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Cornelius Nepos · Agesilaus §1.1-1.5

Lineage of Agesilaus and Succession Dispute

Passage 1 of 8 · Latin

Summary

The passage explains the lineage of Agesilaus, his dispute over the kingship with his nephew Leotychides after the death of King Agis, and how Agesilaus was ultimately preferred through the support of Lysander.

§1.1Agesilaus Lacedaemonius cum a ceteris scriptoribus tum eximie a Xenophonte Socratico collaudatus est: eo enim usus est familiarissime.
Agesilaus the Lacedaemonian was highly praised both by other writers and especially by Xenophon, the disciple of Socrates; for he was on very intimate terms with him.
§1.2hic primum de regno cum Leotychide, fratris filio, habuit contentionem.
He first had a dispute concerning the kingship with Leotychides, his brother's son.
mos erat enim Lacedaemoniis a maioribus traditus, ut binos haberent semper reges, nomine magis quam imperio, ex duabus familiis Procli et Eurysthenis, qui principes ex progenie Herculis Spartae reges fuerunt.
For the Lacedaemonians had a custom handed down from their ancestors, that they should always have two kings, in name rather than in power, from the two families of Procles and Eurysthenes, who, as descendants of Hercules, were the first kings of Sparta.
§1.3horum ex altera in alterius familiae locum fieri non licebat: ita suum utraque retinebat ordinem.
It was not permitted for a king to be chosen from one of these families into the place of the other; thus each retained its own succession.
primum ratio habebatur, qui maximus natu esset ex liberis eius, qui regnans decessisset; sin is virile secus non, reliquisset, tum deligebatur, qui proximus esset propinquitate.
First, consideration was given to whoever was the eldest among the children of him who had died while reigning; but if he had left no male issue, then the one who was next in kinship was chosen.
§1.4mortuus erat Agis rex, frater Agesilai: filium reliquerat Leotychidem.
King Agis, the brother of Agesilaus, had died and had left a son, Leotychides.
quem ille natum non agnorat, eundem moriens suum esse dixerat.
Him, though he had not recognized him at his birth, he declared on his deathbed to be his own.
is de honore regni cum Agesilao, patruo suo, contendit neque id quod petivit consecutus est.
This man contended for the honor of the kingship with his uncle Agesilaus, but did not obtain what he sought.
§1.5nam Lysandro suffragante, homine, ut ostendimus supra, factioso et iis temporibus potente, Agesilaus antelatus est.
For, with the support of Lysander, a man, as we have shown above, intriguing and powerful at that time, Agesilaus was preferred.

Notes

  1. §1.1eo enim usus est familiarissime — The verb utor governs the ablative case, hence the demonstrative pronoun eo (referring to Xenophon) is in the ablative. familiarissime is the superlative adverb of the adjective familiaris, meaning 'most intimately.'
  2. §1.2nomine magis quam imperio — Ablatives of specification (or respect). It means 'in name rather than in actual power,' explaining that the Spartan kingship did not carry absolute individual authority.
  3. §1.3virile secus — An adverbial accusative (or accusative of specification) of the noun secus (sex, gender) combined with the adjective virilis, functioning idiomatically as 'of the male sex.' Here it modifies liberis implicitly, meaning 'male offspring.'
  4. §1.4quem ille natum non agnorat, eundem moriens suum esse dixerat — The antecedent of the relative pronoun quem is eundem, placed after the relative clause for contrast and emphasis. natum is a participle meaning 'when born.' The second part suum esse dixerat is an accusative with infinitive construction, where suum (referring back to Leotychides) is the subject accusative and esse is the infinitive, with the subject of dixerat being ille (Agis).
  5. §1.5Lysandro suffragante — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun Lysandro and the participle suffragante, expressing cause or circumstance: 'with Lysander supporting' or 'by the support of Lysander.'

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Agesilaus §1.1-1.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo017.humanitext-lat2:1.1-1.5

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