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Plutarch · Life of Sertorius §2.1

Sertorius's Origins, Filial Piety, and Early Ambition

Passage 2 of 27 · Greek

Summary

The passage describes Sertorius's noble origin in the Sabine territory, his deep devotion to his mother Rhea, his early training in public speaking, and the shift of his ambition toward military affairs.

§2.1Κοΐντῳ Σερτωρίῳ γένος ἦν οὐκ ἀσημότατον ἐν πόλει Νούρσοις τῆς Σαβίνων τραφεὶς δὲ κοσμίως ὑπὸ μητρὶ χήρᾳ πατρὸς ὀρφανός ὑπερφυῶς δοκεῖ φιλομήτωρ γενέσθαι, ὄνομα τῆς μητρὸς Ῥέαν λέγουσιν.
Quintus Sertorius belonged to a family that was not undistinguished in the city of Nursia in the Sabine territory. Having been brought up decorously by his widowed mother, being orphaned of his father, he seems to have been extraordinarily devoted to his mother; they say the name of his mother was Rhea.
ἤσκητο μὲν οὖν καί περὶ δίκας ἱκανῶς, καί τινα καί δύναμιν ἐν τῇ πόλει μειράκιον ὢν ἀπὸ τοῦ λέγειν ἔσχεν αἱ δὲ περὶ τὰ στρατιωτικὰ λαμπρότητες αὐτοῦ καί κατορθώσεις ἐνταῦθα τὴν φιλοτιμίαν μετέστησαν.
Now he had been sufficiently trained also in pleading law-cases, and while still a youth obtained some influence in the city from his speaking; but his brilliant achievements and successes in military affairs transferred his ambition thither.

Notes

  1. p.6ὑπὸ μητρὶ — While the agent of a passive verb is regularly expressed by ὑπό with the genitive, here ὑπό with the dative (ὑπὸ μητρὶ) is used. This is a poetic or later Greek usage (common in Plutarch), conveying either the agent or a circumstantial/locative nuance ('under the care of his mother').
  2. p.6πατρὸς ὀρφανός — The adjective ὀρφανός (bereft of, orphaned) governs the ablatival genitive of separation/deprivation (πατρὸς), meaning 'orphaned of his father' or 'fatherless'.
  3. p.aris.1624.569ἀπό τοῦ λέγειν — A prepositional phrase consisting of ἀπό and the articular infinitive in the genitive (τοῦ λέγειν). It expresses the means or cause, meaning 'from his speaking' or 'by virtue of his eloquence'.
  4. p.aris.1624.569ἐνταῦθα τὴν φιλοτιμίαν μετέστησαν — The verb μετέστησαν is the weak (transitive) third-person plural aorist of μεθίστημι (to transfer, shift), indicating that his achievements and successes (the subject) transferred his ambition (τὴν φιλοτιμίαν) thither (ἐνταῦθα, referring to military affairs), rather than the strong (intransitive) aorist meaning 'they shifted'.

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Sertorius §2.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg042.humanitext-grc2:2.1

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