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Cornelius Nepos · Conon §2.1-2.4

Alliance with Pharnabazus and Opposing Agesilaus

Passage 2 of 5 · Latin

Summary

Conon sought refuge with the Persian satrap Pharnabazus during his country's crisis and earned his trust. Serving as the practical commander, Conon successfully thwarted the invasion of the Spartan king Agesilaus and continued to be of great use to the Persians even after Agesilaus was recalled.

§2.1Rebus autem afflictis, cum patriam obsideri audisset, non quaesivit, ubi ipse tuto viveret, sed unde praesidio posset esse civibus suis.
But when affairs were ruined, having heard that his country was being besieged, he did not seek where he himself might live in safety, but from where he could be of protection to his fellow citizens.
itaque contulit se ad Pharnabazum, satrapem Ioniae et Lydiae eundemque generum regis et propinquum: apud quem ut multum gratia valeret, multo labore multisque effecit periculis.
Therefore, he betook himself to Pharnabazus, the satrap of Ionia and Lydia and likewise the son-in-law and relative of the king; and by great labor and many dangers he brought it about that he was of great influence in his favor.
§2.2nam cum Lacedaemonii Atheniensibus devictis in societate non manerent, quam cum Artaxerxe fecerant, Agesilaumque bellatum misissent in Asiam, maxime impulsi a Tissapherne, qui ex intimis regis ab amicitia eius defecerat et cum Lacedaemoniis coierat societatem, hunc adversus Pharnabazus habitus est imperator, re quidem vera exercitui praefuit Conon eiusque omnia arbitrio gesta sunt.
For when the Lacedaemonians, after the Athenians had been defeated, did not remain in the alliance which they had made with Artaxerxes, and had sent Agesilaus into Asia to wage war, being chiefly urged by Tissaphernes, who, though one of the king's closest friends, had defected from his friendship and had entered into an alliance with the Lacedaemonians—against him Pharnabazus was regarded as commander, but in truth Conon commanded the army, and everything was done by his decision.
§2.3hic multum ducem summum Agesilaum impedivit saepeque eius consiliis obstitit, neque vero non fuit apertum, si ille non fuisset, Agesilaum Asiam Tauro tenus regi fuisse erepturum.
He greatly obstructed the supreme commander Agesilaus and often thwarted his plans; and indeed, it was clear that, if he had not been there, Agesilaus would have wrested Asia as far as the Taurus from the king.
§2.4qui posteaquam domum a suis civibus revocatus est, quod Boeoti et Athenienses Lacedaemoniis bellum indixerant, Conon nihilo setius apud praefectos regis versabatur iisque omnibus magno erat usui.
After he was recalled home by his citizens, because the Boeotians and the Athenians had declared war on the Lacedaemonians, Conon none the less remained with the king's prefects and was of great use to them all.

Notes

  1. §2.1apud quem ut multum gratia valeret, multo labore multisque effecit periculis — A hyperbaton where the ut clause (ut ... valeret), serving as the object of effecit, is placed before the main verb, with the ablative phrase of means (multo labore multisque ... periculis) intercalated between them. Apud quem is a relative connection referring to Pharnabazus.
  2. §2.2bellatum — The accusative form of the supine of the verb bellare (to wage war). Used with the verb of motion misissent to express purpose ('to wage war').
  3. §2.3neque vero non fuit apertum ... fuisse erepturum — The main structure is the impersonal expression fuit apertum (it was clear) with a double negation neque ... non (and indeed it was...), followed by an accusative with infinitive clause (Agesilaum ... fuisse erepturum) as its subject. This infinitive clause represents the apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence (which would be erepturus fuit in direct discourse) with the protasis si ille non fuisset ('if he had not been there'), adapted to indirect discourse. Regi is a dative of separation. Tauro tenus consists of the ablative Tauro followed by the postpositioned preposition tenus (as far as).
  4. §2.4iis omnibus magno erat usui — A double dative (dativus duplex) construction, combining the dative of interest/reference iis omnibus (to them all) and the dative of purpose/tendency magno ... usui (of great use).

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Conon §2.1-2.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo009.humanitext-lat2:2.1-2.4

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