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Cornelius Nepos · Timoleon §2.1-2.4

Expulsion of Dionysius II and Defeat of Enemies

Passage 2 of 5 · Latin

Summary

Timoleon is sent to Sicily, where he expels Dionysius II and ensures his safe passage to Corinth. Subsequently, he defeats Hicetas, who harbored tyrannical ambitions, as well as the Carthaginian forces and the Italian leader Mamercus.

§2.1Interim Dione Syracusis interfecto Dionysius rursus Syracusarum potitus est.
Meanwhile, after Dion had been killed at Syracuse, Dionysius again gained possession of Syracuse.
cuius adversarii opem a Corinthiis petierunt ducemque, quo in bello uterentur, postularunt.
His adversaries sought aid from the Corinthians and requested a leader whom they might employ in the war.
huc Timoleon missus incredibili felicitate Dionysium tota Sicilia depulit.
Timoleon, having been sent thither, drove Dionysius out of the whole of Sicily with incredible good fortune.
§2.2cum interficere posset, noluit, tutoque ut Corinthum perveniret effecit, quod utrorumque Dionysiorum opibus Corinthii saepe adiuti fuerant, cuius benignitatis memoriam volebat exstare, eamque praeclaram victoriam ducebat, in qua plus esset clementiae quam crudelitatis, postremo ut non solum auribus acciperetur, sed etiam oculis cerneretur, quem ex quanto regno ad quam fortunam detulisset.
Although he could have killed him, he was unwilling to do so, and brought it about that he reached Corinth safely; because the Corinthians had often been aided by the resources of both Dionysiuses, and he wished the memory of this kindness to survive, and he considered that victory glorious in which there was more clemency than cruelty, and finally, so that it might not only be heard of by ears, but also perceived by eyes, whom he had brought down from how great a kingdom to what a fortune.
§2.3post Dionysii decessum cum Hiceta bellavit, qui adversatus erat Dionysio: quem non odio tyrannidis dissensisse, sed cupiditate indicio fuit, quod ipse expulso Dionysio imperium dimittere noluit.
After the departure of Dionysius, he waged war with Hicetas, who had opposed Dionysius; that he had differed from him not from hatred of tyranny, but from ambition, was proven by the fact that he himself, after Dionysius had been expelled, was unwilling to resign his command.
§2.4hoc superato Timoleon maximas copias Karthaginiensium apud Crinissum flumen fugavit ac satis habere coegit, si liceret Africam obtinere, qui iam complures annos possessionem Siciliae tenebant.
This man having been overcome, Timoleon routed the greatest forces of the Carthaginians at the river Crinissus and compelled them to be satisfied if they were allowed to retain Africa, they who had already for several years been holding possession of Sicily.
cepit etiam Mamercum, Italicum ducem, hominem bellicosum et potentem, qui tyrannos adiutum in Siciliam venerat.
He also captured Mamercus, an Italian leader, a warlike and powerful man, who had come into Sicily to aid the tyrants.

Notes

  1. §2.1quo in bello uterentur — A relative clause of purpose qualifying the antecedent ducem. The verb utor takes the ablative case, hence the relative pronoun quo in the ablative, agreeing with bello.
  2. §2.2plus esset clementiae quam crudelitatis — clementiae and crudelitatis are partitive genitives depending on the comparative plus. The subjunctive esset is used in a relative clause of characteristic describing the nature of the antecedent praeclaram victoriam.
  3. §2.2quem ex quanto regno ad quam fortunam detulisset — An indirect question clause. The interrogative pronoun quem and the interrogative adjectives quanto and quam are accumulated within a single clause, meaning "whom he had brought down from how great a kingdom to what a fortune." The verb detulisset is in the pluperfect subjunctive due to the indirect question.
  4. §2.3quem non odio tyrannidis dissensisse, sed cupiditate indicio fuit — The subject of the main clause is the subsequent quod clause (quod ... noluit). indicio is a dative of purpose used predicatively ("served as a proof"). quem ... dissensisse is an accusative with infinitive clause meaning "that he had differed [from Dionysius]...", which constitutes the logical core of the statement.
  5. §2.4tyrannos adiutum — adiutum is a supine in -um (accusative of purpose) used with the verb of motion venerat to express purpose. tyrannos is its object.

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon §2.1-2.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo020.humanitext-lat2:2.1-2.4

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