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Cornelius Nepos · Dion §9.1-9.6

Execution of the Plot and Assassination of Dion

Passage 9 of 10 · Latin

Summary

Callicrates carries out his conspiracy on a festival day, securing Dion's house and sending unarmed Zacynthian youths to assault him. With the guards refusing to intervene, Dion is ultimately killed with a sword passed through a window.

§9.1Hac mente proximo die festo, cum a conventu se remotum Dion domi teneret atque in conclavi edito recubuisset, consciis facinoris loca munitiora oppidi tradit, domum custodiis saepit, a foribus qui non discedant,
With this intention, on the next festival day, while Dion kept himself withdrawn from the company at home and lay down in an upper chamber, Callicrates delivered the more fortified places of the town to the accomplices of the crime, surrounded the house with guards, and appointed trustworthy men to see that they did not depart from the doors.
§9.2certos praeficit, navem triremem armatis ornat Philostratoque, fratri suo, tradit eamque in portu agitare iubet, ut si exercere remiges vellet, cogitans, si forte consiliis obstitisset fortuna, ut haberet, qua aufugeret ad salutem.
He equipped a trireme with armed men and delivered it to his brother Philostratus, ordering him to row it about in the harbor, as if he wanted to exercise the rowers, thinking that, if by chance fortune should oppose his plans, he might have a means by which to escape to safety.
§9.3suorum autem e numero Zacynthios adulescentes quosdam eligit cum audacissimos tum viribus maximis, iisque dat negotium, ad Dionem eant inermes, sic ut conveniendi eius gratia viderentur venire.
Moreover, from the number of his own men, he chose certain young men of Zacynthus, who were both extremely daring and of the greatest strength, and gave them the task of going to Dion unarmed, in such a way that they might seem to come for the sake of visiting him.
ii propter notitiam sunt intromissi.
Because of their acquaintance, they were admitted.
§9.4at illius ut limen intrarant, foribus obseratis in lecto cubantem invadunt, colligant: fit strepitus, adeo ut exaudiri posset foris.
But as soon as they entered his threshold, having locked the doors, they rushed upon him as he lay on his bed and bound him. A noise was made, so loud that it could be heard outside.
§9.5hic, sicut ante saepe dictum est, quam invisa sit singularis potentia et miseranda vita, qui se metui quam amari malunt, cuivis facile intellectu fuit.
Here, as has often been said before, it was easy for anyone to understand how hated absolute power is, and how miserable is the life of those who prefer to be feared rather than loved.
§9.6namque illi ipsi custodes, si prompta fuissent voluntate, foribus effractis servare eum potuissent, quoad illi inermes telum foris flagitantes vivum tenebant.
For those very guards, if they had been of a ready will, could have saved him by breaking down the doors, while those unarmed men were holding him alive, demanding a weapon from outside.
cui cum succurreret nemo, Lyco quidam Syracusanus per fenestram gladium dedit, quo Dion interfectus est.
When no one came to his aid, a certain Lyco, a Syracusan, passed a sword through the window, with which Dion was killed.

Notes

  1. 9.1Dion domi teneret ... tradit — The subject of the verbs teneret and recubuisset in the cum-clause is Dion, whereas the subject of the main verbs tradit, saepit, etc., is Callicrates, continued from the previous passage. Care must be taken not to confuse the subjects.
  2. 9.2ut si — A conditional comparative conjunction meaning 'as if' or 'as though', indicating that Callicrates took action under a pretense to deceive others.
  3. 9.2ut haberet, qua aufugeret — The clause ut haberet is a purpose clause depending on the participle cogitans. The word qua is a relative adverb of place/means ('by which'), taking the subjunctive aufugeret in a clause of purpose or characteristic.
  4. 9.4illius ut limen intrarant — The genitive pronoun illius functions as a possessive genitive modifying limen ('his threshold', i.e., the entrance to Dion's room). The conjunction ut here means 'as soon as'.
  5. 9.5intellectu — A supine in -u (ablative of respect) used with the adjective facile, meaning 'easy to understand'.
  6. 9.6quoad ... tenebant — The conjunction quoad followed by the indicative expresses temporal duration, meaning 'as long as' or 'while'.

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Dion §9.1-9.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo010.humanitext-lat2:9.1-9.6

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