Nepos: LIBER DE EXCELLENTIBUS DVCIBUS EXTERARVM GENTIVM

[1] TIMOLEON Corinthius. Sine dubio magnus omnium iudicio hic vir exstitit. Namque huic uni contigit, quod nescio an nulli, ut et patriam, in qua erat natus, oppressam a tyranno liberaret et a Syracusanis, quibus auxilio erat missus, iam inveteratam servitutem depelleret totamque Siciliam multos annos bello vexatam a barbarisque oppressam suo adventu in pristinum restitueret.

[1] TIMOLEON of Corinth. Without doubt this man stood forth as great by the judgment of all. For to him alone it befell—a thing I do not know whether to any other—that he both liberated his fatherland, in which he had been born, oppressed by a tyrant, and from the Syracusans, to whom he had been sent as an aid, drove off a now inveterate servitude, and that by his advent he restored all Sicily, long vexed by war and oppressed by barbarians, to its pristine condition.

2 Sed in his rebus non simplici fortuna conflictatus est et, id quod difficilius putatur, multo sapientius tulit secundam quam adversam fortunam.

2 But in these matters he was assailed by fortune not of a single kind, and—what is thought more difficult—he bore favorable fortune much more wisely than adverse.

3 Nam cum frater eius Timophanes, dux a Corinthiis delectus, tyrannidem per milites mercennarios occupasset particepsque regni posset esse, tantum afuit a societate sceleris, ut antetulerit civium suorum libertatem fratris saluti et parere legibus quam imperare patriae satius duxerit.

3 For when his brother Timophanes, a leader chosen by the Corinthians, had seized a tyranny through mercenary soldiers, and he could have been a partner in the rule, he was so far from complicity in the crime that he preferred the liberty of his fellow-citizens to his brother’s safety and judged it better to obey the laws than to command his fatherland.

4 Hac mente per haruspicem communemque affinem, cui soror ex eisdem parentibus nata nupta erat, fratrem tyrannum interficiundum curavit. Ipse non modo manus non attulit, sed ne aspicere quidem fraternum sanguinem voluit. Nam dam res conficeretur, procul in praesidio fuit, ne quis satelles posset succurrere.

4 With this intention, through a haruspex and a common affine (in‑law), to whom his sister, born of the same parents, had been married, he took care to have his brother the tyrant slain. He himself not only did not lay hands, but did not even wish to look upon a brother’s blood. For while the deed was being brought to completion, he was at a distance on guard, so that no henchman could succor.

5 Hoc praeclarissimum eius factum non pari modo probatum est ab omnibus. Nonnulli enim laesam ab eo pietatem putabat et invidia laudem virtutis obterebant. Mater vero post id factum neque domum ad se filium admisit neque aspexit, quin eum fratricidam impiumque detestans compellaret.

5 This most illustrious deed of his was not approved in equal manner by all. For some thought that piety had been violated by him, and through envy they were trampling down the praise of his virtue. His mother, however, after that deed neither admitted her son to her home nor even looked upon him; rather, detesting him as a fratricide and impious, she would accost him.

6 Quibus rebus ille adeo est commotus, ut nonnumquam vitae finem facere voluerit atque ex ingratorum hominum conspectu morte decedere.

6 By these things he was so moved that sometimes he wished to make an end of his life and to depart by death from the sight of ungrateful men.

[2] Interim Dione Syracusis interfecto Dionysius rursus Syracusarum potitus est. Cuius adversarii opem a Corinthiis petierunt ducemque, quo in bello uterentur, postularunt. Huc Timoleon missus incredibili felicitate Dionysium tota Sicilia depulit.

[2] Meanwhile, Dion having been slain at Syracuse, Dionysius again got possession of Syracuse. His adversaries sought aid from the Corinthians and requested a leader to employ in the war. Thither Timoleon, sent with incredible felicity, drove Dionysius out of all Sicily.

2 Cum 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 et ex quanto regno ad quam fortunam detulisset.

2 Although he could have killed him, he was unwilling, and he ensured that he reached Corinth safely, because the Corinthians had often been assisted by the resources of both the Dionysii, the memory of which benignity he wished to stand forth; and he deemed that an illustrious victory, in which there was more clemency than cruelty; finally, so that it might be received not only by the ears but also seen by the eyes, whom, and from how great a kingdom to what fortune, he had brought down.

3 Post 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.

3 After the decease of Dionysius he waged war with Hicetas, who had opposed Dionysius; it was an indication that he had dissented not from hatred of tyranny but from cupidity, in that he himself, Dionysius having been driven out, was unwilling to relinquish the imperium.

4 Hoc superato Timoleon maximas copias Carthaginiensium apud Crinissum flumen fugavit ac satis habere coegit, si liceret Africam obtinere, qui iam complures annos possessionem Siciliae tenebant. Cepit etiam Mamercum, Italicum ducem, hominem bellicosum et potentem, qui tyrannos adiutum in Siciliam venerat.

4 With him overcome, Timoleon routed the very great forces of the Carthaginians by the river Crinissus and compelled them to be content with Africa—if only they might be permitted to hold it—who for several years had held possession of Sicily. He also captured Mamercus, an Italic leader, a warlike and powerful man, who had come into Sicily to aid the tyrants.

[3] Quibus rebus confectis cum propter diuturnitatem belli non solum regiones, sed etiam urbes desertas videret, conquisivit, quos potuit, primum Siculos; dein Corintho arcessivit colonos, quod ab his initio Syracusae erant conditae.

[3] With these things completed, since on account of the long duration of the war he saw not only the regions but even the cities deserted, he sought out and gathered, as many as he could, first the Sicilians; then from Corinth he summoned colonists, because Syracuse had at the beginning been founded by them.

2 Civibus veteribus sua restituit, novis bello vacuefactas possessiones divisit; urbium moenia disiecta fanaque deserta refecit; civitatibus leges libertatemque reddidit; ex maximo bello tantum otium totae insulae conciliavit, ut hic conditor urbium earum, non illi, qui initio deduxerant, videretur.

2 He restored to the old citizens their own, to the new he divided the possessions vacated by war; he rebuilt the disjointed walls of the cities and the deserted temples; to the communities he restored laws and liberty; out of the greatest war he secured such repose for the whole island that he seemed the founder of their cities, not those who had originally led them out.

3 Arcem Syracusis, quam munierat Dionysius ad urbem obsidendam, a fundamentis disiecit; cetera tyrannidis propugnacula demolitus est deditque operam, ut quam minime multa vestigia servitutis manerent.

3 The citadel at Syracuse, which Dionysius had fortified for besieging the city, he threw down from the foundations; the other bulwarks of tyranny he demolished, and he took pains that as few vestiges of servitude as possible should remain.

4 Cum tantis esset opibus, ut etiam invitis imperare posset, tantum autem amorem haberet omnium Siculorum, ut nullo recusante regnum obtinere, maluit se diligi quam metui. Itaque, cum primum potuit, imperium deposuit ac privatus Syracusis, quod reliquum vitae fuit, vixit.

4 Since he had such resources that he could command even the unwilling, and had so great a love from all the Sicilians that, with no one refusing, he might obtain the kingship, he preferred to be loved rather than feared. And so, as soon as he could, he laid down his command and, as a private citizen at Syracuse, he lived for the remainder of his life.

5 Neque vero id imperite fecit. Nam quod ceteri reges imperio potuerunt, hic benevolentia tenuit. Nullus honos huic defuit, neque postea res ulla Syracusis gesta est publice, de qua prius sit decretum quam Timoleontis sententia cognita.

5 Nor indeed did he do this unskillfully. For what the other kings were able to accomplish by authority, this man held by benevolence. No honor was lacking to him, nor thereafter was any affair at Syracuse done publicly, concerning which a decree was made before Timoleon’s opinion had been learned.

6 Nullius umquam consilium non modo antelatum, sed ne comparatum quidem est; neque id magis benevolentia factum est quam prudentia.

6 No one’s counsel was ever not only put before his, but not even set in comparison; nor was this done more from benevolence than from prudence.

[4] Hic cum aetate iam provectus esset, sine ullo modo morbo lumina oculorum amisit. Quam calamitatem ita moderate tulit, ut neque eum querentem quisquam audierit, neque eo minus privatis publicisque rebus interfuerit.

[4] When he was already advanced in age, he lost the lights of his eyes without any manner of disease. He bore this calamity so moderately that no one heard him complaining, nor on that account was he any less involved in private and public affairs.

2 Veniebat autem in theatrum, cum ibi concilium populi haberetur, propter valetudinem vectus iumentis iunctis, atque ita de vehiculo, quae videbantur, dicebat. Neque hoc illi quisquam tribuebat superbiae. Nihil enim umquam neque insolens neque gloriosum ex ore eius exiit.

2 He would come into the theater, when a council of the people was being held there, conveyed, on account of his health, by yoked draft-animals; and thus, from the vehicle, he would say what seemed fitting. Nor did anyone attribute this to arrogance in him. For nothing ever, neither insolent nor vainglorious, came forth from his mouth.

3 Qui quidem, cum suas laudes audiret praedicari, numquam aliud dixit quam se in ea re maxime diis agere gratias atque habere, quod, cum Siciliam recreare constituissent, tum se potissimum ducem esse voluissent. Nihil enim rerum humanarum sine deorum numine geri putabat. Itaque suae domi sacellum Automatias constituerat idque sanctissime colebat.

3 This man, when he heard his own praises being proclaimed, never said anything other than that in this matter he most greatly gave thanks and felt gratitude to the gods, because, when they had resolved to rejuvenate Sicily, then they had wished him in particular to be leader. For he thought that nothing in human affairs is carried on without the numen of the gods. And so at his own house he had set up a little shrine of Automatia, and he worshipped it most devoutly.

4 Ad hanc hominis excellentem bonitatem mirabiles accesserant casus. Nam proelia maxima natali suo die fecit omnia: quo factum est, ut eius diem natalem festum haberet universa Sicilia.

4 To this man’s excellent goodness there had accrued marvelous occurrences. For he fought all his greatest battles on his own birthday; whereby it came about that the whole of Sicily held his birthday as a feast-day.

[5] Huic quidam Laphystius, homo petulans et ingratus, vadimonium cum vellet imponere, quod cum illo se lege agere diceret, et complures concurrissent, qui procacitatem hominis manibus coercere conarentur, Timoleon oravit omnes, ne id facerent.

[5] To him a certain Laphystius, a petulant and ungrateful man, wished to impose a recognizance, on the ground that he said he was proceeding by law with him; and when several had run together, who were trying to coerce the man’s procacity with their hands, Timoleon entreated all not to do that.

2 Namque id ut Laphystio et cuivis liceret, se maximos labores summaque adisse pericula. Hanc enim speciem libertatis esse, si omnibus, quod quisque vellet, legibus experiri liceret. Idem, cum quidam Laphystii similis, nomine Demaenetus, in contione populi de rebus gestis eius detrahere coepisset ac nonnulla inveheretur in Timoleonta,

2 For he had undergone the greatest labors and the utmost perils, in order that this might be permitted to Laphystius and to anyone: that it be allowed to all to try by the laws whatever each man wished. For this, he said, was the very appearance of liberty, if it were permitted to all to make trial by the laws of whatever each wished. Likewise, when a certain man similar to Laphystius, by name Demaenetus, in the assembly of the people had begun to detract from his exploits and was inveighing somewhat against Timoleon,

3 dixit nunc demum se voti esse damnatum: namque hoc a diis immortalibus semper precatum, ut talem libertatem restitueret Syracusanis, in qua cuivis liceret, de quo vellet, impune dicere.

3 he said that now at last his vow had been fulfilled: for he had always prayed from the immortal gods to restore such liberty to the Syracusans that it would be permitted to anyone to speak with impunity about whomever he wished.

4 Hic cum diem supremum obisset, publice a Syracusanis in gymnasio, quod Timoleonteum appellatur, tota celebrante Sicilia sepultus est.

4 He, when he had met his final day, was publicly buried by the Syracusans in the gymnasium, which is called the Timoleonteum, with all Sicily celebrating.