Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)
CORNELI NEPOTIS HAMILCAR
[1] HAMILCAR, Hannibalis filius, cognomine Barca, Carthaginiensis, primo Poenico bello,
[Hamilcar, the son of Hannibal <the Elder>, and nicknamed Barca, was a Carthaginian, in the first Punic War,]
sed temporibus extremis, admodum adulescentulus in Sicilia praeesse coepit exercitui.
[but in the very end of his life, he began, even as a very young man, to excel greatly in his deeds in Sicily.]
2 Cum ante eius adventum et mari et terra male res gererentur Carthaginiensium,
[Since, before his arrival, the affairs of the Carthaginians were going badly both on sea and land,]
ipse, ubi adfuit, numquam hosti cessit
[he himself, when he arrived, never backed down from the enemy]
neque locum nocendi dedit
[nor did he gave them any disadvantage]
saepeque e contrario occasione data lacessivit
[and often he toiled with the situation he was given, even from a hostile predicament,]
semperque superior discessit.
[and he always left the superior.]
Quo facto, cum paene omnia in Sicilia Poeni amisissent,
[After this fact, when barely the Carthaginians abandoned all their assets in Sicily,]
ille Erycem sic defendit,
[and he thusly held the Eryces,]
ut bellum eo loco gestum non videretur.
[even when the war did not seem to be waged in this location.]
3 Interim Carthaginienses classe apud insulas Aegatis a C. Lutatio, consule Romanorum,
superati statuerunt belli facere
[In the meantime, the Carthaginians, once they had been defeated by Gaius Lutatius, the consul of Rome, on the islands of Aegate, decided to be done with the war,]
finem eamque rem arbitrio permiserunt Hamilcaris.
[and by Hamilcar's advice, they attempted to put this affair to end.]
Ille etsi flagrabat bellandi cupiditate,
[Even though the man of topic was burning with a desire to continue fighting,]
tamen paci serviundum putavit,
[he still thought that he could safeguard peace,]
quod patriam, exhaustam sumptibus, diutius calamitates belli ferre non posse intellegebat,
[something which he through his country, now exhausted of its resources, could no long endure the calamities of the war,]
4 sed ita, ut statim mente agitaret,
[but so it happened that he could immediately stir it up in his mind,]
si paulum modo res essent refectae,
[if only to a small extent their affairs could be mended,]
bellum renovare Romanosque armis persequi,
[to renew the state of war, and pursue the wars in arms,]
donicum aut virtute vicissent aut victi manus dedissent
[until such point that they could either prevail by their courage, or once defeated, they could surrender their arms.]
5 Hoc consilio pacem conciliavit;
[he settled a peace accord with this intention;]
in quo tanta fuit ferocia,
[at which point, there was so much fierceness,]
cum Catulus negaret bellum compositurum,
[since Catulus refused to let the war be brought to an end,]
nisi ille cum suis, qui Erycem tenuerunt, armis relictis Sicilia decederent,
[unless <Hamilcar>, who held currently occupied Eryces, left Sicily and abandoned his military operations,]
ut succumbente patria ipse periturum se potius dixerit,
[and it resulted that he said that he could rather die himself, while his nation faded away,]
quam cum tanto flagitio domum rediret.
[than return home in a such a state of disgrace.]
Non enim suae esse virtutis arma a patria accepta adversus hostis adversariis tradere.
[You see, he would not turn over the arms of his courage, that he had received from his nation, to any opposing enemies.]
Huius pertinaciae cessit Catulus.
[Catulus then yielded to his steadfastness.]
[2] At ille ut Carthaginem venit, multo aliter, ac sperarat, rem publicam se habentem cognovit.
[But, he, as soon he arrived in Carthage, and he was hoping so all along, learned otherwise that his nation was opposed to the deal.]
Namque diuturnitate externi mali tantum exarsit intestinum bellum,
[For which matter, such a deadly war against an external menace raged on a daily basis,]
ut numquam in pari periculo fuerit Carthago, nisi cum deleta est.
[that Carthage would never be put in any similar position of danger, until such time that it was completely destroyed.]
2 Primo mercennarii milites, qui adversus Romanos fuerant, desciverunt;
[In the beginning, mercenary soldiers, who had previously opposed the Romans, joined up;]
quorum numerus erat XX milium.
[they numbered 20,000 in total.]
Hi totam abalienarunt Africam, ipsam Carthaginem oppugnarunt.
[These men abandoned Africa's side, and they besieged the very city of Carthage.]
3 Quibus malis adeo sunt Poeni perterriti,
[And the Carthaginians were so utterly terrified by these misfortunes,]
ut etiam auxilia ab Romanis petierint eaque impetrarint.
[that they sought and gained aid even from the Romans.]
Sed extremo, cum prope iam ad desperationem pervenissent,
[But in the end, when they had nearly now reached a point of desperation,]
Hamilcarem imperatorem fecerunt.
[they made Hamilcar their commander.]
4 Is non solum hostis a muris Carthaginis removit,
[He not only moved the enemy back from the walls of Carthage,]
cum amplius C milia facta essent armatorum,
[even he had drafted more than 100,000 armed men,]
sed etiam eo compulit,
[but he even pushed them all to such a point,]
ut locorum angustiis clausi plures fame quam ferro interirent.
[that the majority of them, now trapped by the narrowness of their positions, ended up dying from starvation than by the sword.]
Omnia oppida abalienata, in his Uticam atque Hipponem, valentissima totius Africae, restituit patriae.
[He restored all the cities that had previously broken off, including Utica and Hippo among these, which were the strongest ones in all of Africa.]
5 Neque eo fuit contentus,
[And he was not content at that point,]
sed etiam finis imperii propagavit,
[but instead he expanded the boundaries of his empire,]
tota Africa tantum otium reddidit,
[and he returned such a great time of peace in the entirety of Africa,]
ut nullum in ea bellum videretur multis annis fuisse.
[such that no war seemed like it would come to pass in this region for many years.]
[3] Rebus his ex sententia peractis,
[When these affairs were settled according to his demands,]
fidenti animo atque infesto Romanis,
[with a consistent and dangerously hostile attitude towards the Romans,]
quo facilius causam bellandi reperiret,
[with which he could all the more easily rediscover a cause for war,]
effecit, ut imperator cum exercitu in Hispaniam mitteretur,
[he made sure that he was the lead commander to be sent to Spain with the army,]
eoque secum duxit filium Hannibalem annorum novem.
[and he took his son Hannibal there with him, who was nine years old.]
2 Erat praeterea cum eo adulescens illustris, formosus, Hasdrubal;
[On top of that, there was Hasdrubal at his side, an illustrious, handsome young man;]
quem nonnulli diligi turpius, quam par erat, ab Hamilcare loquebantur.
[whom a great deal of people used to say was never favored by Hamilcar, because he was a potential rival.]
Non enim maledici tanto viro deesse poterant.
[You see, no men of an ill tongue could miss out on the opportunity of envying such a great man.]
Quo factum est, ut a praefecto morum Hasdrubal cum eo vetaretur esse.
[So afterward, it turned out that Hasdrubal was stopped by one of their prefects from accompanying him.]
Huic ille filiam suam in matrimonium dedit,
[Our protagonist give his daughter to the fellow in matrimony,]
quod moribus eorum non poterat interdici socero genero.
[because, by their customs, a marriage alliance between father-in-law and son-in-law was not restricted by law.]
3 De hoc ideo mentionem fecimus,
[So far, I've already made mention of the fact]
quod Hamilcare occiso ille exercitui praefuit
[that, when Hamilcar died, the other took command of the military forces]
resque magnas gessit
[and accomplished tremendous feats]
et princeps largitione vetustos pervertit mores Carthaginiensium
[and, as commander, he overturned the time-honored traditions of the Carthiginians with his largesses,]
eiusdemque post mortem Hannibal ab exercitu accepit imperium.
[and after the death of this same fellow, Hannibal receive supreme command over the army.]
[4] At Hamilcar posteaquam mare transiit in Hispaniamque venit,
[But in the meantime, Hamilcar crossed over the sea, and arrived in Spain,]
magnas res secunda gessit fortuna;
[and he accomplished great successes and good fortune.]
maximas bellicosissimasque gentes subegit;
[he put down some of the most war-frenized nations there were;]
equis, armis, viris, pecunia totam locupletavit Africam.
[he enriched Africa with horses, weapons, slaves, and money.]
2 Hic cum in Italiam bellum inferre meditaretur, nono anno,
[At that point, while he was contemplating carrying out a campaign into Italy, in its ninth year,]
postquam in Hispaniam venerat,
[since he had arrived in Spain,]
in proelio pugnans adversus Vettones occisus est.
[he fell dead in battle fighting against the Vettones.]
3 Huius perpetuum odium erga Romanos maxime concitasse videtur secundum bellum Poenicum.
[His undying hatred towards the Romans seems most of all to have been the catalyst for the Second Punic War.]
Namque Hannibal, filius eius, assiduis patris obtestationibus eo est perductus,
[On that account, Hannibal, his son, was thoroughly inspired to this goal, after having to constantly swear to his father,]
ut interire quam Romanos non experiri mallet.
[that he would rather die than not attack the Romans head-on.]
