Nepos, Alcibiades 9

Alcibiades takes refuge with Pharnabazus

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Alc. 9.1At Alcibiadēs, victīs Athēniēnsibus nōn satis tūta eadem loca sibi arbitrāns, penitus in Thraeciam sē suprā Propontidem abdidit, spērāns ibi facillimē suam fortūnam occulī posse.But Alcibiades, thinking that after the Athenians' defeat those same parts were not safe enough for him, hid himself deep in Thrace beyond the Propontis, hoping that there his fortunes could most easily be concealed. Alc. 9.1Falsō.Wrongly. Alc. 9.2Nam Thraecēs, postquam eum cum magnā pecūniā vēnisse sēnsērunt, īnsidiās fēcērunt eaque quae apportārat abstulērunt, ipsum capere nōn potuērunt.For the Thracians, after they realised that he had come with a great deal of money, laid an ambush and took away what he had brought, though they could not capture him. Alc. 9.3Ille cernēns nūllum locum sibi tūtum in Graeciā propter potentiam Lacedaemoniōrum ad Pharnabazum in Asiam trānsiit, quem quidem adeō suā cēpit hūmānitāte, ut eum nēmō in amīcitiā antecēderet.Seeing that no place in Greece was safe for him because of the power of the Spartans, he crossed into Asia to Pharnabazus, whom he so captivated with his charm that no one surpassed him in his friendship. Alc. 9.3Namque eī Grynium dederat, in Phrygiā castrum, ex quō quīnquāgēna talenta vectīgālis capiēbat.For he had given him Grynium, a fortress in Phrygia, from which he drew fifty talents a year in revenue.

Alc. 9.4Quā fortūnā Alcibiadēs nōn erat contentus neque Athēnās victās Lacedaemoniīs servīre poterat patī.Alcibiades was not content with this fortune, nor could he bear that Athens, conquered, should be enslaved to the Spartans. Alc. 9.4Itaque ad patriam līberandam omnī ferēbātur cōgitātiōne.So all his thoughts were bent on freeing his country. Alc. 9.5Sed vidēbat id sine rēge Persē nōn posse fierī, ideōque eum amīcum sibi cupiēbat adiungī neque dubitābat facile sē cōnsecūtūrum, sī modo eius conveniundī habuisset potestātem.But he saw that this could not be done without the Persian king, and so he wished to make him his friend, and did not doubt that he would easily succeed, if only he had the chance of meeting him. Alc. 9.5Nam Cȳrum frātrem eī bellum clam parāre Lacedaemoniīs adiuvantibus sciēbat: id sī aperuisset, magnam sē initūrum grātiam vidēbatFor he knew that the king's brother Cyrus was secretly preparing war against him with the help of the Spartans: if he revealed this, he saw that he would win great favour.

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Grammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×2, indirect statement ×4, gerunds and gerundives ×2

Latin vocabulary for this passage (94 words)

at, conj.	but
vincō, -ere, vīcī, victum	conquer, defeat
nōn, adv.	not
satis, adv.	enough, sufficiently
tūtus, -a, -um	safe
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.	place, situation
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
arbitror, -ārī, -ātus	consider, think, judge
penitus (adv.)	deep within, far inside
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
suprā, adv. and prep. with acc.	above, before
abdō, -dere, -didī, -ditus	put away, hide
spērō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	hope
ibi, adv.	in that place, there
facile, adv.	easily
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
fortūna, -ae, f.	fortune
occulō, -ere, -culuī, -cultum	hide, conceal
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
falsō (adv.)	falsely, wrongly
nam, conj.	for
postquam, conj.	later than, after, when
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
cum, prep, with abl.	with
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
pecūnia, -ae, f.	money (the possession of cattle constituting wealth in early times)
veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus	come
sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sēnsus	perceive, feel
īnsidiae, -ārum, f. plur.	ambush; plot, stratagem
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus	make, do; iter facere, see iter
que, enclitic conj.	and
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
apportō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	bring, carry (to a place)
auferō, auferre, abstulī, ablātus	bear away, carry off
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
capiō, capere, cēpī, captus	take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.	that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
cernō, cernere, crēvī, certus or crētus	discern, perceive, make out
nūllus, -a, -um	not any, none, no
propter, prep. with acc.	on account of, because of
potentia, -ae f.	power, influence
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
trānseō, -īre, -iī, -itus	go across or over, cross
quidem, adv.	in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even
adeō (adv.)	so far, to such a degree; so
hūmānitās, -tātis f.	culture, refinement
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
nēmō, nēminis, m. and f.	no one, nobody
amīcitia, -ae f.	friendship, alliance
antecēdō, -ere, -cessī, -cessum	go before; surpass
namque, conj.	for
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
castrum, -ī n.	fortress, stronghold, fortified place
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
quīnquāgēnī, -ae, -a	fifty each, in fifties
talentum, -ī n.	talent, a large Greek weight and sum of money
vectīgal, -ālis n.	tax, revenue
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
contentus, -a, -um	content, satisfied (+ abl.)
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
serviō, -ire, -īvī, -ītus	be subject to, serve
patior, patī, passus, bear	suffer, allow
itaque, adv.	and so, accordingly, therefore
patria, -ae, f.	fatherland, country
līberō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	set free, free, liberate, release
omnis, -e	all, every
ferō, ferre, tulī, lātus	bear, bring
cōgitātiō, -ōnis f.	thought, reflection; plan, intention
sed, conj.	but
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus	see; pass., seem
sine, prep. with abl.	without
rēx, rēgis, m.	king
fīō, fierī, factus sum	be done or made, become, happen
ideō (adv.)	for that reason, therefore
amīcus, -ī, m.	friend
cupiō, -ere, -īvī, -ītus	desire, long for, wish
adiungo, -iungere, -iūnxī, -iūnctus	join to, join
dubitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	doubt, hesitate
cōnsequor, -sequī, -secūtus	follow up, follow; overtake
sī, conj.	if
modo, adv.	only
conveniō, -venīre, -vēnī, -ventus	come together, assemble
habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	have, hold; consider
potestās, -ātis f.	power, authority
frāter, frātris, m.	brother
bellum, -ī, n.	war
clam (adv.)	secretly
parō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	make ready, prepare
adiuvō, -āre, adiūvī, adiūtum	help, assist
sciō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	know
aperiō, -īre, -uī, -tus	open
ineō, -īre, -iī, -itus	go into, enter; adopt
grātia, -ae, f.	favor; gratitude, thanks; plur., thanks; grātiās agere, to give thanks, thank; grātiam referre, to return a favor, show gratitude, requite

Nepos, Alcibiades. Latin text: A. Fleckeisen, Cornelii Nepotis Vitae (Teubner, 1886), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.