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.]
