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Cornelius Nepos · Eumenes §6.1-6.5

Olympias's Appeal and the Decision to Aid the Royal House

Passage 6 of 13 · Latin

Summary

Olympias, the mother of Alexander, consults Eumenes about returning to Macedonia and later begs him to protect the royal family. Eumenes decides to aid them out of gratitude, choosing potential death over ingratitude.

§6.1Ad hunc Olympias, mater quae fuerat Alexandri, cum litteras et nuntios misisset in Asiam consultum, utrum repetitum iret Macedoniam (nam tum in Epiro habitabat) et suas res occuparet, §6.2huic ille primum suasit, ne se moveret et exspectaret, quoad Alexandri filius regnum adipisceretur; sin aliqua cupiditate raperetur in Macedoniam, oblivisceretur omnium iniuriarum et in neminem acerbiore uteretur imperio.
To him, Olympias, who had been the mother of Alexander, when she had sent letters and messengers to Asia to consult whether she should go to reclaim Macedonia (for at that time she was living in Epirus) and seize her own affairs, he first advised her not to move herself and to wait until Alexander's son should obtain the kingdom; but if she should be hurried into Macedonia by any desire, to forget all injuries and to exercise her authority too harshly over no one.
§6.3horum illa nihil fecit: nam et in Macedoniam profecta est et ibi crudelissime se gessit.
She did none of these things; for she both set out for Macedonia and there conducted herself most cruelly.
petiit autem ab Eumene absente, ne pateretur Philippi domus ac familiae inimicissimos stirpem quoque interimere, ferretque opem liberis Alexandri.
But she requested of Eumenes, who was absent, that he would not suffer the bitterest enemies of Philip's house and family to destroy his offspring as well, and that he would bring aid to the children of Alexander.
§6.4quam veniam si daret, quam primum exercitus pararet, quos sibi subsidio adduceret.
If he would grant this favor, he should prepare armies as soon as possible to bring to her aid.
id quo facilius faceret, se omnibus praefectis, qui in officio manebant, misisse litteras, ut ei parerent eiusque consiliis uterentur.
In order that he might do this more easily, she had sent letters, she said, to all the officers who remained in their duty, that they should obey him and follow his counsels.
§6.5his rebus Eumenes permotus satius duxit, si ita tulisset fortuna, perire bene meritis referentem gratiam quam ingratum vivere.
Eumenes, moved by these things, thought it better, if fortune should so bring it about, to perish while returning gratitude to his benefactors, than to live ungrateful.

Notes

  1. §6.1consultum — The accusative supine of the verb consulo, expressing the purpose after misisset: 'to consult' or 'to ask advice'.
  2. §6.1repetitum — The accusative supine of repeto, combined with the verb of motion iret (from eo) to express purpose: 'to go to reclaim'. Macedoniam is the direct object of repetitum.
  3. §6.4quam veniam si daret — The relative pronoun quam acts as a connecting relative (= hanc). daret and the main clause verbs pararet and adduceret are in the subjunctive because they belong to the indirect discourse (oratio obliqua) reporting the contents of Olympias's request. The original direct condition si dabis, para... (if you grant, prepare...) has been converted under the sequence of tenses after the historical main verb petiit.
  4. §6.5bene meritis — Substantive use of the participle: 'those who have deserved well (of him)', i.e., his benefactors (Alexander and the royal family). It is in the dative plural as the object of the expression referentem gratiam (returning gratitude).

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Eumenes §6.1-6.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo018.humanitext-lat2:6.1-6.5

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