2. Tali modo custodia liberatus Cimon celeriter ad principatum pervenit. habebat enim satis eloquentiae, summam liberalitatem, magnam prudentiam cum iuris civilis tum rei militaris, quod cum patre a puero in exercitibus fuerat versatus. itaque hic et populum urbanum in sua tenuit potestate et apud exercitum plurimum valuit auctoritate. [2] primum imperator apud flumen Strymona magnas copias Thraecum fugavit, oppidum Amphipolim constituit eoque decem milia Atheniensium in coloniam misit. idem iterum imperator apud Mycalen Cypriorum et Phoenicum ducentarum navium classem devictam cepit eodemque die pari fortuna in terra usus est. [3] namque hostium navibus captis statim ex classe copias suas eduxit barbarorumque maximam vim uno concursu prostravit. [4] qua victoria magna praeda potitus cum domum reverteretur, quod iam nonnullae insulae propter acerbitatem imperii defecerant, bene animatas confirmavit, alienatas ad officium redire coegit. [5] Scyrum, quam eo tempore Dolopes incolebant, quod contumacius se gesserant, vacuefecit, possessores veteres urbe insulaque eiecit, agros civibus divisit. Thasios opulentia fretos suo adventu fregit. his ex manubiis arx Athenarum, qua ad meridiem vergit, est ornata.
II. Cimon, being thus set free from confinement, soon attained great eminence; for he had considerable eloquence, the utmost generosity, and great skill, not only in civil law, but in military affairs, as he had been employed from his boyhood with his father in the army. He in consequence held the people of the city under his control, and had great influence over the troops. In his first term of service, on the river Strymon, he put to flight great forces of the Thracians, founded the city of Amphipolis, and sent thither ten thousand Athenian citizens as a colony. He also, in a second expedition, conquered and took at Mycale a fleet of two hundred ships belonging to the Cyprians and Phoenicians, and experienced like good fortune by land on the same day; for after capturing the enemy’s vessels, he immediately led out his troops from the fleet, and overthrew at the first onset a vast force of the barbarians. By this victory he obtained a great quantity of spoil; and, as some of the islands, through the rigour of the Athenian government, had revolted from them, he secured the attachment, in the course of his return home, of such as were well disposed, and obliged the disaffected to return to their allegiance. Scyros, which the Dolopes at that time inhabited, he depopulated, because it had behaved itself insolently, ejecting the old settlers from the city and island, and dividing the lands among his own countrymen. The Thasians, who relied upon their wealth, he reduced as soon as he attacked them. With these spoils the citadel of Athens was adorned on the side which looks to the south.
3. Quibus rebus cum unus in civitate maxime floreret, incidit in eandem invidiam quam pater suus ceterique Atheniensium principes: nam testarum suffragiis quod illi ὀστρακισμόν vocant decem annorum exilio multatus est. [2] cuius facti celerius Athenienses quam ipsum paenituit. nam cum ille animo forti invidiae ingratorum civium cessisset bellumque Lacedaemonii Atheniensibus indixissent, confestim notae eius virtutis desiderium consecutum est. [3] itaque post annum quintum, quam expulsus erat, in patriam revocatus est. ille, quod hospitio Lacedaemoniorum utebatur, satius existimans Graeciae civitates de controversiis suis inter se iure disceptare quam armis contendere, Lacedaemonem sua sponte est profectus pacemque inter duas potentissimas civitates conciliavit. [4] post, neque ita multo, Cyprum cum ducentis navibus imperator missus, cum eius maiorem partem insulae devicisset, in morbum implicitus in oppugnando oppido Citio est mortuus.
III. When, by these acts, he had attained greater honour in the state than any other man, he fell under the same public odium as his father, and others eminent among the Athenians; for by the votes of the shells, which they call the ostracism, he was condemned to ten years’ exile. Of this proceeding the Athenians repented sooner than himself; for after he had submitted, with great fortitude, to the ill-feeling of his ungrateful countrymen, and the Lacedaemonians had declared war against the Athenians, a desire for his well-known bravery immediately ensued. In consequence, he was summoned back to his country five years after he had been banished from it. But as he enjoyed the guest-friendship of the Lacedaemonians, he thought it better to hasten to Sparta, and accordingly proceeded thither of his own accord, and settled a peace between those two most powerful states.
Being sent as commander, not long after, to Cyprus, with a fleet of two hundred ships, he fell sick, after he had conquered the greater part of the island, and died in the town of Citium.
4. Hunc Athenienses non solum in bello, sed etiam in pace diu desideraverunt. fuit enim tanta liberalitate, cum compluribus locis praedia hortosque haberet, ut numquam in eis custodem posuerit fructus servandi gratia, ne quis impediretur, quominus eis rebus quibus quisque vellet frueretur. [2] semper eum pedisequi cum nummis sunt secuti, ut, si quis opis eius indigeret, haberet quod statim daret, ne differendo videretur negare. saepe, cum aliquem offensum fortunae videret minus bene vestitum, suum amiculum dedit. [3] cottidie sic cena ei coquebatur, ut, quos invocatos vidisset in foro, omnes ad se vocaret, quod facere nullo die praetermittebat. nulli fides eius, nulli opera, nulli res familiaris defuit: multos locupletavit, complures pauperes mortuos, qui unde efferrentur non reliquissent, suo sumptu extulit. [4] sic se gerendo minime est mirandum, si et vita eius fuit secura et mors acerba.
IV. The Athenians long felt regret for him, not only in war, but in time of peace; for he was a man of such liberality, that though he had farms and gardens in several parts, he never set a guard over them for the sake of preserving the fruit, so that none might be hindered from enjoying his property as he pleased. Attendants always followed him with money, that, if any one asked his assistance, he might have something to give him immediately, lest, by putting him off, he should appear to refuse. Frequently, when he saw a man thrown in his way by chance in a shabby dress, he gave him his own cloak. A dinner was dressed for him daily in such abundance, that he could invite all whom he saw in the forum uninvited; a ceremony which he did not fail to observe every day. His protection, his assistance, his pecuniary means, were withheld from none. He enriched many; and he buried at his own cost many poor persons, who at their death had not left sufficient for their interment. In consequence of such conduct, it is not at all surprising that his life was free from trouble, and his death severely felt.
VI. LYSANDER.
Lysander conquers the Athenians, and establishes a decemvirate in the several states of Greece, I His cruelty to the Thracians, II. He endeavours to dethrone the kings of Sparta, and corrupt the various oracles; is brought to trial and acquitted; is killed by the Thebans, III. Was his own accuser, IV.
1. Lysander Lacedaemonius magnam reliquit sui famam, magis felicitate quam virtute partam: Athenienses enim adversus Peloponnesios bellum gerentes [2] sexto et vicesimo anno confecisse apparet, neque id qua ratione consecutus sit latet: non enim virtute sui exercitus, sed immodestia factum est adversariorum, qui, quod dicto audientes imperatoribus suis non erant, dispalati in agris relictis navibus in hostium venerunt potestatem. quo facto Athenienses se Lacedaemoniis dediderunt. [3] hac victoria Lysander elatus, cum antea semper factiosus audaxque fuisset, sic sibi indulsit, ut eius opera in maximum odium Graeciae Lacedaemonii pervenerint. [4] nam cum hanc causam Lacedaemonii dictitassent sibi esse belli, ut Atheniensium impotentem dominationem refringerent, postquam apud Aegos flumen Lysander classis hostium est potitus, nihil aliud molitus est quam ut omnes civitates in sua teneret potestate, cum id se Lacedaemoniorum causa facere simularet. [5] namque undique, qui Atheniensium rebus studuissent, eiectis decem delegerat in una quaque civitate, quibus summum imperium potestatemque omnium rerum committeret. horum in numerum nemo admittebatur, nisi qui aut eius hospitio contineretur aut se illius fore proprium fide confirmarat.
I. LYSANDER, the Lacedaemonian, left a high character of himself, which was gained, however, more by good fortune than by merit. That he subdued the Athenians, when they were at war with the Lacedaemonians, in the twenty-sixth year of the contest, is certain; but how he obtained that conquest is but little known; for it was not effected by the va
lour of his own troops, but by the want of discipline among the enemy, who, from not being obedient to the commands of their leaders, but straggling about in the fields, and abandoning their vessels, fell into the power of their adversaries; in consequence of which disaster the Athenians submitted to the Lacedaemonians.
Lysander, elated with this victory, and having always before been a factious and bold man, allowed himself such liberty, that the Lacedaemonians, through his conduct, incurred the greatest unpopularity throughout Greece; for they having said that their object in going to war was to humble the overbearing tyranny of the Athenians, Lysander, after he had captured the enemy’s fleet at Aegospotamos, endeavoured after nothing so much as to keep all the states of Greece under his authority, while he pretended that he acted thus for the sake of the Lacedaemonians. Having every where ejected those who favoured the party of the Athenians, he made choice of ten men in each city, on whom he conferred supreme authority, and the control of all proceedings. Into the number of these no one was admitted who was not attached to him by friendship, or who had not assured him, by pledging his faith, that he would be entirely at his disposal.
2. Ita decemvirali potestate in omnibus urbibus constituta ipsius nutu omnia gerebantur. cuius de crudelitate ac perfidia satis est unam rem exempli gratia proferre, ne de eodem plura enumerando defatigemus lectores. [2] victor ex Asia cum reverteretur Thasumque devertisset, quod ea civitas praecipua fide fuerat erga Athenienses, proinde ac si non iidem firmissimi solerent esse amici, qui constantes fuissent inimici, pervertere eam concupivit. [3] vidit autem, nisi in eo occultasset voluntatem, futurum ut Thasii dilaberentur consulerentque rebus suis ...
II. The decemviral government being thus established in every city, everything was done according to his pleasure. Of his cruelty and perfidy it is sufficient to give one instance, by way of example, that we may not weary our readers by enumerating many acts of the same individual. As he was returning in triumph from Asia, and had turned aside towards Thasos, he endeavoured, as the people had been eminent for fidelity to the Athenians, to corrupt them, as if those were wont to be the firmest friends who had been steady enemies. But he saw that unless he concealed his intention in the affair, the Thasians would elude him, and take measures for their own interests. Accordingly [lacuna].
3. Itaque ii decemviralem potestatem ab illo constitutam sustulerunt. quo dolore incensus iniit consilia reges Lacedaemoniorum tollere. sed sentiebat id se sine ope deorum facere non posse, quod Lacedaemonii omnia ad oracula referre consuerant. [2] primum Delphicum corrumpere est conatus. cum id non potuisset, Dodonaeum adortus est. hinc quoque repulsus dixit se vota suscepisse, quae Iovi Hammoni solveret, existimans se Afros facilius corrupturum. [3] hac spe cum profectus esset in Africam, multum eum antistites Iovis fefellerunt. nam non solum corrumpi non potuerunt, sed etiam legatos Lacedaemonem miserunt, qui Lysandrum accusarent, quod sacerdotes fani corrumpere conatus esset. [4] accusatus hoc crimine iudicumque absolutus sententiis, Orchomeniis missus subsidio occisus est a Thebanis apud Haliartum. [5] quam vere de eo secus foret iudicatum, oratio indicio fuit, quae post mortem in domo eius reperta est, in qua suadet Lacedaemoniis, ut regia potestate dissoluta ex omnibus dux deligatur ad bellum gerendum, sed sic scripta, ut deum videretur congruere sententiae, quam ille se habiturum pecunia fidens non dubitarat. hanc ei scripsisse Cleon Halicarnasius dicitur.
III. The decemviral government, which had been appointed by him, his countrymen abolished. Incensed at this affront, he entered upon measures to remove the kings of the Lacedaemonians; but he found that he could not effect his object without support from the gods, because the Lacedaemonians were accustomed to refer everything to the oracles. In the first place, therefore, he endeavoured to corrupt Delphi, and, when he could not succeed in doing so, he made an attempt upon Dodona. Being disappointed there also, he gave out that he had made vows which he must pay to Jupiter Ammon, thinking that he would bribe the Africans with greater ease. When he had gone, accordingly, with this expectation into Africa, the priests of Jupiter greatly disappointed him, for they not only would not be bribed, but even sent deputies to Lacedaemon to accuse Lysander of “having endeavoured to corrupt the ministers of the temple.” After being brought to trial on this charge, and being acquitted by the votes of his judges, he was sent with some auxiliary troops to the Orchomenians, and killed by the Thebans at Haliartus. How just was the decision regarding him, the speech was a proof, which was found in his house after his death, and in which he recommended to the Lacedaemonians, that, after they had abolished the regal government, a leader should be chosen from among the whole people to conduct the war; but it was written in such a manner, that it might seem to be in accordance with the advice of the gods, which he, relying on his money, did not doubt that he should procure. This speech Cleon of Halicarnassus is said to have written for him
4. Atque hoc loco non est praetereundum factum Pharnabazi, satrapis regii. nam cum Lysander praefectus classis in bello multa crudeliter avareque fecisset deque iis rebus suspicaretur ad cives suos esse perlatum, petiit a Pharnabazo ut ad ephoros sibi testimonium daret, quanta sanctitate bellum gessisset sociosque tractasset, deque ea re accurate scriberet: magnam enim eius auctoritatem in ea re futuram. [2] huic ille liberaliter pollicetur: librum grandem verbis multis conscripsit, in quibus summis eum effert laudibus. quem cum hic legisset probassetque, dum signatur, alterum pari magnitudine et tanta similitudine, ut discerni non posset, signatum subiecit, in quo accuratissime eius avaritiam perfidiamque accusarat. [3] Lysander domum cum redisset, postquam de suis rebus gestis apud maximum magistratum quae voluerat dixerat, testimonii loco librum a Pharnabazo datum tradidit. hunc summoto Lysandro cum ephori cognossent, ipsi legendum dederunt. ita ille imprudens ipse suus fuit accusator.
IV. In this place a transaction of Pharnabazus, the king’s satrap, must not be omitted. When Lysander, as commander of the fleet, had done many cruel and avaricious acts in the course of the war, and suspected that reports of these proceedings had been made to his countrymen, he asked Pharnabazus to give him a testimonial to present to the Ephori, showing with what conscientiousness he had carried on the war and treated the allies, begging him to write fully concerning the matter, as his authority on that head would be great. Pharnabazus promised him fairly, and wrote a long and full letter, in which he extolled him with the greatest praises. But when Lysander had read and approved of it, Pharnabazus substituted, while it was being sealed, another of the same size in its place, so like it that it could not be distinguished from it, in which he had most circumstantially accused him of avarice and perfidy. Lysander, accordingly, when he had returned home, and had said what he wished before the chief magistrates, handed them, as a testimonial, the letter which he had received from Pharnabazus. The Ephori, after having perused it when Lysander was withdrawn, gave it to him to read. Thus he became unawares his own accuser.
VII. ALCIBIADES.
Alcibiades eminent both in his virtues and vices, I. His education, II. He commands in the expedition against Syracuse; is suspected of profaning the mysteries, and of conspiring against the government, III. Is recalled home, but flees, and attaches himself to the Lacedaemonians, IV. Falling under suspicion among them, he flees to the Persians, and is afterwards reconciled to his countrymen, V. His enthusiastic reception at Athens, VI. He again becomes unpopular there; his successes in Thrace, VII. He tries to promote the good of his country, VIII. He crosses over into Asia, IX. Is killed in Phrygia, X. His character, XI.
1. Alcibiades, Cliniae filius, Atheniensis. in hoc natura quid efficere possit videtur experta. constat enim inter omnes, qui de eo memoriae prodiderunt, nihil illo fuisse excellentius vel in vitiis vel in virtutibus. [2] natus in amplissima civitate summo genere, omnium aetatis suae multo formosissimus, dives; 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 posset resistere; [3] cum tempus posceret, laboriosus, patiens; liberal
is, splendidus non minus in vita quam victu; affabilis, blandus, temporibus callidissime serviens: [4] idem, simulac se remiserat neque causa suberat quare animi laborem perferret, luxuriosus, dissolutus, libidinosus, intomperans reperiebatur, ut omnes admirarentur in uno homine tantam esse dissimilitudinem tamque diversam naturam.
I. ALCIBIADES. the son of Clinias, was a native of Athens. In him nature seems to have tried what she could do; for it is agreed among all who have written concerning him, that no one was ever more remarkable than he, either for vices or virtues. Born in a most distinguished city, of a very high family, and by far the most handsome of all the men. of his age, he was qualified for any occupation, and abounded in practical intelligence. He was eminent as a commander by sea and land; he was eloquent, so as to produce the greatest effect by his speeches; for such indeed was the persuasiveness of his looks and language, that in oratory no one was a match for him. He was rich, and, when occasion required, laborious, patient, liberal, and splendid, no less in his public than in his private life; he was also affable and courteous, conforming dexterously to circumstances; but, when he had unbent himself, and no reason offered why he should endure the labour of thought, was seen to be luxurious, dissolute, voluptuous, and self-indulgent, so that all wondered there should be such dissimilitude, and so contradictory a nature, in the same man.
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 eminisci neque maiora posset consequi, quam vel natura vel fortuna tribuerat. [2] ineunte adulescentia amatus est a multis more Graecorum, in eis a 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. [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.
Delphi Complete Works of Cornelius Nepos Page 34