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Cornelius Nepos · Iphicrates §2.1-2.5

Military Deeds and Strict Discipline of Iphicrates

Passage 2 of 3 · Latin

Summary

This section describes Iphicrates' military achievements and strict discipline in Thrace and Corinth, his training of mercenary forces for Artaxerxes' Egyptian expedition, and his relief of Sparta from the threat of the Thebans.

§2.1Bellum cum Thraecibus gessit, Seuthem, socium Atheniensium, in regnum restituit.
He waged war with the Thracians, and restored Seuthes, an ally of the Athenians, to his kingdom.
apud Corinthum tanta severitate exercitui praefuit, ut nullae umquam in Graecia neque exercitatiores copiae neque magis dicto audientes fuerint duci,
At Corinth, he commanded the army with such severity that no troops in Greece were ever either better trained or more obedient to the command of their leader.
§2.2in eamque consuetudinem adduxit, ut, cum proelii signum ab imperatore esset datum, sine ducis opera sic ordinatae consisterent, ut singuli a peritissimo imperatore dispositi viderentur.
And he brought them into such a habit that, when the signal for battle had been given by the commander, they would stand in order without the intervention of a leader, in such a way that every single soldier seemed to have been posted by a most skillful general.
§2.3hoc exercitu moram Lacedaemoniorum interfecit, quod maxime tota celebratum est Graecia.
With this army he destroyed a mora of the Lacedaemonians, an exploit which was celebrated most of all throughout Greece.
iterum eodem bello omnes copias eorum fugavit, quo facto magnam adeptus est gloriam.
In the same war, he again put all their forces to flight, by which deed he acquired great glory.
§2.4cum Artaxerxes Aegyptio regi bellum inferre voluit, Iphicraten ab Atheniensibus ducem petivit, quem praeficeret exercitui conducticio, cuius numerus duodecim milium fuit.
When Artaxerxes wished to make war upon the king of Egypt, he requested Iphicrates from the Athenians as a leader to place over his mercenary army, the number of which was twelve thousand.
quem quidem sic omni disciplina militari erudivit, ut, quem ad modum quondam Fabiani milites Romae, sic Iphicratenses apud Graecos in summa laude fuerint.
Indeed, he trained this army so thoroughly in all military discipline that, just as the soldiers of Fabius once were at Rome, so the "Iphicratensians" were in the highest esteem among the Greeks.
§2.5idem subsidio Lacedaemoniis profectus Epaminondae retardavit impetus.
He also, having set out to the relief of the Lacedaemonians, checked the attacks of Epaminondas.
nam nisi eius adventus appropinquasset, non prius Thebani Sparta abscessissent, quam captam incendio delessent.
For had his approach not drawn near, the Thebans would not have departed from Sparta before they had captured it and destroyed it by fire.

Notes

  1. §2.1dicto audientes fuerint duci — dicto is the dative of dictum (command) depending on audientes (obeying). duci is also a dative (to the leader) governed by the entire phrase dicto audiens, meaning "obedient to the command of the leader."
  2. §2.4quem praeficeret — The relative clause with the subjunctive (quem praeficeret) expresses purpose: "in order to place him over...". The antecedent is Iphicraten.
  3. §2.5subsidio Lacedaemoniis — Double dative construction: subsidio is the dative of purpose ("as a relief/aid"), and Lacedaemoniis is the dative of reference ("for the Lacedaemonians").
  4. §2.5non prius ... quam — This is part of the apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence (the protasis being nisi... appropinquasset). The main verb abscessissent and the subordinate verb delessent, connected by the correlative non prius ... quam ("not before / not until"), are both in the pluperfect subjunctive.

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Iphicrates §2.1-2.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo011.humanitext-lat2:2.1-2.5

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