Humanitext Reader

Cornelius Nepos · Pausanias §2.1-2.6

Intrigue with Xerxes and Recall to Sparta

Passage 2 of 5 · Latin

Summary

Pausanias, after taking Byzantium, secretly releases the Persian king's relatives and sends a treacherous letter to Xerxes, but his ambitious behavior arouses suspicion in Sparta, leading to his recall.

§2.1Post id proelium eundem Pausaniam cum classe communi Cyprum atque Hellespontum miserunt, ut ex iis regionibus barbarorum praesidia depelleret.
After this battle they sent the same Pausanias with the allied fleet to Cyprus and the Hellespont, to drive out the garrisons of the barbarians from those regions.
§2.2pari felicitate in ea re usus elatius se gerere coepit maioresque appetere res.
having met with equal success in that matter, he began to conduct himself more loftily and to aim at greater things.
nam cum Byzantio expugnato cepisset complures Persarum nobiles atque in eis nonnullos regis propinquos, hos clam Xerxi remisit, simulans ex vinclis publicis effugisse, et cum iis Gongylum Eretriensem, qui litteras regi redderet, in quibus haec fuisse scripta Thucydides memoriae prodidit: §2.3'Pausanias, dux Spartae, quos Byzantii ceperat, postquam propinquos tuos cognovit, tibi muneri misit seque tecum affinitate coniungi cupit: quare, si tibi videtur, des ei filiam tuam nuptum.
For when, after storming Byzantium, he had captured many Persian nobles and among them several relatives of the king, he secretly sent them back to Xerxes, pretending that they had escaped from the public prison, and with them he sent Gongylus of Eretria, to deliver a letter to the king, in which Thucydides has recorded that the following was written: 'Pausanias, general of Sparta, whom he had captured at Byzantium, after he recognized your relatives, has sent them to you as a gift, and desires to be joined to you in marriage; therefore, if it seems good to you, give him your daughter to wife.
§2.4id si feceris, et Spartam et ceteram Graeciam sub tuam potestatem se adiuvante te redacturum pollicetur.
If you do this, he promises that, with your help, he will bring both Sparta and the rest of Greece under your power.
his de rebus si quid agere volueris, certum hominem ad eum mittas face, cum quo colloquatur. ' §2.5rex tot hominum salute tam sibi necessariorum magno opere gavisus confestim cum epistula Artabazum ad Pausaniam mittit in qua eum collaudat ac petit, ne cui rei parcat ad ea efficienda, quae polliceretur: si perfecerit, nullius rei a se repulsam laturum.
If you wish to do anything about these matters, see to it that you send a reliable man to him, with whom he may confer.' The king, greatly rejoicing at the safety of so many men who were so closely connected to him, immediately sent Artabazus with a letter to Pausanias, in which he praised him and requested that he spare no resource to accomplish those things which he promised; if he performed them, he would meet with no refusal from him in any matter.
§2.6huius Pausanias voluntate cognita alacrior ad rem gerendam factus in suspicionem cecidit Lacedaemoniorum.
Pausanias, having learned his intention, became more eager to carry out the business, and fell under the suspicion of the Lacedaemonians.
quo facto domum revocatus, accusatus capitis absolvitur, multatur tamen pecunia, quam ob causam ad classem remissus non est.
On this account being recalled home, though accused of a capital crime he was acquitted, yet he was fined a sum of money, for which reason he was not sent back to the fleet.

Notes

  1. 2.2qui litteras regi redderet — The relative pronoun qui with the subjunctive redderet forms a relative clause of purpose ('in order to deliver the letter').
  2. 2.3tibi muneri misit — A double dative construction, combining tibi (dative of reference/interest, 'to you') and muneri (dative of purpose, 'as a gift').
  3. 2.3nuptum — The accusative supine of the intransitive verb nubo (to marry, wed), expressing purpose after the verb of giving (des) and meaning 'to be married' or 'as a wife'.
  4. 2.4mittas face — The form face is an archaic or alternative form of fac (present imperative of facio). The subjunctive mittas acts as an object clause to face, with the conjunction ut omitted (equivalent to fac ut mittas, 'make sure that you send').
  5. 2.6accusatus capitis — The genitive capitis is a genitive of charge or penalty, used with the passive participle accusatus to mean 'accused of a capital crime' (literally, 'accused of the head/life').

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Pausanias §2.1-2.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo004.humanitext-lat2:2.1-2.6

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.