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Cornelius Nepos · Atticus §19.1-19.4

Continuation of the Work and Alliance with Octavian

Passage 19 of 22 · Latin

Summary

The author declares his continuation of the biography after Atticus's death, illustrating how Atticus's character won him fortune through his family alliance with Octavian.

§19.1Haec hactenus Attico vivo edita a nobis sunt.
These things up to this point were published by us while Atticus was alive.
nunc, quoniam fortuna nos superstites ei esse voluit, reliqua persequemur et, quantum potuerimus, rerum exemplis lectores docebimus, sicut supra significavimus, suos cuique mores plerumque conciliare fortunam.
Now, since fortune has willed that we survive him, we shall pursue the remainder and, as far as we are able, teach our readers by the examples of facts that, as we indicated above, each man's own character generally wins him his fortune.
§19.2namque hic contentus ordine equestri, quo erat ortus, in affinitatem pervenit imperatoris divi filii, cum iam ante familiaritatem eius esset consecutus nulla alia re quam elegantia vitae, qua ceteros ceperat principes civitatis dignitate pari, fortuna humiliores.
For he, content with the equestrian order in which he was born, came into alliance by marriage with the emperor, son of the deified, although he had already beforehand secured his friendship by nothing other than the elegance of his life, by which he had won over the other leading men of the state, who were equal to the emperor in dignity, but inferior in fortune.
§19.3tanta enim prosperitas Caesarem est consecuta, ut nihil ei non tribuerit fortuna, quod cuiquam ante detulerat, et conciliarit, quod nemo adhuc civis Romanus quivit consequi.
For such great prosperity followed Caesar that fortune denied him nothing that she had ever bestowed on anyone before, and secured for him what no Roman citizen hitherto had been able to attain.
§19.4nata est autem Attico neptis ex Agrippa, cui virginem filiam collocarat.
Moreover, a granddaughter was born to Atticus by Agrippa, to whom he had given his maiden daughter in marriage.
hanc Caesar vix anniculam Ti. Claudio Neroni, Drusilla nato, privigno suo, despondit: quae coniunctio necessitudinem eorum sanxit, familiaritatem reddidit frequentiorem.
Caesar betrothed her, when she was scarcely a year old, to Tiberius Claudius Nero, the son of Drusilla, his own stepson; which alliance sanctioned their intimacy and made their friendship more frequent.

Notes

  1. 19.1suos cuique mores plerumque conciliare fortunam — An accusative-with-infinitive construction functioning as the object of `docebimus`. `suos mores` is the subject accusative, `fortunam` is the object accusative, and `conciliare` is the infinitive. This restates the author's central moral thesis, referenced by `sicut supra significavimus` ('as we indicated above'), recalling the statement in chapter 11, section 6: 'mens cuique conciliat fortunam' ('each man's mind wins him his fortune').
  2. 19.2dignitate pari, fortuna humiliores — An adjective phrase modifying `ceteros principes civitatis`. `dignitate` and `fortuna` are ablatives of respect or specification. It means 'equal [to the emperor] in dignity, but inferior [to him] in fortune.' This contrasts the exceptional status and fortune (`fortuna`) of Octavian (the `imperator` with whom Atticus associated) with those of the other leading men of Rome.
  3. 19.3nihil ei non tribuerit fortuna, quod cuiquam ante detulerat — The double negative `nihil... non` expresses a strong affirmative ('everything'). `quod` is a relative pronoun modifying the implied antecedent within `nihil`, acting as the direct object of `detulerat` in the relative clause. It means 'fortune withheld nothing from him which she had previously bestowed on anyone' (i.e., she gave him everything she had ever given to anyone else).
  4. 19.4Ti. Claudio Neroni, Drusilla nato — `Drusilla nato` is a participial phrase featuring an ablative of origin (`Drusilla`), meaning 'born of Drusilla.' This refers to Octavian's stepson (`privigno suo`), the future second Roman emperor, Tiberius.

Cite this passage

Cornelius Nepos, Atticus §19.1-19.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0588.abo025.humanitext-lat2:19.1-19.4

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