Cornelius Nepos
100-24 BCE
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)
CORNELI NEPOTIS PHOCION
[1] PHOCION Atheniensis etsi saepe exercitibus praefuit
[Phocion, the Athenian, indeed often lead military forces]
summosque magistratus cepit,
[and he held the most important positions of power,]
tamen multo eius notior integritas vitae quam rei militaris labor.
[and yet the wholeness of his life was much more known than the toil of his military expertise.]
Itaque huius memoria est nulla,
[And so, there is no record of this man,]
illius autem magna fama,
[and yet, this man's fame is great,]
ex quo cognomine Bonus est appellatus.
[for which, he was given the official title "the Good."]
2 Fuit enim perpetuo pauper,
[You see, he was perpetually poor,]
cum divitissimus esse posset propter frequentis delatos honores potestatesque summas,
[even though he could be the richest man of all, on account of his positions of powers that were passed down frequently, on top of the most supreme powers,]
quae ei a populo dabantur.
[that is, those that were bequeathed to him by the people.]
3 Hic cum a rege Philippo munera magnae pecuniae repudiaret
[This man, when he refused gifts of large sums of money from King Philip,]
legatique hortarentur accipere simulque admonerent,
[and the ambassadors were urging him to accept, and at the same time, warning him to do so,]
si ipse his facile careret,
[unless he, for his part, miss out on these things,]
liberis tamen suis prospiceret,
[still he could give prosperity to his children,]
quibus difficile esset in summa paupertate tantam paternam tueri gloriam,
[to whom was difficult to look upon such a tremendous deal of glory, in the greatest condition of poverty,]
4 his ille `Si mei similes erunt, idem hic' inquit
[to these men, he said the following, "If my children are destined to be like me, so they will be likewise,"]
`agellus illos alet, qui me ad hanc dignitatem perduxit;
["Let only a little lamb feed them, the very one that sustained me for this position of dignity;]
sin dissimiles sunt futuri,
[if these boys should not be unlike me in the future,]
nolo meis impensis illorum ali augerique luxuriam.'
[I wish not to nourish these boys with my endeavors, nor for my luxury to increase.']
[2] Idem cum prope ad annum octogesimum prospera pervenisset fortuna,
[Likewise, when his prosperous fortune had reached his eightieth year,]
extremis temporibus magnum in odium pervenit suorum civium,
[but at the very end of his life, he incurred tremendous wrath from his own citizens,]
2 primo quod cum Demade de urbe tradenda Antipatro consenserat
[Firstly because when he, alongside Demades, had agreed to Antipater to betray his city,]
eiusque consilio Demosthenes cum ceteris, qui bene de re publica meriti existimabantur,
[and by the counsel of Demosthenes, alongside other men who were esteemed to be well-deserving of directing the commonwealth,]
populi scito in exsilium erant expulsi.
[they were cast out into exile by the decree of the people.]
Neque in eo solum offenderat,
[He had not only caused offense at the moment,]
quod patriae male consuluerat,
[in that he had given ill advice to his nation,]
sed etiam quod amicitiae fidem non praestiterat.
[but also because he had not abandoned that loyalty of his associations.]
3 Namque auctus adiutusque a Demosthene eum, quem tenebat, ascenderat gradum,
[By which account, once he was aided and abetted by Demostenes, he had already taken this very step that he was holding,]
cum adversus Charetem eum subornaret;
[when he was supporting him against Charetes.]
ab eodem in iudiciis, cum capitis causam diceret,
[By the very same time, in the court of law, he began to plead the case for his life,]
defensus aliquotiens, liberatus discesserat.
[being so often defended, that he ended up leaving acquitted.]
Hunc non solum in periculis non defendit, sed etiam prodidit.
[Not only did he not defend this man in times of danger, but he betrayed him.]
4 Concidit autem maxime uno crimine,
[And yet, he fell in the end most of all to a single crime,]
quod, cum apud eum summum esset imperium populi et Nicanorem,
[that is, when he and Nicanor gained supreme power over the people,]
Cassandri praefectum, insidiari Piraeo Atheniensium a Dercylo moneretur idemque postularet,
[he both advised and demanded that the prefect of Cassander be ambushed in the Piraeus of Athenians by Dercylos,]
ut provideret, ne commeatibus civitas privaretur,
[as he foresaw it, lest his city be robbed by deputations,]
huic audiente populo Phocion negavit esse periculum
[to him, while the people took audience, Phocion denied there to be any danger,]
seque eius rei obsidem fore pollicitus est.
[and promised that a hostage would be attained from the incident.]
5 Neque ita multo post Nicanor Piraeo est potitus,
[Nor thusly did Nicanor enjoy command over the Piraeus much after,]
sine quo Athenae omnino esse non possunt.
[without whom Athens was not able to exist in any way possible.]
Ad quem recuperandum cum populus armatus concurrisset,
[To which man, as soon as he was desired again, when the armed public began to run around]
ille non modo neminem ad arma vocavit,
[he not only did not call a single man to arms,]
sed ne armatis quidem praeesse voluit.
[but because he truly did not wish to go ahead of men who were armed.]
[3] Erant eo tempore Athenis duae factiones, quarum una populi causam agebat, altera optimatium.
[At that very same period of time, there were two factions in Athens, the first of whose members acted for the sake of the public, the second for the sake of the oligarchy.]
In hac erat Phocion et Demetrius Phalereus.
[In this former part, there was Phocion and Demetrius of Phalera.]
Harum utraque Macedonum patrociniis utebatur.
[Both of these men took advantage of resources from the Macedonians.]
Nam populares Polyperchonti favebant,
[You see, the popular faction favored a man named Polyperchontes,]
optimates cum Cassandro sentiebant.
[while the aristocratic parties began to agree with Cassander.]
2 Interim a Polyperchonte Cassandrus Macedonia pulsus est.
[In the meantime, Cassander was driven out of Macedonia by Polyperchontes.]
Quo facto populus superior factus statim duces adversariae factionis capitis damnatos patria propulit,
[After this event, the people, immediately becoming more hubristic, cast the leaders of the opposing faction from their nation, as they were now condemned men,]
in his Phocionem et Demetrium Phalereum,
[and in their ranks, were Phocion, and Demetrius of Phaleros,]
deque ea re legatos ad Polyperchontem misit,
[and in response to the matter, he sent ambassadors to Polyperchontes,]
qui ab eo peterent, ut sua decreta confirmaret.
[who then requested that he make his declarations official.]
3 Huc eodem profectus est Phocion.
[So Phocion went forth from this very point in his life.]
Quo ut venit, causam:
[To which point he came: a lawsuit.]
apud Philippum regem verbo,
re ipsa quidem apud Polyperchontem iussus est dicere:
[he was ordered to give a speech in the presence of Philip, and in fact, in Polyperchontes' presence too, when it comes to the matter;]
namque is tum regis rebus praeerat.
[By this token, it was he who had directed the king's affairs at that point in time.]
4 Hic ab Agnone accusatus,
[He was then accused in court by Agnon,]
quod Piraeum Nicanori prodidisset,
[on a charge that he had betrayed the Piraeus to Nicanor,]
ex consilii sententia in custodiam coniectus,
[and by the judgment of the judicial council, he was put into custody,]
Athenas deductus est,
[and was brought down to Athens,]
ut ibi de eo legibus fieret iudicium.
[so that he could be tried in accordance to laws there.]
[4] Huc ut perventum est,
[So it came to this point,]
cum propter aetatem pedibus iam non valeret
[that while he was no longer strong enough to walk on foot, on account of his old age,]
vehiculoque portaretur,
[he began to carted around in a vehicle of sorts,]
magni concursus sunt facti,
[and his goings to and fro were became great affairs,]
cum alii, reminiscentes veteris famae,
[while some people, remembering his old fame,]
aetatis misererentur,
[began to take pity upon his old age,]
plurimi vero ira exacuerentur
[while a great deal of people, in fact, were incensed by great anger,]
propter proditionis suspicionem
[on account of their suspicion they had of his betrayal]
Piraei maximeque,
[and most of all concerning the Piraeus,]
quod adversus populi commoda in senectute steterat.
[given that, even in his old age, he had stood against the reforms of the people.]
2 Quare ne perorandi quidem ei data est facultas et dicendi causam.
[So on the account, it was not a simple affair between a man wanting to pray for his sake, and one wanting to take him to court.]
Inde iudicio legitimis quibusdam confectis damnatus, traditus est undecimviris,
[From there, he was found guilty in the court of law by the certain accusations that had esteemed legitimate, and he was handed over to the panel of the Eleven]
quibus ad supplicium more Atheniensium publice damnati tradi solent.
[to whom men condemned in public were accustomed to be assigned, according to the tradition by which the Athenians carried out their punishments.]
3 Hic cum ad mortem duceretur,
[At that point, as he was being led to his execution,]
obvius ei fuit Euphiletus,
[Euphiletus happened to chance by him along the way,]
quo familiariter fuerat usus.
[being a man whom he had once grown familiarly acquainted with.]
Is cum lacrimans dixisset
[When this man, as he wept, had blurted out,]
`O quam indigna perpeteris, Phocion!'
["O Phocion, how undeserved are these things you now suffer!"]
huic ille `At non inopinata' inquit:
[the other said back to him: "Yes, but not unexpected,]
`hunc enim exitum plerique clari viri habuerunt Athenienses'.
[you see, most Athenian men, who have made a name for themselves have shared this very same end."]
4 In hoc tantum feit odium multitudinis,
[At this point, the disgust of the crowd became so great,]
ut nemo ausus sit eum liber sepelire.
[that not a single free-born man dared to bury him.]
Itaque a servis sepultus est.
[And so, he was buried by slaves.]
