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Cornelius Nepos · Alcibiades §9.1-9.5

Flight to Pharnabazus and Plans with the Persian King

Passage 9 of 11 · Latin

Summary

After the defeat of Athens, Alcibiades hides in Thrace but is attacked; he then flees to Pharnabazus in Persia and wins his favor. He plans to win the support of the Persian king to liberate his fatherland.

§9.1At Alcibiades, victis Atheniensibus non satis tuta eadem loca sibi arbitrans, penitus in Thraeciam se supra Propontidem abdidit, sperans ibi facillime suam fortunam occuli posse.
But Alcibiades, thinking that the same places were not safe enough for him since the Athenians had been defeated, hid himself deep in Thrace beyond the Propontis, hoping that there his fortune could most easily be concealed.
falso. §9.2nam Thraeces, postquam eum cum magna pecunia venisse senserunt, insidias fecerunt eaque quae apportarat abstulerunt, ipsum capere non potuerunt. §9.3ille cernens nullum locum sibi tutum in Graecia propter potentiam Lacedaemoniorum ad Pharnabazum in Asiam transiit, quem quidem adeo sua cepit humanitate, ut eum nemo in amicitia antecederet.
In vain. For the Thracians, after they perceived that he had come with a large sum of money, laid an ambush and took away what he had brought, though they could not capture the man himself. Perceiving that no place in Greece was safe for him on account of the power of the Lacedaemonians, he crossed over into Asia to Pharnabazus, whom indeed he so won over by his refinement that no one surpassed him in friendship.
namque ei Grynium dederat, in Phrygia castrum, ex quo quinquagena talenta vectigalis capiebat. §9.4qua fortuna Alcibiades non erat contentus neque Athenas victas Lacedaemoniis servire poterat pati.
For Pharnabazus had given him Grynium, a stronghold in Phrygia, from which he received fifty talents of tribute annually. Alcibiades was not content with this fortune, nor could he bear that a defeated Athens should serve the Lacedaemonians.
itaque ad patriam liberandam omni ferebatur cogitatione. §9.5sed videbat id sine rege Perse non posse fieri, ideoque eum amicum sibi cupiebat adiungi neque dubitabat facile se consecuturum, si modo eius conveniundi habuisset potestatem.
Therefore, he was carried away by his entire thought toward liberating his fatherland. But he saw that this could not be done without the Persian king, and so he wished to join him to himself as a friend, and did not doubt that he would easily attain this, if only he had the opportunity of meeting him.
nam Cyrum fratrem ei bellum clam parare Lacedaemoniis adiuvantibus sciebat: id si aperuisset, magnam se initurum gratiam videbat
For he knew that his brother Cyrus was secretly preparing war against him with the assistance of the Lacedaemonians; he saw that if he should disclose this, he would enter into great favor with him.

Notes

  1. §9.1victis Atheniensibus — Ablative absolute consisting of a noun and a participle. In this context, it expresses either the cause (since the Athenians had been defeated) or the time (after the Athenians were defeated) of Alcibiades' decision to move.
  2. §9.1falso — An adverb meaning 'falsely' or 'mistakenly.' It modifies the preceding participle 'sperans' (hoping) or acts as a one-word commentary by the author on the futility of the hope ('but falsely').
  3. §9.5eius conveniundi — A gerundive construction in the genitive case, where 'conveniundi' is an archaic spelling of 'conveniendi'. It modifies 'potestatem' (opportunity).
  4. §9.5magnam se initurum gratiam — Accusative with infinitive construction depending on 'videbat', with 'se' as the subject and 'initurum [esse]' as the future infinitive. It features the idiomatic expression 'gratiam inire' (to enter into favor, gain gratitude).

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Alcibiades §9.1-9.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo007.humanitext-lat2:9.1-9.5

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