Humanitext Reader

Plutarch · Life of Cimon §3.1-3.3

Comparison and Parallels between Cimon and Lucullus

Passage 3 of 19 · Greek

Summary

The author argues that Lucullus is worthy of comparison with Cimon, highlighting their shared military prowess, moderate political stances, incomplete military campaigns, and generous lifestyles.

§3.1ὁ δʼ οὖν Λούκουλλος ἐδόκει σκοποῦσιν ἡμῖν τῷ Κίμωνι παραβλητέος εἶναι.
Therefore, to us who consider the matter, Lucullus seems worthy of comparison with Cimon.
πολεμικοὶ γὰρ ἀμφότεροι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους λαμπροί, πρᾷοι δὲ τὰ πολιτικὰ καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἐμφυλίων στάσεων ἀναπνοὴν ταῖς πατρίσι παρασχόντες, ἕκαστος δέ τις αὐτῶν στήσαντες τρόπαια καὶ νίκας ἀνελόμενοι περιβοήτους.
For both were warlike and illustrious against the barbarians, mild in political affairs, and especially provided their homelands with a breathing space from civil strifes; and each of them set up trophies and won famous victories.
§3.2οὔτε γὰρ Ἑλλήνων Κίμωνος οὔτε Ῥωμαίων Λουκούλλου πρότερος οὐδεὶς οὕτω μακρὰν πολεμῶν προῆλθεν, ἔξω λόγου τιθεμένων τῶν καθʼ Ἡρακλέα καὶ Διόνυσον, εἴ τέ τι Περσέως πρὸς Αἰθίοπας ἢ Μήδους καὶ Ἀρμενίους ἢ Ἰάσονος ἔργον ἀξιόπιστον ἐκ τῶν τότε χρόνων μνήμῃ φερόμενον εἰς τοὺς νῦν ἀφῖκται.
For no one either of the Greeks before Cimon, or of the Romans before Lucullus, advanced so far in waging war, if we leave out of account the legends of Heracles and Dionysus, and any credible deed of Perseus against the Ethiopians or Medes and Armenians, or of Jason, which has come down to the present time, preserved by memory from those ancient times.
§3.3κοινὸν δέ πως αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ ἀτελὲς γέγονε τῆς στρατηγίας, ἑκατέρου μὲν συντρίψαντος, οὐδετέρου δὲ καταλύσαντος τὸν ἀνταγωνιστήν.
In a certain way, the incompleteness of their generalship was also common to them, for each of them shattered, but neither of them utterly destroyed, his antagonist.
μάλιστα δʼ ἡ περὶ τὰς ὑποδοχὰς καὶ τὰς φιλανθρωπίας ταύτας ὑγρότης καὶ δαψίλεια καὶ τὸ νεαρὸν καὶ ἀνειμένον ἐν τῇ διαίτῃ παραπλήσιον ἐπʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἰδεῖν ὑπάρχει.
But above all, a similarity in both is to be seen in the lavishness and abundance of their entertainments and philanthropies, and in the youthful and relaxed character of their way of living.
παραλείπομεν δʼ ἴσως καὶ ἄλλας τινὰς ὁμοιότητας, ἃς οὐ χαλεπὸν ἐκ τῆς διηγήσεως αὐτῆς συναγαγεῖν.
And we are perhaps omitting some other resemblances, which it is not difficult to gather from the narrative itself.

Notes

  1. 3.1ἕκαστος δέ τις αὐτῶν στήσαντες — Although the subject ἕκαστος is singular, the participles στήσαντες and ἀνελόμενοι are plural. This is a typical example of constructio ad sensum (synesis), where agreement is made with the plural sense (both of them) rather than the grammatical form.
  2. 3.2ἔξω λόγου τιθεμένων — A genitive absolute construction with the present passive participle τιθεμένων, expressing a condition of exclusion: 'if those things are left out of account / excluded'.
  3. 3.3ἑκατέρου μὲν συντρίψαντος — A genitive absolute construction with ἑκατέρου μὲν συντρίψαντος and οὐδετέρου δὲ καταλύσαντος set in contrast, explaining the actions of subjects ('each', 'neither') different from the main subject (τὸ ἀτελὲς τῆς στρατηγίας).

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Cimon §3.1-3.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg035.humanitext-grc2:3.1-3.3

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