Nepos: LIBER DE EXCELLENTIBUS DVCIBUS EXTERARVM GENTIVM

[1] ALCIBIADES, Cliniae filius, Atheniensis. In hoc, quid natura efficere possit, videtur experta. Constat enim inter omnes, qui de eo memoriae prodiderunt, nihil illo fuisse excellentius vel in vitiis vel in virtutibus.

[1] ALCIBIADES, son of Clinias, an Athenian. In him, what nature can effect, she seems to have made trial of. For it is agreed among all who have handed down to memory about him that nothing was more excellent than he either in vices or in virtues.

2 Natus in amplissima civitate summo genere, omnium aetatis suae multo formosissimus, ad omnes res aptus consiliique plenus - namque imperator fuit summus et mari et terra, disertus, ut in primis dicendo valeret, quod tanta erat commendatio oris atque orationis, ut nemo ei [dicendo] posset resistere -, dives;

2 Born in a most ample state of the highest lineage, by far the most handsome of all of his age, apt for all affairs and full of counsel - for he was a supreme general both by sea and by land, eloquent, so that he excelled especially in speaking, since so great was the commendation of his face and of his oration that no one could resist him [in speaking] -, rich;

3 cum tempus posceret, laboriosus, patiens; liberalis, splendidus non minus in vita quam victu; affabilis, blandus, temporibus callidissime serviens:

3 when the occasion demanded, industrious, patient; liberal, splendid no less in life than at his table; affable, blandishing, most shrewdly serving the times:

4 idem, simulac se remiserat neque causa suberat, quare animi laborem perferret, luxuriosus, dissolutus, libidinosus, intemperans reperiebatur, ut omnes admirarentur in uno homine tantam esse dissimilitudinem tamque diversam naturam.

4 the same man, as soon as he had relaxed himself and no cause was present why he should endure toil of mind, was found luxurious, dissolute, libidinous, intemperate, so that all marveled that in one man there was such great dissimilarity and so diverse a nature.

[2] Educatus est in domo Pericli - privignus enim eius fuisse dicitur -, eruditus a Socrate; socerum habuit Hipponicum, omnium Graeca lingua loquentium ditissimum: ut, si ipse fingere vellet, neque plura bona comminisci neque maiora posset consequi, quam vel natura vel fortuna tribueret.

[2] He was brought up in the house of Pericles - for he is said to have been his step-son -, educated by Socrates; he had Hipponicus as his father-in-law, the richest of all who speak the Greek language: so that, if he himself should wish to imagine it, he could neither devise more goods nor attain greater ones than those which either nature or fortune bestowed.

2 Ineunte adulescentia amatus est a multis amore Graecorum, in eis Socrate; de quo mentionem facit Plato in symposio. Namque eum induxit commemorantem se pernoctasse cum Socrate neque aliter ab eo surrexisse, ac filius a parente debuerit.

2 At the beginning of adolescence he was loved by many with the love of the Greeks, among them Socrates; of whom Plato makes mention in the Symposium. For he introduced him recalling that he had spent the night with Socrates, and that he had risen from him no otherwise than a son ought from a parent.

3 Posteaquam robustior est factus, non minus multos amavit; in quorum amore, quoad licitum est odiosa, multa delicate iocoseque fecit, quae referremus, nisi maiora potiora haberemus.

3 After he had become more robust, he loved many no less; in love for them, in so far as what is odious is permitted, he did many delicate and jocose things, which we would relate, did we not have greater, more preferable matters.

[3] Bello Peloponnesio huius consilio atque auctoritate Athenienses bellum Syracusanis indixerunt; ad quod gerendum ipse dux delectus est, duo praeterea collegae dati, Nicia et Lamachus.

[3] In the Peloponnesian War, by this man’s counsel and authority, the Athenians declared war upon the Syracusans; for the conducting of which he himself was chosen as general, and, besides, two colleagues were assigned, Nicias and Lamachus.

2 Id cum appararetur, priusquam classis exiret, accidit, ut una nocte omnes Hermae, qui in oppido erant Athenis, deicerentur praeter unum, qui ante ianuam erat Andocidi. Itaque ille postea Mercurius Andocidi vocitatus est.

2 While that was being prepared, before the fleet went out, it happened that in one night all the Herms that were in the town at Athens were cast down, except one, which was before Andocides’ door. And so that one afterward was commonly called the Mercury of Andocides.

3 Hoc cum appareret non sine magna multorum consensione esse factum, quae non ad privatam, sed publicam rem pertineret, magnus multitudini timor est iniectus, ne qua repentina vis in civitate exsisteret, quae libertatem opprimeret populi.

3 As this became apparent—that it had been done not without the great consensus of many, and that it pertained not to a private but to a public matter—a great fear was infused into the multitude, lest some sudden force arise in the state which would oppress the liberty of the people.

4 Hoc maxime convenire in Alcibiadem videbatur, quod et potentior et maior quam privatus existimabatur. Multos enim liberalitate devinxerat, plures etiam opera forensi suos reddiderat.

4 This was thought to agree especially with Alcibiades, because he was considered both more powerful and greater than a private citizen. For he had bound many by liberality, and had rendered still more his own by forensic work in the forum.

5 Qua re fiebat, ut omnium oculos, quotienscumque in publicum prodisset, ad se converteret neque ei par quisquam in civitate poneretur. Itaque non solum spem in eo habebant maximam, sed etiam timorem, quod et obesse plurimum et prodesse poterat.

5 Wherefore it came about that he turned all eyes upon himself, whenever he went out into public, nor was anyone in the state set as his equal. And so they had not only the greatest hope in him, but also fear, because he could both do very great harm and confer very great benefit.

6 Aspergebatur etiam infamia, quod in domo sua facere mysteria dicebatur; quod nefas erat more Atheniensium, idque non ad religionem, sed ad coniurationem pertinere existimabatur.

6 He was also bespattered with infamy, because he was said to conduct the mysteries in his own house; which was a nefas by the custom of the Athenians, and this was thought to pertain not to religion but to conspiracy.

[4] Hoc crimine in contione ab inimicis compellabatur. Sed instabat tempus ad bellum proficiscendi. Id ille intuens neque ignorans civium suorum consuetudinem postulabat, si quid de se agi vellent, potius de praesente quaestio haberetur, quam absens invidiae crimine accusaretur.

[4] He was being reproached with this charge in the public assembly by his enemies. But the time for setting out to war was pressing. Considering this, and not ignorant of the custom of his fellow citizens, he demanded that, if they wished to take any action concerning him, rather an inquiry be held with him present than that, in his absence, he be accused on a charge of envy.

2 Inimici vero eius quiescendum in praesenti, quia noceri non posse intellegebant, et illud tempus exspectandum decreverunt, quo exisset, ut absentem aggrederentur; itaque fecerunt.

2 But his enemies resolved to keep quiet for the present, because they understood that he could not be harmed, and that that time should be awaited when he had gone out, so that they might attack him in his absence; and so they did.

3 Nam postquam in Siciliam eum pervenisse crediderunt, absentem, quod sacra violasset, reum fecerunt. Qua de re cum ei nuntius a magistratu in Siciliam missus esset, ut domum ad causam dicendam rediret, essetque in magna spe provinciae bene administrandae, non parere noluit et in trierem, quae ad eum erat deportandum missa, ascendit.

3 For after they believed that he had reached Sicily, they indicted him in his absence, on the ground that he had violated the sacred rites. On account of this, when a messenger had been sent to him into Sicily by the magistrate, that he should return home to plead his case, and as he was in great hope of administering the province well, he was unwilling to disobey and boarded the trireme which had been sent to convey him back.

4 Hac Thurios in Italiam pervectus, multa secum reputans de immoderata civium suorum licentia crudelitateque erga nobiles, utilissimum ratus impendentem evitare tempestatem clam se ab custodibus subduxit et inde primum Elidem, dein Thebas venit.

4 On this he was conveyed to Thurii in Italy, pondering many things with himself about the immoderate license of his fellow-citizens and their cruelty toward the nobles; judging it most useful to avoid the impending tempest, he secretly withdrew himself from his guards and from there came first to Elis, then to Thebes.

5 Postquam autem se capitis damnatum bonis publicatis audivit et, id quod usu venerat, Eumolpidas sacerdotes a populo coactos, ut se devoverent, eiusque devotionis, quo testatior esset memoria, exemplum in pila lapidea incisum esse positum in publico, Lacedaemonem demigravit.

5 After, however, he heard that he had been condemned on a capital charge, with his goods confiscated, and that, as had come into usage, the Eumolpid priests had been compelled by the people to devote him, and that an exemplar of that devotio, in order that the memory might be more attested, had been incised on a stone pillar and set up in public, he migrated to Lacedaemon.

6 Ibi, ut ipse praedicare consuerat, non adversus patriam, sed inimicos suos bellum gessit, qui eidem hostes essent civitati: nam cum intellegerent se plurimum prodesse posse rei publicae, ex ea eiecisse plusque irae suae quam utilitati communi paruisse.

6 There, as he himself was accustomed to proclaim, he waged war not against his fatherland, but against his own enemies, who were likewise enemies to that same city: for when they understood that he could be of the greatest service to the republic, they had driven him out of it and had obeyed their own wrath rather than the common utility.

7 Itaque huius consilio Lacedaemonii cum Perse rege amicitiam fecerunt, dein Deceleam in Attica munierunt praesidioque ibi perpetuo posito in obsidione Athenas tenuerunt; eiusdem opera Ioniam a societate averterunt Atheniensium; quo facto multo superiores bello esse coeperunt.

7 Therefore, by his counsel the Lacedaemonians made amity with the king of Persia; then they fortified Decelea in Attica, and, a perpetual garrison having been placed there, they held Athens under siege; by this same man’s agency they turned Ionia away from the alliance of the Athenians; which having been done, they began to be much superior in the war.

[5] Neque vero his rebus tam amici Alcibiadi sunt facti quam timore ab eo alienati. Nam cum acerrimi viri praestantem prudentiam in omnibus rebus cognoscerent, pertimuerunt, ne caritate patriae ductus aliquando ab ipsis descisceret et cum suis in gratiam rediret. Itaque tempus eius interficiundi quaerere instituerunt.

[5] Nor indeed by these affairs were they made so much friends to Alcibiades as alienated from him by fear. For when men most resolute recognized his outstanding prudence in all matters, they grew very afraid lest, led by love of his fatherland, he might sometime defect from them and return into favor with his own. Therefore they began to seek an opportunity for killing him.

2 Id Alcibiades diutius celari non potuit. Erat enim ea sagacitate, ut decipi non posset, praesertim cum animum attendisset ad cavendum. Itaque ad Tissaphernem, praefectum regis Darii, se contulit.

2 This could not be concealed from Alcibiades for long. For he was of such sagacity that he could not be deceived, especially since he had applied his mind to guarding against it. Therefore he betook himself to Tissaphernes, the prefect of King Darius.

3 Cuius cum in intimam amicitiam pervenisset et Atheniensium male gestis in Sicilia rebus opes senescere, contra Lacedaemoniorum crescere videret, initio cum Pisandro praetore, qui apud Samum exercitum habebat, per internuntios colloquitur et de reditu suo facit mentionem. Erat enim eodem, quo Alcibiades, sensu, populi potentiae non amicus et optimatium fautor.

3 When he had come into his innermost friendship, and saw that, from the Athenians’ affairs badly managed in Sicily, their resources were aging (waning), while on the contrary those of the Lacedaemonians were increasing, at the outset he confers by internuncios with the praetor Pisander, who had the army at Samos, and makes mention of his own return. For he was of the same sentiment as Alcibiades, not a friend to the power of the people and a supporter of the optimates.

4 Ab hoc destitutus primum per Thrasybulum, Lyci filium, ab exercitu recipitur praetorque fit apud Samum; post suffragante Theramene populi scito restituitur parique absens imperio praeficitur simul cum Thrasybulo et Theramene.

4 Abandoned by this man, first through Thrasybulus, son of Lycus, he is received back by the army and becomes praetor at Samos; afterwards, with Theramenes supporting by vote, he is restored by a decree of the people, and, though absent, is placed in charge with equal imperium together with Thrasybulus and Theramenes.

5 Horum in imperio tanta commutatio rerum facta est, ut Lacedaemonii, qui paulo ante victores viguerant, perterriti pacem peterent. Victi enim erant quinque proeliis terrestribus, tribus navalibus, in quibus ducentas naves triremes amiserant, quae captae in hostium venerant potestatem.

5 Under their command so great a change of affairs was brought about that the Lacedaemonians, who a little before had flourished as victors, terrified, sought peace. For they had been defeated in five battles on land and three at sea, in which they had lost two hundred trireme ships, which, captured, had come into the enemies’ power.

6 Alcibiades simul cum collegis receperat Ioniam, Hellespontum, multas praeterea urbes Graecas, quae in ora sitae sunt Asiae, quarum expugnarant complures, in his Byzantium, neque minus multas consilio ad amicitiam adiunxerant, quod in captos clementia fuerant usi.

6 Alcibiades, together with his colleagues, had recovered Ionia, the Hellespont, and besides many Greek cities which are situated on the coast of Asia, of which they had taken several by storm, among these Byzantium; nor had they added fewer by counsel to friendship, because they had used clemency toward the captured.

7 Ita praeda onusti, locupletato exercitu, maximis rebus gestis Athenas venerunt.

7 Thus, laden with booty, with the army enriched, and with the greatest deeds accomplished, they came to Athens.

[6] His cum obviam universa civitas in Piraeum descendisset, tanta fuit omnium exspectatio visendi Alcibiadis, ut ad eius triremem vulgus conflueret, proinde ac si solus advenisset.

[6] When to meet them the whole city had gone down into the Piraeus, so great was everyone’s expectation of seeing Alcibiades that the crowd flocked to his trireme, just as if he had arrived alone.

2 Sic enim populo erat persuasum, et adversas superiores et praesentes secundas res accidisse eius opera. Itaque et Siciliae amissum et Lacedaemoniorum victorias culpae suae tribuebant, quod talem virum e civitate expulissent. Neque id sine causa arbitrari videbantur.

2 Thus indeed the people had been persuaded that both the earlier adverse and the present prosperous affairs had occurred through his agency. And so they were attributing both the loss of Sicily and the victories of the Lacedaemonians to their own fault, because they had expelled such a man from the city. Nor did they seem to judge this without cause.

Nam postquam exercitui praeesse coeperat, neque terra neque mari hostes pares esse potuerant.

For after he had begun to command the army, the enemy had been no match either on land or at sea.

3 Hic ut e navi egressus est, quamquam Theramenes et Thrasybulus eisdem rebus praefuerant simulque venerant in Piraeum, tamen unum omnes illum prosequebantur, et, id quod numquam antea usu venerat nisi Olympiae victoribus, coronis laureis taeniisque vulgo donabatur. Ille lacrumans talem benevolentiam civium suorum accipiebat reminiscens pristini temporis acerbitatem.

3 As he disembarked from the ship, although Theramenes and Thrasybulus had been in charge of the same affairs and had come together into the Piraeus, yet all were escorting him alone, and—something which had never before been customary except for victors at Olympia—he was being publicly presented with laurel crowns and fillets. He, in tears, received such benevolence from his fellow-citizens, recalling the bitterness of the former time.

4 Postquam astu venit, contione advocata sic verba fecit, ut nemo tam ferus fuerit, quin eius casui illacrumarit inimicumque iis se ostenderit, quorum opera patria pulsus fuerat, proinde ac si alius populus, non ille ipse, qui tum flebat, eum sacrilegii damnasset.

4 After he came into the city, with an assembly summoned, he spoke in such a way that no one was so fierce as not to shed tears at his misfortune, and to show himself an enemy to those by whose agency he had been driven from his fatherland, just as if another people, not that very one which was then weeping, had condemned him for sacrilege.

5 Restituta ergo huic sunt publice bona, eidemque illi Eumolpidae sacerdotes rursus resacrare sunt coacti, qui eum devoverant, pilaeque illae, in quibus devotio fuerat scripta, in mare praecipitatae.

5 Therefore his goods were publicly restored to him, and those Eumolpid priests who had devoted him were compelled again to reverse the consecration to that same man, and those piles, on which the curse had been written, were hurled into the sea.

[7] Haec Alcibiadi laetitia non nimis fuit diuturna. Nam cum ei omnes essent honores decreti totaque res publica domi bellique tradita, ut unius arbitrio gereretur, et ipse postulasset, ut duo sibi collegae darentur, Thrasybulus et Adimantus, neque id negatum esset, classe in Asiam profectus, quod apud Cymen minus ex sententia rem gesserat, in invidiam recidit.

[7] This joy of Alcibiades was not overly long‑lasting. For when all honors had been decreed to him and the whole commonwealth at home and in war had been entrusted, to be conducted at the discretion of one man, and he himself had demanded that two colleagues be given to him, Thrasybulus and Adimantus, nor had this been denied, having set out with the fleet into Asia, because at Cyme he had managed the affair less to expectation, he fell back into ill‑will.

2 Nihil enim eum non efficere posse ducebant. Ex quo fiebat, ut omnia minus prospere gesta culpae tribuerent, cum aut eum neglegenter aut malitiose fecisse loquerentur; sicut tum accidit. Nam corruptum a rege capere Cymen noluisse arguebant.

2 For they supposed that there was nothing he could not effect. From which it came about that they attributed everything done less prosperously to fault, since they would say that he had done it either negligently or maliciously; as then happened. For they argued that, corrupted by the king, he had been unwilling to take Cyme.

3 Itaque huic maxime putamus malo fuisse nimiam opinionem ingenii atque virtutis. Timebatur enim non minus quam diligebatur, ne secunda fortuna magnisque opibus elatus tyrannidem concupisceret. Quibus rebus factum est, ut absenti magistratum abrogarent et alium in eius locum substituerent.

3 Therefore we think that, most of all, an excessive opinion of his genius and virtue was a harm to him. For he was feared no less than he was esteemed, lest, uplifted by favorable fortune and great opulence, he should covet tyranny. By these circumstances it came about that, in his absence, they abrogated his magistracy and substituted another in his place.

4 Id ille ut audivit, domum reverti noluit et se Pactyen contulit ibique tria castella communiit, Ornos, Bisanthen, Neontichos, manuque collecta primus Graecae civitatis in Thraeciam introiit, gloriosius existimans barbarum praeda locupletari quam Graiorum.

4 As soon as he heard this, he did not wish to return home, but betook himself to Pactye, and there he fortified three little forts, Ornos, Bisanthen, Neontichos; and, a band having been gathered, he entered Thrace as the first of the Greek commonwealth, esteeming it more glorious to be enriched with barbarian booty than with that of the Graians.

5 Qua ex re creverat cum fama tum opibus magnamque amicitiam sibi cum quibusdam regibus Thraeciae pepererat. Neque tamen a caritate patriae potuit recedere.

5 From this matter he had increased both in fame and in resources, and he had engendered for himself a great amity with certain kings of Thrace. Yet he could not recede from the love of his fatherland.

[8] Nam cum apud Aegos flumen Philocles, praetor Atheniensium, classem constituisset suam neque longe abesset Lysander, praetor Lacedaemoniorum, qui in eo erat occupatus, ut bellum quam diutissime duceret, quod ipsis pecunia a rege suppeditabatur, contra Atheniensibus exhaustis praeter arma et navis nihil erat super,

[8] For when by the river Aegos Philocles, praetor of the Athenians, had stationed his fleet, and Lysander, praetor of the Lacedaemonians, was not far off, who was engaged in this, to protract the war as long as possible, because money was being supplied to them by the king, whereas the Athenians, being exhausted, had nothing left beyond arms and ships,

2 Alcibiades ad exercitum venit Atheniensium ibique praesente vulgo agere coepit: si vellent, se coacturum Lysandrum dimicare aut pacem petere spondet; Lacedaemonios eo nolle classe confligere, quod pedestribus copiis plus quam navibus valerent:

2 Alcibiades came to the army of the Athenians, and there, with the crowd present, began to speak: if they wished, he promised that he would compel Lysander to fight or to seek peace; that the Lacedaemonians on that account were unwilling to engage with the fleet, because they were stronger in infantry forces than in ships:

3 sibi autem esse facile Seuthem, regem Thraecum, deducere, ut eum terra depelleret; quo facto necessario aut classe conflicturum aut bellum compositurum.

3 but that for him it was easy to bring in Seuthes, king of the Thracians, so that he would drive him from the land; and, this having been done, of necessity he would either engage with the fleet or compose the war.

4 Id etsi vere dictum Philocles animadvertebat, tamen postulata facere noluit, quod sentiebat se Alcibiade recepto nullius momenti apud exercitum futurum et, si quid secundi evenisset, nullam in ea re suam partem fore, contra ea, si quid adversi accidisset, se unum eius delicti futurum reum.

4 Although Philocles observed that this was truly said, nevertheless he was unwilling to grant the demands, because he perceived that, with Alcibiades received back, he would be of no moment with the army; and, if anything favorable should happen, he would have no share in that matter, whereas, if anything adverse should happen, he alone would be the defendant for that offense.

5 Ab hoc discedens Alcibiades `Quoniam' inquit `victoriae patriae repugnas, illud moneo, ne iuxta hostem castra habeas nautica: periculum est enim, ne immodestia militum vestrorum occasio detur Lysandro vestri opprimendi exercitus'.

5 Departing from him, Alcibiades said, `Since you are opposing the fatherland’s victory, I warn you of this: do not keep a naval camp next to the enemy; for there is danger lest, by the lack of discipline of your soldiers, an opportunity be given to Lysander to crush your army'.

6 Neque ea res illum fefellit. Nam Lysander cum per speculatores comperisset vulgum Atheniensium in terram praedatum exisse navesque paene inanes relictas, tempus rei gerendae non dimisit eoque impetu bellum totum delevit.

6 Nor did that matter fail him. For Lysander, when through scouts he had learned that the common crowd of the Athenians had gone out onto land to plunder and that the ships had been left almost empty, did not let pass the time for carrying out the affair, and with that onrush he obliterated the whole war.

[9] At Alcibiades, victis Atheniensibus non satis tuta eadem loca sibi arbitrans, penitus in Thraeciam se supra Propontidem abdidit, sperans ibi facillime suam fortunam occuli posse. Falso.

[9] But Alcibiades, with the Athenians defeated, judging the same places not safe enough for himself, hid himself deep in Thrace, above the Propontis, hoping that there his fortune could most easily be concealed. Falsely.

2 Nam Thraeces, postquam eum cum magna pecunia venisse senserunt, insidias fecerunt; qui ea, quae apportarat, abstulerunt, ipsum capere non potuerunt.

2 For the Thracians, after they perceived that he had come with a great sum of money, laid an ambush; they carried off the things which he had brought, but were not able to capture him himself.

3 Ille cernens nullum locum sibi tutum in Graecia propter potentiam Lacedaemoniorum, ad Pharnabazum in Asiam transiit; quem quidem adeo sua cepit humanitate, ut eum nemo in amicitia antecederet. Namque ei Grynium dederat, in Phrygia castrum, ex quo quinquagena talenta vectigalis capiebat.

3 He, perceiving no place safe for himself in Greece because of the power of the Lacedaemonians, crossed over into Asia to Pharnabazus; and he so captivated him by his humanity that no one surpassed him in friendship. For he had given him Grynium, a stronghold in Phrygia, from which he was taking as revenue fifty talents.

4 Qua fortuna Alcibiades non erat contentus neque Athenas victas Lacedaemoniis servire poterat pati. Itaque ad patriam liberandam omni ferebatur cogitatione.

4 With that fortune Alcibiades was not content, nor could he endure that Athens, conquered, should serve the Lacedaemonians. Therefore, he was driven in every thought to liberate his fatherland.

5 Sed videbat id sine rege Perse non posse fieri ideoque eum amicum sibi cupiebat adiungi neque dubitabat facile se consecuturum, si modo eius conveniundi habuisset potestatem. Nam Cyrum fratrem ei bellum clam parare Lacedaemoniis adiuvantibus sciebat: id si aperuisset, magnam se initurum gratiam videbat.

5 But he saw that that could not be done without the king of the Persians, and therefore he desired to have him joined to himself as a friend, nor did he doubt that he would easily attain this, if only he had had the power of meeting him. For he knew that Cyrus, his brother, was secretly preparing war against him, the Lacedaemonians aiding: if he should lay this open, he saw that he would enter into great favor.

[10] Hoc cum moliretur peteretque a Pharnabazo, ut ad regem mitteretur, eodem tempore Critias ceterique tyranni Atheniensium certos homines ad Lysandrum in Asiam miserant, qui eum certiorem facerent, nisi Alcibiadem sustulisset, nihil earum rerum fore ratum, quas ipse Athenis constituisset: quare, si suas res gestas manere vellet, illum persequeretur.

[10] While he was contriving this and was asking from Pharnabazus to be sent to the King, at the same time Critias and the other tyrants of the Athenians had dispatched certain men to Lysander into Asia, to make him more certain that, unless he removed Alcibiades, none of those things which he himself had constituted at Athens would be ratified; wherefore, if he wished his own achievements to remain, he should pursue him.

2 His Laco rebus commotus statuit accuratius sibi agendum cum Pharnabazo. Huic ergo renuntiat, quae regi cum Lacedaemoniis essent, nisi Alcibiadem vivum aut mortuum sibi tradidisset.

2 Moved by these matters, the Lacedaemonian decided he must deal more carefully with Pharnabazus. To him, therefore, he reports what the king’s relations with the Lacedaemonians would be, unless he handed over Alcibiades to him alive or dead.

3 Non tulit hunc satrapes et violare clementiam quam regis opes minui maluit. Itaque misit Susamithren et Bagaeum ad Alcibiadem interficiendum, cum ille esset in Phrygia iterque ad regem compararet.

3 The satrap could not bear this and preferred to violate clemency rather than that the king’s resources be diminished. Accordingly he sent Susamithres and Bagaeus to put Alcibiades to death, when he was in Phrygia and was preparing a journey to the king.

4 Missi clam vicinitati, in qua tum Alcibiades erat, dant negotium, ut eum interficiant. Illi cum ferro aggredi non auderent, noctu ligna contulerunt circa casam eam, in qua quiescebat, eaque succenderunt, ut incendio conficerent, quem manu superari posse diffidebant.

4 Sent secretly to the neighborhood in which at that time Alcibiades was, they give a commission to have him killed. Those men, since they did not dare to attack with steel, by night piled wood around the cottage in which he was resting, and set it alight, in order to dispatch him by conflagration, whom they distrusted could be overcome by hand.

5 Ille autem ut sonitu flammae est excitatus, etsi gladius ei erat subductus, familiaris sui subalare telum eripuit. Namque erat cum eo quidam ex Arcadia hospes, qui numquam discedere voluerat. Hunc sequi se iubet et id, quod in praesentia vestimentorum fuit, arripit.

5 But when he was roused by the sound of the flame, although his sword had been withdrawn from him, he snatched the under‑arm weapon from his companion. For there was with him a certain guest‑friend from Arcadia, who had never wished to depart. He orders this man to follow him, and seizes what clothing there was at the moment.

His in ignem eiectis flammae vim transiit.

With these thrown into the fire, he passed through the force of the flames.

6 Quem ut barbari incendium effugisse viderunt, telis eminus missis interfecerunt caputque eius ad Pharnabazum rettulerunt. At mulier, quae cum eo vivere consuerat, muliebri sua veste contectum aedificii incendio mortuum cremavit, quod ad vivum interimendum erat comparatum. Sic Alcibiades annos circiter XL natus diem obiit supremum.

6 When the barbarians saw that he had escaped the conflagration, they killed him with missiles hurled from a distance and carried back his head to Pharnabazus. But the woman who had been accustomed to live with him cremated the dead man, covered with her own womanly garment, in the fire of the building which had been prepared for killing him alive. Thus Alcibiades, about 40 years old, met his last day.

[11] Hunc infamatum a plerisque tres gravissimi historici summis laudibus extulerunt: Thucydides, qui eiusdem aetatis fuit, Theopompus, post aliquanto natus, et Timaeus: qui quidem duo maledicentissimi nescio quo modo in illo uno laudando consentiunt.

[11] This man, defamed by very many, three most weighty historians exalted with the highest praises: Thucydides, who was of the same age, Theopompus, born somewhat later, and Timaeus; which two indeed, most slanderous, somehow agree in praising that one alone.

2 Namque ea, quae supra scripsimus, de eo praedicarunt atque hoc amplius: cum Athenis, splendidissima civitate, natus esset, omnes splendore ac dignitate superasse vitae;

2 For indeed they proclaimed about him the things which we have written above, and this besides: although he had been born at Athens, a most splendid city, he surpassed all in the splendor and dignity of his life;

3 postquam inde expulsus Thebas venerit, adeo studiis eorum inservisse, ut nemo eum labore corporisque viribus posset aequiperare - omnes enim Boeotii magis firmitati corporis quam ingenii acumini inserviunt -;

3 after he had been expelled from there and had come to Thebes, he so devoted himself to their pursuits that no one could equal him in labor and in strength of body - for all Boeotians serve the firmness of the body rather than the acumen of the intellect -;

4 eundem apud Lacedaemonios, quorum moribus summa virtus in patientia ponebatur, sic duritiae se dedisse, ut parsimonia victus atque cultus omnes Lacedaemonios vinceret; fuisse apud Thracas, homines vinolentos rebusque veneriis deditos; hos quoque in his rebus antecessisse;

4 the same man among the Lacedaemonians, in whose customs the highest virtue was placed in patience, so gave himself to hardness that by parsimony of diet and dress he surpassed all the Lacedaemonians; he had been among the Thracians, men vinolent and devoted to venereal matters; these too he had surpassed in these things;

5 venisse ad Persas, apud quos summa laus esset fortiter venari, luxuriose vivere: horum sic imitatum consuetudinem, ut illi ipsi eum in his maxime admirarentur.

5 he came to the Persians, among whom the highest praise was to hunt bravely and to live luxuriously: he so imitated the consuetude of these people that they themselves especially admired him in these things.

6 Quibus rebus effecisse, ut, apud quoscumque esset, princeps poneretur habereturque carissimus. Sed satis de hoc; reliquos ordiamur.

6 By these things he brought it about that, among whomever he was, he was set as chief and was held most dear. But enough about this; let us begin the rest.