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Cornelius Nepos · Datames §10.1-10.3

Mithridates' Pretended Alliance and Deception of Datames

Passage 10 of 11 · Latin

Summary

Mithridates, having secured a pledge of impunity from the king, acts as Datames' ally by attacking the king's territory and sharing the spoils. He gains Datames' trust by maintaining their friendship from a distance based on their shared hatred of the king.

§10.1Hic tamen tam callidus vir extremo tempore captus est Mithridatis, Ariobarzanis filii, dolo.
Yet this so crafty man was in the end deceived by the treachery of Mithridates, the son of Ariobarzanis.
namque is pollicitus est regi se eum interfecturum, si rex permitteret, ut quodcumque vellet liceret impune facere, fidemque de ea re more Persarum dextra dedisset.
For he had promised the king that he would kill him, if the king would permit him to do with impunity whatever he wished, and had given a pledge on that matter by his right hand, according to the custom of the Persians.
§10.2hanc ut accepit a rege missam, copias parat et absens amicitiam cum Datame facit, regis provincias vexat, castella expugnat, magnas praedas capit, quarum partim suis dispertit, partim ad Datamen mittit; pari modo complura castella ei tradit.
When he received this pledge sent by the king, he prepared his forces and, though absent, formed a friendship with Datames; he harassed the king's provinces, stormed his castles, and took great booty, part of which he distributed to his own men, and part he sent to Datames; in like manner, he delivered several castles to him.
§10.3haec diu faciendo persuasit homini se infinitum adversus regem suscepisse bellum, cum nihilo magis, ne quam suspicionem illi praeberet insidiarum, neque colloquium eius petivit neque in conspectum venire studuit.
By doing these things for a long time, he persuaded the man that he had undertaken an endless war against the king, while nevertheless, so that he might not afford him any suspicion of treachery, he neither sought an interview with him nor strove to come into his sight.
sic absens amicitiam gerebat, ut non beneficiis mutuis, sed communi odio, quod erga regem susceperant, contineri viderentur.
Thus he maintained the friendship while absent, so that they seemed to be held together not by mutual benefits, but by the common hatred which they had conceived toward the king.

Notes

  1. §10.1captus est — Perfect passive of the verb capere ('to take, catch'). Here it is used in the figurative sense of 'deceived' or 'ensnared,' rather than physically captured.
  2. §10.1fidemque de ea re more Persarum dextra dedisset — Continuing the conditional clause (si rex permitteret...). The word dextra ('right hand,' ablative) represents the pledge of faith (fides) according to Persian custom, meaning 'by giving the right hand' as a solemn guarantee. Dedisset is in the pluperfect subjunctive, representing a future-perfect condition in past sequence.
  3. §10.2hanc ut accepit a rege missam — Hanc is a demonstrative pronoun (accusative feminine singular) referring back to fidem (feminine noun) in the previous sentence. Missam is a perfect participle agreeing with hanc and modified by a rege ('sent by the king').
  4. §10.3cum nihilo magis — Cum introduces a subjunctive clause with a concessive force ('although,' 'while at the same time'). Nihilo magis ('none the more,' 'not at all the more') strengthens the negative, correlating with the following neque... neque... to emphasize that despite his hostile actions against the king, he did not seek contact with Datames.

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Datames §10.1-10.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo014.humanitext-lat2:10.1-10.3

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