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Cornelius Nepos · Hamilcar §4.1-4.3

Hamilcar's Success in Hispania and Death in Battle

Passage 4 of 4 · Latin

Summary

Hamilcar conquered Spain and enriched Africa, but was killed in battle while planning an invasion of Italy. His deep-seated hatred for Rome was passed on to his son Hannibal, laying the groundwork for the Second Punic War.

§4.1At Hamilcar, posteaquam mare transiit in Hispaniamque venit, magnas res secunda gessit fortuna: maximas bellicosissimasque gentes subegit, equis, armis, viris, pecunia totam locupletavit Africam.
But Hamilcar, after he crossed the sea and came into Spain, performed great deeds with favorable fortune: he subdued the greatest and most warlike nations, and enriched the whole of Africa with horses, arms, men, and money.
§4.2hic cum in Italiam bellum inferre meditaretur, nono anno postquam in Hispaniam venerat, in proelio pugnans adversus Vettones occisus est.
When he was planning to carry war into Italy, in the ninth year after he had come into Spain, he was killed fighting in battle against the Vettones.
§4.3huius perpetuum odium erga Romanos maxime concitasse videtur secundum bellum Poenicum.
His perpetual hatred toward the Romans seems to have been the chief cause of the Second Punic War.
namque Hannibal, filius eius, assiduis patris obtestationibus eo est perductus, ut interire quam Romanos non experiri mallet.
For Hannibal, his son, was so led by the constant entreaties of his father that he preferred to perish rather than not to make trial of the Romans.

Notes

  1. 4.1totam locupletavit Africam — An example of hyperbaton, where the adjective totam and the noun Africam are separated by the verb locupletavit, emphasizing the completeness of the enrichment.
  2. 4.3concitasse videtur — videtur is used personally ('seems to') with the nominative subject odium and the active perfect infinitive concitasse (a syncopated form of concitavisse), forming a Nominative with Infinitive construction.
  3. 4.3eo est perductus, ut — A result clause construction where the demonstrative adverb eo ('to such a degree') points forward to the ut clause with the subjunctive mallet.
  4. 4.3interire quam Romanos non experiri mallet — mallet (subjunctive imperfect of malle) is used with quam to express preference ('would rather A than B'). The negative infinitive non experiri means 'not to make trial of (i.e., fight) the Romans,' meaning he preferred to die rather than not fight them.

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Hamilcar §4.1-4.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo022.humanitext-lat2:4.1-4.3

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