Nepos, Alcibiades 1

Alc. 1.1Alcibiadēs, Clīniae fīlius, Athēniēnsis.Alcibiades, son of Clinias, an Athenian. Alc. 1.1In hōc nātūra quid efficere possit vidētur experta.In him nature seems to have tested what she could achieve. Alc. 1.1Cōnstat enim inter omnēs, quī dē eō memoriae prōdidērunt, nihil illō fuisse excellentius vel in vitiīs vel in virtūtibus.For all who have recorded his history agree that no one was more outstanding than he, whether in vices or in virtues. Alc. 1.2Nātus in amplissimā cīvitāte summō genere, omnium aetātis suae multō fōrmōsissimus, dīves;Born in a most distinguished state, of the noblest family, by far the most handsome of all men of his age, rich; Alc. 1.2ad omnēs rēs aptus cōnsiliīque plēnus (namque imperātor fuit summus et marī et terrā);fit for any undertaking and full of resource (for he was a supreme commander on both sea and land); Alc. 1.2disertus, ut in prīmīs dīcendō valēret, quod tanta erat commendātiō ōris atque ōrātiōnis, ut nēmō eī posset resistere;eloquent, so that he was among the most powerful speakers, because the appeal of his delivery and his language was so great that no one could resist him; Alc. 1.3cum tempus posceret, labōriōsus, patiēns;when occasion demanded, hard-working and enduring; Alc. 1.3līberālis, splendidus nōn minus in vītā quam vīctū;generous, magnificent no less in his way of life than in his table; Alc. 1.3affābilis, blandus, temporibus callidissimē serviēns: īdem, simulac sē remīserat neque causa suberat quārē animī labōrem perferret, luxuriōsus, dissolūtus, libīdinōsus, intemperāns reperiēbātur, ut omnēs admīrārentur in ūnō homine tantam esse dissimilitūdinem tamque dīversam nātūram.affable, charming, most cleverly suiting himself to circumstances: yet the same man, as soon as he had relaxed and there was no reason why he should endure mental effort, was found to be luxurious, dissolute, lustful and intemperate, so that all marvelled that there was such dissimilarity and so contradictory a nature in one man.