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Cornelius Nepos · Dion §7.1-7.3

Loss of Support Through Confiscations and Popular Backlash

Passage 7 of 10 · Latin

Summary

The assassination of Heraclides spreads fear among the people, and Dion loses the support of the aristocracy by confiscating their property to pay his soldiers. Faced with rising hostility and ill repute, Dion falls into deep anxiety as the populace begins to denounce him as a tyrant.

§7.1Quod factum omnibus maximum timorem iniecit: nemo enim illo interfecto se tutum putabat.
This deed struck the greatest fear into everyone; for, after he was killed, no one thought himself safe.
ille autem adversario remoto licentius eorum bona, quos sciebat adversus se sensisse, militibus dispertivit.
Dion, however, having removed his adversary, distributed to his soldiers more licentiously the property of those whom he knew to have been hostile to him.
§7.2quibus divisis cum cottidiani maximi fierent sumptus, celeriter pecunia deesse coepit, neque, quo manus porrigeret, suppetebat nisi in amicorum possessiones.
When these things had been distributed, since very great daily expenses were being incurred, money quickly began to fail, nor was there any source for him to stretch out his hands to, except the possessions of his friends.
id eius modi erat, ut, cum milites reconciliasset, amitteret optimates.
This was of such a nature that, while he had reconciled the soldiers, he lost the optimates.
§7.3quarum rerum cura angebatur et insuetus male audiendi non animo aequo ferebat, de se ab iis male existimari, quorum paulo ante in caelum fuerat elatus laudibus.
He was tormented by anxiety over these matters, and, unaccustomed to being spoken ill of, did not bear it with an equal mind that he was ill thought of by those by whose praises he had been raised to heaven shortly before.
vulgus autem offensa in eum militum voluntate liberius loquebatur et tyrannum non ferendum dictitabat.
The multitude, moreover, now that the goodwill of the soldiers toward him was offended, spoke more freely and kept saying that he was an intolerable tyrant.

Notes

  1. §7.1quos sciebat adversus se sensisse — The relative pronoun 'quos' serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive 'sensisse' within the indirect discourse dependent on 'sciebat'.
  2. §7.2neque, quo manus porrigeret, suppetebat — The verb 'suppetere' here means 'to be available.' The clause 'quo manus porrigeret' is a relative clause of purpose or characteristic using the imperfect subjunctive 'porrigeret'.
  3. §7.3insuetus male audiendi — 'male audire' is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to be spoken ill of' (imitating the Greek κακῶς ἀκούειν). 'audiendi' is a gerund in the genitive case, modifying the adjective 'insuetus' (unaccustomed to).
  4. §7.3de se ab iis male existimari — An infinitive clause serving as the direct object of the main verb 'ferebat'. The passive infinitive 'existimari' is used impersonally ('that it was badly thought of concerning himself by them').
  5. §7.3offensa in eum militum voluntate — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun 'voluntate' and the perfect passive participle 'offensa' ('the goodwill of the soldiers toward him having been offended').

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Dion §7.1-7.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo010.humanitext-lat2:7.1-7.3

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