in each and every city-state,]

 quibus summum imperium potestatemque omnium rerum committeret.
[through whose agency he used to employ supreme control over their governments and power over all their affairs.]

Horum in numerum nemo admittebatur,
[No one was allowed into the circle of these men,]

 nisi qui aut eius hospitio contineretur
[unless he had gained his good favor,]

aut se illius fore proprium fide confirmarat.
[or confirmed that he could really be trusted by him in the future.]

[2] Ita decemvirali potestate in omnibus urbibus constituta ipsius nutu omnia gerebantur.
[And so, with the power of this 10-man council, all affairs in all the city-states were decided by his discretion.]

 Cuius de crudelitate ac perfidia satis est unam rem exempli gratia proferre,
[And of his cruelty and treachery, it's enough to offer a single example through anecdote,]

 ne de eodem plura enumerando defatigemus lectores.
[so that I can avoid tiring out my readers by enumerating the great many more from this same man.]






 2 Victor ex Asia cum reverteretur Thasumque divertisset, 
[When he returned out of Asia as the victor and steered to Thasos,]


quod ea civitas praecipua fide fuerat erga Athenienses - 
[given that this city had shown the upmost loyalty toward the Athenians--]


proinde ac si non iidem firmissimi solerent esse amici,
 qui constantes fuissent inimici - pervertere eam concupivit.
[he desired to annex it from then on, at any point if these same men did not show themselves to be the firmest of allies, as they had previously been the staunchest of enemies--]


 3 Vidit autem, nisi in eo occultasset voluntatem, futurum, 
[On the other hand, he saw what would turn out, unless he could find a manage to hide his intention on the matter,]




ut Thasii dilaberentur consulerentque rebus suis ***
[that is, the Thasians would be split into factions, and would deliberate on their affairs <suggestions: is this line interpolated?>]


[3] Itaque hi decemviralem illam potestatem ab illo constitutam sustulerunt. 
[And so, these men undertook that well-known power of state that was established by that man.]

Nepos, Hannibal

Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)


 CORNELI NEPOTIS HANNIBAL

[1] HANNIBAL, Hamilcaris filius, Carthaginiensis.
[Hannibal was a Carthaginian, the son of Hamilcar.]

Si verum est, quod nemo dubitat,
[If this is true, and it is something nobody doubts,]

 ut populus Romanus omnes gentes virtute superarit,
[that the Roman people could conquer any nation by virtue of their courage,]

 non est infitiandum Hannibalem tanto praestitisse ceteros imperatores prudentia,
[is not so much something to be ignored that Hannibal excelled the entirety of our commanders in his judgment,]

quanto populus Romanus antecedat fortitudine cunctas nationes.
[by the very same measure that the Roman people excel all nations in their strength.]

2 Nam quotienscumque cum eo congressus est in Italia,
[You see, as many times as he made his incursions in Italy]

semper discessit superior.
[he always left as the superior.]

 Quod nisi domi civium suorum invidia debilitatus esset,
[Except that he had been weakened at home by the jealously of his own citizens,]

Romanos videtur superare potuisse.
[it seems likely that he could have conquered the Romans.]

 Sed multorum obtrectatio devicit unius virtutem.
[But the infighting of many fellows, in the end, beat out the strength of a single one.]

3 Hic autem velut hereditate relictum odium paternum erga Romanos sic conservavit,
[Nevertheless, this man, as though through his genes, saved up his father's disgust of the Romes so much,]

 ut prius animam quam id deposuerit,
[that before he could even cast it into his heart,]

 qui quidem, cum patria pulsus esset et alienarum opum indigeret,
[indeed, it was he, when he had been driven out of his nation, and gotten his hands on the fortunes of another one,]

 numquam destiterit animo bellare cum Romanis.
[he never quit a moment in his mind from waging war against the Romans.]

[2] Nam ut omittam Philippum,
[You see, as I shall skip over Philip,]

quem absens hostem reddidit Romanis,
[whom he, off the scene, returned as an enemy to the Romans,]

 omnium his temporibus potentissimus rex Antiochus fuit.
[the most powerful king during this period of time was Antiochus.]

 Hunc tanta cupiditate incendit bellandi,
[Such a desire to make war inflamed this man]

 ut usque a rubro mari arma conatus sit inferre Italiae.
[that he tried to transport his military equipment to Italy all the way from the Red Sea.]

 2 Ad quem cum legati venissent Romani,
[And when Roman ambassadors traveled to this man,]

 qui de eius voluntate explorarent darentque operam,
[and they began to make their complaints known, and to argue against this man's designs,]



 consiliis clandestinis ut Hannibalem in suspicionem regi adducerent,
[such that, by secret designs, they led Hannibal to always be suspicious of the king,]

 tamquam ab ipsis corruptus alia atque antea sentiret,
[as though he, corrupted by the same ones, could sense other things, and ones from the past,]

 neque id frustra fecissent
[and lest they had done this thing in vain,]

idque Hannibal comperisset
[and lest Hannibal had gained knowledge of this,]

 seque ab interioribus consiliis segregari vidisset,
[and had seen that he had been left out from their inner circle,]

 tempore dato adiit ad regem,
[he approached the king, once he was allotted an appointment,]

3 eique cum multa de fide sua et odio in Romanos commemorasset,
[and since he had already informed him about the extent of his loyalty and his hatred for the Romans,]

 hoc adiunxit:
[he added the following:

`Pater meus' inquit `Hamilcar puerulo me, utpote non amplius VIIII annos nato, in Hispaniam imperator proficiscens Carthagine, Iovi optimo maximo hostias immolavit.
["My father," he said, "Hamilcar, when I was just a little boy, probably no more than 8 years old, conquered his foe when he was our commander, leaving Carthage for Spain, and thanks to the most powerful and greatest god, Jove.]


4 Quae divina res dum conficiebatur,
[Which thing, while it began to be concluded to be a divine one,]

 quaesivit a me,
[he asked from me,]

vellemne secum in castra proficisci.
[whether I wished to travel alongside him to our camps.]

 Id cum libenter accepissem
[When I had happily agree to do so,]

atque ab eo petere coepissem,
[and had begun to ask about this matter,]

 ne dubitaret ducere,
[lest he should have any doubts of taking me,]

tum ille `Faciam', inquit `si mihi fidem, quam postulo, dederis.'
[he then said, "I shall find out, if you have given the loyalty I demand to me."]

 Simul me ad aram adduxit,
[At the same time, he led me to the altar,]

 apud quam sacrificare instituerat,
[and into that place where he had before had conducted sacrifices,]

 eamque ceteris remotis tenentem iurare iussit numquam me in amicitia cum Romanis fore.
[and when everyone else was moved off from the place, he ordered me to swear that I would never fall into any alliance with the Romans, so long as I possessed this.]

 5 Id ego ius iurandum patri datum usque ad hanc aetatem ita conservavi,
[And for my part, up to this very moment in time, I have upheld this sworn oath, given by my father,]

ut nemini dubium esse debeat,
[such that there should be no doubt to any man,]

quin reliquo tempore eadem mente sim futurus.
[that, in the time I have left, I will, unto the future, be of the exact same mind.]

6 Quare, si quid amice de Romanis cogitabis,
[And so, if you should ponder anything of friendship when it comes to the Romans,]

 non imprudenter feceris,
[you will've not done unwisely,]

 si me celaris;
[should you hide this fact from me;]

cum quidem bellum parabis,
[when, in fact, ever you shall prepare war,]

te ipsum frustraberis,
[you will only do yourself injustice,]

 si non me in eo principem posueris.'
[if you shall not have appointed me as your commander in it."]

 Hac igitur, qua diximus, aetate cum patre in Hispaniam profectus est.
[Therefore, at this point in his life, he left alongside his father to Spain.]

[3] Cuius post obitum, Hasdrubale imperatore suffecto, equitatui omni praefuit.
[After whose death, when Hasdrubal had been selected to be supreme commander, he took command of the entire cavalry forces.]

Hoc quoque interfecto exercitus summam imperii ad eum detulit.
[When the former too was killed in battle, the military passed down its top command to him.]

 Id Carthaginem delatum publice comprobatum est.
[This was something that was publicly approved in Carthage.]

2 Sic Hannibal, minor V et XX annis natus imperator factus,
[And so, Hannibal was appointed supreme commander, no more than 25 years old,]

proximo triennio omnes gentes Hispaniae bello subegit;
[and he conquered all the nations of Spain in battle, after his third year;] 





 Saguntum, foederatam civitatem, vi expugnavit;
[He took the city of Saguntum by force, an allied city.]

tres exercitus maximos comparavit.
[He organized three of the greatest armies you can imagine.]

3 Ex his unum in Africam misit,
[He sent the first of these to Africa,]

alterum cum Hasdrubale fratre in Hispania reliquit,
[while he left the second with his brother Hasdrubal in Spain,]

 tertium in Italiam secum duxit.
[he led at his side to Italy.]

Saltum Pyrenaeum transiit.
[He crossed the jump over the Pyrenees.]

 Quacumque iter fecit,
[He made his journey by all means possible,]

cum omnibus incolis conflixit:
[while he stoked encounters with all the inhabitants he ran into:]

 neminem nisi victum dimisit.
[he left not a single man undefeated.]

4 Ad Alpes posteaquam venit,
[Afterward, he came to the Alps,]

 quae Italiam ab Gallia seiungunt,
[which separated Italy from Gaul,] 



 quas nemo umquam cum exercitu ante eum praeter Herculem Graium transierat,
[these were mountains that no one crossed with a military force before him, except for Hercules the Greek,]

quo facto is hodie saltus Graius appellatur,
[from which deed, the pass is called the Greek Pass today,]

 Alpicos conantes prohibere transitu concidit;
[and it drops off and prohibits men from trying to cross the Alps straightway.]

 loca patefecit, itinera muniit, effecit,
[He marked out the places, supplied his journey, and acted]

 ut ea elephantus ornatus ire posset,
[so even his armed elephants were able to go through,]

qua antea unus homo inermis vix poterat repere.
[where, in the time before, a single unharmed men could find a way.]

Hac copias traduxit in Italiamque pervenit.
[In this way, he brought his forces over, and reached Italy.]

[4] Conflixerat apud Rhodanum cum P. Cornelio Scipione consule
[He had previously clashed with the consul Publius Cornelius Scipio in Rhodanum,]

eumque pepulerat.
[and had beaten him back.]

Cum hoc eodem Clastidi apud Padum decernit
[At the same time, he faced Clastidius in the Po Valley,]

sauciumque inde ac fugatum dimittit.
[and from there, he sent him away, wounded and in flight.]

 2 Tertio idem Scipio cum collega Tiberio Longo apud Trebiam adversus eum venit.
[Likewise, in a third instance, Scipio, alongside his colleague Tiberius Longus, faced him in Trebia.]

Cum his manum conseruit, utrosque profligavit.
[He drew his band together, against these men, and prevailed against them both.]

Inde per Ligures Appenninum transiit, petens Etruriam.
[From there, he crossed the Appennines through Liguria, and headed for Tuscany.]

3 Hoc itinere adeo gravi morbo afficitur oculorum,
[On that journey, he was stricken with such a grave ailment in his eyes,]

ut postea numquam dextro aeque bene usus sit.
[that afterward, he was no longer able to use his right one as equally well as the other.] 




 Qua valetudine cum etiam tum premeretur
[And with that strength of mind, even when he was being overwhelmed at that time]


 lecticaque ferretur C. Flaminium consulem apud Trasumenum
[and it happened that the consul Gaius Flaminius was being carried by litter to Trasimene]

 cum exercitu insidiis circumventum occidit
[he had him killed, once he had been surrounded by an ambush with his army]

 neque multo post C. Centenium praetorem cum delecta manu saltus occupantem.
[and not much after that, with a band of chosen men, he sprung upon the praetor Gaius Centenius, who was occupying the glen at the time.]

 Hinc in Apuliam pervenit.
[From there, he reached Apulia.]

Nepos, Epaminondas

Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)


 CORNELI NEPOTIS EPAMINONDAS

[1] EPAMINONDAS, Polymnidis filius. Thebanus.
[Epaminondas, son of Polymnides, was Theban.]

 De hoc priusquam scribimus,
[Before I write about this guy,]

 haec praecipienda videntur lectoribus,
[it seems that these things must be understood by the readers,]

ne alienos mores ad suos referant
[lest they perceive these men to be strange to their culture,]

neve ea, quae ipsis leviora sunt, pari modo apud ceteros fuisse arbitrentur.
[or lest these things that were less important to those same men, be thought to have been of the same nature in their own world.]

 2 Scimus enim musicen nostris moribus abesse a principis persona,
[You see, I know a musician is missing from my usual habits, from the character of this commander,]

saltare vero etiam in vitiis poni;
[and indeed, I even set to myself to dance upon his vices;]

 quae omnia apud Graecos et grata et laude digna ducuntur.
[these are all things though that are taken as both pleasing and praisworthy in the land of the Greeks.]

 3 Cum autem exprimere imaginem consuetudinis atque vitae velimus Epaminondae,
[In any even, since I wish to paint a picture of the Epaminondas' personality and life,]

nihil videmur debere praetermittere,
[I think that I ought not to skip over anything,]

 quod pertineat ad eam declarandam.
[that might pertain to these things that need by made clear.]

4 Quare dicemus primum de genere eius,
[And that's why I will first explain his type of personality,]

deinde, quibus disciplinis
 et a quibus sit eruditus;
[and then, with and by which disciplines he was instructed;]

tum de moribus ingeniique facultatibus,
[after than, his personal habits and talents of mind,]

 et si qua alia memoria digna erunt;
[and anything else that might by chance pop into my memory;]

postremo de rebus gestis,
[and last of all, his accomplishments,]

 quae a plurimis animi anteponuntur virtutibus.
[which are preceded by the great number of virtues his character possessed.]

[2] Natus est igitur patre, quo diximus, genere honesto,
[And so, he was born to a father of very humble background, as I've said,]

pauper iam a maioribus relictus,
[he was already left a pauper by his forefathers,]

eruditus autem sic ut nemo Thebanus magis.
[and yet, there was a no Theban man that was more well-brought up than he.]




Nam et citharizare et cantare ad chordarum sonum doctus est a Dionysio,
[You see, he learned from Dionysius how to play the harp, and sing to the tune of choral bands]

 qui non minore fuit in musicis gloria quam Damon aut Lamprus,
[as the latter was no less famous in the musical arts than Damon, or Lampros,]

 quorum pervulgata sunt nomina;
[whose reputations are very much well-known in public.]

 cantare tibiis ab Olympiodoro, saltare a Calliphrone.
[he learned how to play the flute from Olympiodorus, and to dance from Calliphrones.]

 2 At philosophiae praeceptorem habuit Lysim Tarentinum, Pythagoreum;
[On the other hand, he had for his instructor in philosophy, Lysis of Taranto, a member of the Pythagorean School;]

 cui quidem sic fuit deditus,
[a man to whom, in fact, he was so indebted,]

ut adulescens tristem ac severum senem omnibus aequalibus suis in familiaritate anteposuerit,
[that, as a young man, he valued this glum, severe-minded old man above all his peers among people he related with,]

 neque prius eum a se dimisit,
[and he never sent him away from his side any time before,]

 quam in doctrinis tanto antecessit condiscipulos,
[than when he excelled before his fellow classmates in their studies so far,]

ut facile intellegi posset pari modo superaturum omnes in ceteris artibus.
[that one could easily tell that he would one day surpass them all in like fashion in all the rest of life's challenges.]

3 Atque haec ad nostram consuetudinem sunt levia et potius contemnenda;
[And these things are also considered to be childish and rather contemnible to our customs;]

 at in Graecia utique olim magnae laudi erant.
[but at any rate, they were things worthy of great praise in Greece.]

4 Postquam ephebus est factus
[After he became a young man of military youth,]

 et palaestrae dare operam coepit,
[and began to concentrate his attention on the exercise grounds,]

 non tam magnitudini virium servivit quam velocitati.
[he did not find his advantage so much in the magnitude of his strengths, than from his sheer speed.] 



Illam enim ad athletarum usum, hanc ad belli existimabat utilitatem pertinere.
[You see, one used to think that the latter pertained to the practice of athletes, while the other pertained to its utility in battle.]

 5 Itaque exercebatur plurimum currendo et luctando ad eum finem,
[And so, all the more, did he practice running and fighting hand-to-hand to such a point,]

quoad stans complecti posset atque contendere.
[to such a point that he could wretch and fight back on his feet.]

In armis vero plurimum studii consumebat.
[In fact, he most of all was consumed by a desire to gain skills in battle.]


[3] Ad hanc corporis firmitatem plura etiam animi bona accesserant.
[And to this firmness of physical shape, a great many good qualities appeared in his personality.]

 Erat enim modestus, prudens, gravis, temporibus sapienter utens;
[You see, he was modest, prudent, serious-minded, and wisely constructive in crises;]

 peritus belli, fortis manu, animo maximo;
[he was experienced in battle, with a strong hand, and the greatest intelligence you can imagine;]

adeo veritatis diligens,
[he was so devoted to the truth,]

 ut ne ioco quidem mentiretur.
[that, in fact, he could even lie in jest.]

 2 Idem continens, clemens patiensque admirandum in modum, non solum populi,
[Likewise, he was moderate, merciful, and in an admirable way, patient not only with his people,]

 sed etiam amicorum ferens iniurias;
[but even when he suffered insults from his friends;]

Nepos, Datames

Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)


CORNELI NEPOTIS DATAMES

[1] DATAMES, patre Camisare, natione Care, matre Scythissa natus,
[Datamas was Carian by nationality, though his mother was Scythian and his father, Camisarian,]

primum militum in numero fuit apud Artaxerxen eorum,
[he was the leading military man among the number of those men under the service of Artaxerxes,]

 qui regiam tuebantur.
[that is, those men who watched over the safety of his kingdom.]

 Pater eius Camisares,
[Camisares was his father,]

 quod et manu fortis et bello strenuus
[and because this man was strong-armed and energetic in battle]

 et regi multis locis fidelis erat repertus,
[and he was discovered to be loyal to the king on various occasions,]

 habuit provinciam partem Ciliciae iuxta Cappadociam,
[he was allowed to govern the region of Cilicia that bordered Cappadocia,]

quam incolunt Leucosyri.
[that is, the region occupied by the Leucosyri <white Syrians>.]

2 Datames, militare munus fungens,
[Datames performed his military duty,]

 primum, qualis esset, aperuit in bello,
[and in the very beginning he should what kind of soldier he was in the war]

 quod rex adversus Cadusios gessit.
[that is, the one that the king waged against the Cadusians.]

 Namque hic multis milibus regiorum interfectis magni fuit eius opera.
[By this token, when many thousands of the royal family's men were killed, this was a testament of this man.]
 


Quo factum est,
[So it was done,]

 cum in eo bello cecidisset Camisares,
[when after he had felled the Camisarians in this battle,]

ut paterna ei traderetur provincia.
[that his father's former province was surrendered over to him.]

[2] Pari se virtute postea praebuit,
[Afterwards, he shined through with the same extent of worth,]

 cum Autophrodates iussu regis bello persequeretur eos,
[when, by the king's order, he pursued the Autophrodates in battle,]

 qui defecerant.
[who had previously defected from him.]

 Namque huius opera hostes, cum castra iam intrassent,
 profligati sunt
[On that matter, the enemies, since they had happened upon their camps, crashed into his defenses,]

exercitusque reliquus conservatus regis est.
[and he saved the remainder of the king's military forces there.]

 Qua ex re maioribus rebus praeesse coepit.
[And from then on, he began to excel in greater affairs.]

2 Erat eo tempore Thuys, dynastes Paphlagoniae antiquo genere,
[At that time, there was a man named Thuys, who was a dynast from an ancient family of Paphlagonia,]

ortus a Pylaemene illo,
[that took its very origins from that famous Pylaemenes,]

 quem Homerus Troico bello a Patroclo interfectum ait.
[whom Homer says was killed by Patroclus in the Trojan War.]

 3 Is regi dicto audiens non erat.
[This man was not obedient to the king's commands.]

 Quam ob causam bello eum persequi constituit
[For this reason, he decided to pursue him in battle,]

eique rei praefecit Datamen,
[and to bring Datames to his side,]

 propinquum Paphlagonis:
[since he was a native of Paphlagonia:]

 namque ex fratre et sorore erant nati.
[by the same token, they were brothers from a marriage between a brother and a sister.]

 Quam ob causam Datames primum experiri voluit,
[For that reason, Datames, in the beginning, wanted to test]

ut sine armis propinquum ad officium reduceret.
[whether he could convince his kinsman to restore his former duty, without the use of arms.]

Ad quem cum venisset sine praesidio,
[And since he had come to this man with no bodyguard,]

quod ab amico nullas vereretur insidias, paene interiit:
[given that he did not fear any plots from a friend, he was almost assassinated:]

 nam Thuys eum clam interficere voluit.
[you see, Thuys secretly planned to kill him.]

Nepos, Cimon

Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)


 CORNELI NEPOTIS CIMON

[1] Cimon, Miltiadis filius, Atheniensis,
[Cimon was the son of Miltiades, an Athenians,]

 duro admodum initio usus est adulescentiae.
[From a very stern upbringing, he quickly became of use in his teenhood.]

 Nam cum pater eius litem aestimatam populo solvere non potuisset ob eamque causam in vinclis publicis decessisset,
[You see, when his father could not drop the lawsuit that was filed by his population, and account of this, was taken away in the chains of the state,]

 Cimon eadem custodia tenebatur
[Cimon was tended to by the very same custody,]

 neque legibus Atheniensium emitti poterat,
[and he could not be released from the legal constraints of the Athenians,]

 nisi pecuniam,
[without the use of money]

 qua pater multatus erat, solvisset.
[by which his father was fined, and so <Cimon> had paid.]

 2 Habebat autem matrimonio sororem germanam suam nomine Elpinicen,
[In any event, he married his twin sister, her name being Elpinices,]

 non magis amore quam more ductus.
[something done no more out of love than out of custom.]

 Namque Atheniensibus licet eodem patre natas uxores ducere.
[You see, it was allowed among the Athenians to take for men to take wives from daugthers from the same family.]

 3 Huius coniugii cupidus Callias quidam, non tam generosus quam pecuniosus, qui magnas pecunias ex metallis fecerat,
[A certain man named Callias, desirous of his wife, and not so much generous as he was manipulative with his money, and a man who had made an outstanding fortune from owning mines]

 egit cum Cimone,
[he made an agreement with Cimon,]

 ut eam sibi uxorem daret:
[that the latter would give his wife to him:]

 id si impetrasset,
[and that if he had performed his end of the bargain,]

se pro illo pecuniam soluturum.
[that the former would pay him money.]

 4 Is cum talem condicionem aspernaretur,
[As soon as he turn down such a proposal,]

 Elpinice negavit se passuram Miltiadis progeniem in vinclis publicis interire,
[he refused for Elpinice, the daughter of Miltiades, to perish in the chains of the state,]

 quoniam prohibere posset,
[as long as he could prevent it,]

 seque Calliae nupturam, si ea, quae polliceretur, praestitisset.
[and for her to be married to Callias, if she, who was bethroted, had stood forth.]

[2] Tali modo custodia liberatus Cimon celeriter ad principatum pervenit.
[Cimon, freed from custody through such a tactic, quickly reach the height of power.]

 Habebat enim satis eloquentiae, summam liberalitatem, magnam prudentiam cum iuris civilis tum rei militaris,
[You see, he had an adequate grasp of eloquence, the greatest generosity you've seen seen, tremendous good judgment not only in civil affairs but military ones,]

 quod cum patre a puero in exercitibus fuerat versatus.
[something which he had been well instructed from his childhood alongside his father in the ranks of the armies.]




 Itaque hic et populum urbanum in sua tenuit potestate
[And so, at this point, he held the city's population in his power,]

 et apud exercitum plurimum valuit auctoritate.
[and he gained even more to his authority among the ranks of the armies.]

2 Primum imperator apud flumen Strymona magnas copias Thracum fugavit,
[As his very first stint as the commander in chief, he put to flight tremendous masses of Thracians at the River Strymon,]

oppidum Amphipolim constituit
[and he founded the city of Amphipolis]

eoque X milia Atheniensium in coloniam misit.
[and there, he sent 10,000 Athenians to this colony.]

 Idem iterum apud Mycalen Cypriorum et Phoenicum ducentarum navium classem devictam cepit
[By the same token, he once again captured a fleet of 200 Cypriot and Phoenician ships, after they had been thoroughly beaten at Mycale,] 

 eodemque die pari fortuna in terra usus est:
[and he enjoyed the exact same fortune in his land campaign, on the very same day:]

3 namque hostium navibus captis statim ex classe copias suas eduxit
[By this account, he led his forces immediately from his fleet, after capturing the ships of the enemy,]

 barbarorumque maximam vim uno concursu prostravit.
[and he felled the greatest rush of barbarians with a single advance.]

4 Qua victoria magna praeda potitus cum domum reverteretur,
[And by this victory, he gained possession of a tremendous plunder, with which he returned home,]

 quod iam nonnullae insulae propter acerbitatem imperii defecerant,
[given that already several islands had previously defected from his side, on account of the severity of his reign,]

 bene animatas confirmavit,
[he smartly placated these men who had become enraged,]

 alienatas ad officium redire coegit.
[and he forced those who had been stripped of their position, to return to their office of duty.]

 5 Scyrum, quam eo tempore Dolopes incolebant, quod contumacius se gesserant, vacuefecit,
[He emptied out Scyros, which the Dolopians used to occupy at this time, given that they had conducted themselves rather arrogantly,]

sessores veteres urbe insulaque eiecit,
[and he exiled their previous rulers from their capital and their island,]

agros civibus divisit.
[and he divided their fields among the citizens there.]

Thasios opulentia fretos suo adventu fregit.
[Upon his arrival, he broke the resources of Thasos, which were opulent at the time.]

His ex manubiis arx Athenarum, qua ad meridiem vergit, est ornata.
[The citadel in Athens was then decorated with their plunder, which shines forth everyday at noon.] 


[3] Quibus rebus cum unus in civitate maxime floreret,
[By means of these affairs, since he alone began to enjoy success above all in the city,]

incidit in eandem invidiam, quam pater suus ceterique Atheniensium principes.
[he incurred the very same jealousy that his own father and the rest of the leading men in Athens had.]

 Nam testarum suffragiis, quod illi `ostrakismon' vocant, X annorum exsilio multatus est.
[You see, by the votes of potshards, which those men call an ostracism, he was sentenced to 10 years of exile.]

2 Cuius facti celerius Athenienses quam ipsum paenituit.
[But the Athenians came to regret this act more quickly than he himself.] 






 Nam cum ille animo forti invidiae ingratorum civium cessisset
[You see, when our protagonist had yield to the fierce anger of his ungrateful citizens,]

bellumque Lacedaemonii Atheniensibus indixissent,
[and the Spartans had already declared war on the Athenians,]

 confestim notae eius virtutis desiderium consecutum est.
[and speedily he followed his desire to make his courage known.]

 3 Itaque post annum quintum, quam expulsus erat, in patriam revocatus est.
[And so, after he had been expelled for five years, he was recalled back to his native country.]

 Ille, quod hospitio Lacedaemoniorum utebatur,
[Our protagonist, because he had once employed the good graces of the Spartans,]

 satius existimans contendere Lacedaemonem,
[think it more satisfying to go to Sparta,]

 sua sponte est profectus
[wen there on his own volition]

 pacemque inter duas potentissimas civitates conciliavit.
[and he drafted a peace treaty between these two most powerful city-states.]

4 Post, neque ita multo, Cyprum cum ducentis navibus imperator missus,
[Afterward, and not so much later, he was sent to Cyprus as the commander of 200 ships,]

cum eius maiorem partem insulae devicisset,
[after which he conquered most of this island,]

 in morbum implicitus in oppido Citio est mortuus.
[but stricken with plague, he died in the city of Citium.] 




[4] Hunc Athenienses non solum in bello,
sed etiam in pace diu desideraverunt.
[For a long time, the Athenians not only longed for him in time of war, but even in times peace.]

 Fuit enim tanta liberalitate,
[You see, he had such tremendous generosity,]

 cum compluribus locis praedia hortosque haberet,
[when he used to own the mansions and gardens in so many different places,]

 ut numquam in eis custodem imposuerit fructus servandi gratia,
[such that he never assigned him guard to watch over the fruit that grew in them,]

 ne quis impediretur,
[nor would anyone be disallowed]

 quo minus eius rebus, quibus quisque vellet, frueretur.
[to enjoy any less his possessions, should anyone be so yearning.]