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Cornelius Nepos · Datames §8.1-8.6

Defeat of Autophrodates and Conclusion of Peace

Passage 8 of 11 · Latin

Summary

Autophrodates engages Datames with his vast army but suffers a defeat due to Datames' brilliant tactics using the terrain. Fearing that a prolonged war would bring greater losses to the king, Autophrodates proposes a reconciliation, which Datames accepts, ending the conflict.

§8.1Haec etsi Autophrodates videbat, tamen statim maluit congredi quam cum tantis copiis refugere aut tam diu uno loco sedere.
Although Autophrodates saw these things, nevertheless he preferred to engage immediately rather than retreat with such great forces or remain in one place for so long.
§8.2habebat barbarorum equitum viginti, peditum centum milia, quos illi Cardacas appellant, eiusdemque generis tria milia funditorum, praeterea Cappadocum octo milia, Armeniorum decem milia, Paphlagonum quinque milia, Phrygum decem milia, Lydorum quinque milia, Aspendiorum et Pisidarum circiter tria milia, Cilicum duo milia, Captianorum totidem, ex Graecia conductorum tria milia, levis armaturae maximum numerum.
He had twenty thousand barbarian cavalry, one hundred thousand infantry, whom they call Cardaces, and three thousand slingers of the same class, besides eight thousand Cappadocians, ten thousand Armenians, five thousand Paphlagonians, ten thousand Phrygians, five thousand Lydians, about three thousand Aspendians and Pisidians, two thousand Cilicians, the same number of Captians, three thousand mercenaries hired from Greece, and a very large number of light-armed troops.
§8.3has adversus copias spes omnis consistebat Datami in se locique natura (namque huius partem non habebat vicesimam militum).
Against these forces, all Datames' hope rested on himself and the nature of the ground (for he did not have even a twentieth part of the soldiers).
quibus fretus conflixit adversariorumque multa milia concidit, cum de ipsius exercitu non amplius hominum mille cecidisset.
Relying on these, he joined battle and cut down many thousands of the adversaries, while of his own army not more than a thousand men had fallen.
quam ob causam postero die tropaeum posuit, quo loco pridie pugnatum erat.
For which reason, on the following day, he erected a trophy in the place where the battle had been fought the day before.
§8.4hinc cum castra movisset semperque inferior copiis superior omnibus proeliis discederet, quod numquam manum consereret, nisi cum adversarios locorum angustiis clausisset, quod perito regionum
When he had moved his camp from here, and though always inferior in forces, he constantly came off superior in all battles, because he never joined hand-to-hand combat unless he had shut up his adversaries in the narrowness of the places, which, to one skilled in the regions and planning shrewdly, often happened.
§8.5callideque cogitanti saepe accidebat, Autophrodates, cum bellum duci maiore regis calamitate quam adversariorum videret, pacem amicitiamque pristiam memorans eum hortatus est, ut cum rege in gratiam rediret.
Autophrodates, seeing that the war was being prolonged with greater loss to the king than to the adversaries, calling to mind their former peace and friendship, urged him to return into favor with the king.
§8.6quam ille etsi fidam non fore putabat, tamen condicionem accepit seque ad Artaxerxem legatos missurum dixit.
Although he did not think that this would be reliable, nevertheless he accepted the proposal and said that he would send envoys to Artaxerxes.
sic bellum, quod rex adversus Datamen susceperat, sedatum est.
Thus the war which the king had undertaken against Datames was brought to an end.
Autophrodates in Phrygiam se recepit.
Autophrodates withdrew into Phrygia.

Notes

  1. 8.2barbarorum equitum viginti, peditum centum milia — The numeral milia is omitted after viginti and must be supplied from the following centum milia, meaning 'twenty thousand cavalry, one hundred thousand infantry'. barbarorum is a genitive modifying both equitum and peditum.
  2. 8.3non amplius hominum mille — When the comparative amplius is used with numbers without the conjunction quam, it functions as an adverb without affecting the case. Thus, hominum mille remains in the nominative (subject of cecidisset), and hominum is a partitive genitive.
  3. 8.4quod perito regionum callideque cogitanti saepe accidebat — The relative pronoun quod takes the entire preceding clause (nisi cum... clausisset, i.e., Datames shutting the enemy up in defiles) as its antecedent. perito and cogitanti are datives governed by the impersonal verb accidebat, and regionum is an objective genitive governed by the adjective perito.
  4. 8.6quam ille etsi fidam non fore putabat — This is an instance of relative connection (linking relative) at the beginning of the sentence. The feminine accusative singular quam refers to the preceding gratiam (reconciliation) and functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive phrase fidam non fore dependent on putabat. fore is the shortened form of futuram esse.

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Datames §8.1-8.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo014.humanitext-lat2:8.1-8.6

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