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Cornelius Nepos · Lysander §1.1-1.5

Lysander's Victory over Athens and the Decarchies

Passage 1 of 4 · Latin

Summary

Explains how the Spartan general Lysander ended the war against Athens and describes his establishment of tyrannical power through decarchies in various cities after his victory.

§1.1Lysander Lacedaemonius magnam reliquit sui famam, magis felicitate quam virtute partam: Athenienses enim adversus Peloponnesios bellum gerentes §1.2sexto et vicesimo anno confecisse apparet, neque id qua ratione consecutus sit latet: non enim virtute sui exercitus, sed immodestia factum est adversariorum, qui, quod dicto audientes imperatoribus suis non erant, dispalati in agris relictis navibus in hostium venerunt potestatem.
Lysander the Lacedaemonian left a great reputation of himself, won more by good fortune than by merit: for it is clear that the Athenians, while waging war against the Peloponnesians, brought it to an end in the twenty-sixth year, nor is it a secret by what method he achieved this: for it was brought about not by the valor of his own army, but by the lack of discipline of his opponents, who, because they were not obedient to their generals, scattered in the fields, leaving their ships, and fell into the power of the enemy.
quo facto Athenienses se Lacedaemoniis dediderunt.
When this was done, the Athenians surrendered themselves to the Lacedaemonians.
§1.3hac victoria Lysander elatus, cum antea semper factiosus audaxque fuisset, sic sibi indulsit, ut eius opera in maximum odium Graeciae Lacedaemonii pervenerint.
Lysander, puffed up by this victory, although he had always been factious and daring before, so indulged himself that through his doing the Lacedaemonians fell into the greatest hatred of Greece.
§1.4nam cum hanc causam Lacedaemonii dictitassent sibi esse belli, ut Atheniensium impotentem dominationem refringerent, postquam apud Aegos flumen Lysander classis hostium est potitus, nihil aliud molitus est quam ut omnes civitates in sua teneret potestate, cum id se Lacedaemoniorum causa facere simularet.
For although the Lacedaemonians had repeatedly declared that their reason for war was to break the oppressive domination of the Athenians, after Lysander captured the enemy's fleet at the Goat's River, he aimed at nothing else than to keep all the states under his own power, while pretending that he was doing this for the sake of the Lacedaemonians.
§1.5namque undique, qui Atheniensium rebus studuissent, eiectis decem delegerat in una quaque civitate, quibus summum imperium potestatemque omnium rerum committeret.
For, having expelled from everywhere those who had favored the cause of the Athenians, he had selected ten men in each state to whom he might commit the supreme command and the control of all affairs.
horum in numerum nemo admittebatur, nisi qui aut eius hospitio contineretur aut se illius fore proprium fide confirmarat.
Into the number of these no one was admitted except those who were either bound to him by guest-friendship or had confirmed by oath that they would be his own.

Notes

  1. 1.1sui famam — The genitive pronoun "sui" is used as an objective genitive modifying "famam" (reputation of/for himself).
  2. 1.2Athenienses ... confecisse apparet — The accusative and infinitive clause "Athenienses ... confecisse" functions as the subject of the impersonal verb "apparet" (it is clear).
  3. 1.2dicto audientes — An idiomatic expression meaning "obedient" (literally "hearing the word"), which governs the dative "imperatoribus suis".
  4. 1.5se illius fore proprium — An accusative with infinitive clause with "fore" (future infinitive) where "se" is the subject and "proprium" is the predicate adjective, governing the genitive "illius" (to be his own/completely devoted to him).

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Lysander §1.1-1.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo006.humanitext-lat2:1.1-1.5

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