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Cornelius Nepos · Cimon §4.1-4.4

Cimon's Extraordinary Liberality and Care for the Poor

Passage 4 of 4 · Latin

Summary

On Cimon's extraordinary liberality and generosity. He kept no guards on his estates, aided the needy, and paid for the funerals of the poor from his own resources.

§4.1Hunc Athenienses non solum in bello, sed etiam in pace diu desideraverunt.
The Athenians longed for him for a long time not only in war, but also in peace.
fuit enim tanta liberalitate, cum compluribus locis praedia hortosque haberet, ut numquam in eis custodem posuerit fructus servandi gratia, ne quis impediretur, quominus eis rebus quibus quisque vellet frueretur. §4.2semper eum pedisequi cum nummis sunt secuti, ut, si quis opis eius indigeret, haberet quod statim daret, ne differendo videretur negare.
For he was of such great liberality, although he had estates and gardens in several places, that he never placed a guard in them for the sake of preserving the fruits, lest anyone should be hindered from enjoying those things which each one wished. Attendants with money always followed him, so that, if anyone should stand in need of his assistance, he might have something to give immediately, lest by delaying he should seem to refuse.
saepe, cum aliquem offensum fortunae videret minus bene vestitum, suum amiculum dedit. §4.3cottidie sic cena ei coquebatur, ut, quos invocatos vidisset in foro, omnes ad se vocaret, quod facere nullo die praetermittebat.
Often, when he saw someone who had suffered a blow of fortune and was poorly dressed, he gave him his own cloak. Every day a dinner was cooked for him in such a way that, whomsoever he saw uninvited in the forum, he invited them all to his house, which he never omitted to do on any day.
nulli fides eius, nulli opera, nulli res familiaris defuit: multos locupletavit, complures pauperes, qui unde efferrentur non reliquissent, suo sumptu extulit. §4.4sic se gerendo minime est mirandum, si et vita eius fuit secura et mors acerba.
To no one was his loyalty, to no one his help, to no one his private property lacking; he enriched many, and many poor people, who had not left behind the means by which they might be buried, he buried at his own expense. By behaving in this way, it is not at all to be wondered at if both his life was peaceful and his death was bitter.

Notes

  1. §4.1fuit... tanta liberalitate — Ablative of quality (or description), used predicatively with the verb "fuit" to describe the subject's character.
  2. §4.1fructus servandi gratia — Gerundive construction. "servandi" is a gerundive agreeing with "fructus", and the genitive phrase combined with "gratia" expresses purpose ("for the sake of...").
  3. §4.1quominus eis rebus... frueretur — A subjunctive clause introduced by "quominus" after the passive verb of hindering "impediretur", within which the deponent verb "frueretur" governs the ablative "eis rebus" (fruor + ablative).
  4. §4.2opis eius indigeret — The verb "indigeo" (to need, stand in need of), like other verbs of lacking, governs either the genitive or the ablative; here it takes the genitive "opis".
  5. §4.2offensum fortunae — "offensum" is the perfect passive participle of "offendo" (to strike, damage), and "fortunae" is a dative of agent (or genitive), meaning "one who has suffered a blow of fortune."
  6. §4.3qui unde efferrentur non reliquissent — The relative clause "qui..." takes the subjunctive of characteristic (reliquissent). Within it, "unde" is a relative adverb meaning "with which / from which (means)", and "efferrentur" is the passive subjunctive of "effero" (literally "to carry out for burial").

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Cimon §4.1-4.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo005.humanitext-lat2:4.1-4.4

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