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Nepos · Datames

Nepos, Datames 10

Mithridates feigns friendship

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Dat. 10.1Hic tamen tam callidus vir extrēmō tempore captus est Mithridātis, Ariobarzanis fīliī, dolō.Yet this man, so cunning, was caught at the very end by the trickery of Mithridates, the son of Ariobarzanes. Dat. 10.1Namque is pollicitus est rēgī sē eum interfectūrum, sī rēx permitteret, ut quodcumque vellet licēret impūne facere, fidemque dē eā rē mōre Persārum dextrā dedisset.For he promised the king that he would kill him, if the king would allow him to do whatever he wished with impunity, and gave him his pledge on that matter, in the Persian manner, with his right hand. Dat. 10.2Hanc ut accēpit ā rēge missam, cōpiās parat et absēns amīcitiam cum Datame facit, rēgis prōvinciās vexat, castella expugnat, magnās praedās capit, quārum partim suīs dispertit, partim ad Datamēn mittit;When he had received this pledge, sent by the king, he prepares forces and, without meeting him, makes friendship with Datames, harries the king's provinces, storms strongholds and takes great plunder, part of which he distributes among his own men and part he sends to Datames; Dat. 10.2parī modō complūra castella eī trādit.in the same way he hands over several strongholds to him.

Dat. 10.3Haec diū faciendō persuāsit hominī sē īnfīnītum adversus rēgem suscēpisse bellum, cum nihilō magis, nē quam suspīciōnem illī praebēret īnsidiārum, neque colloquium eius petīvit neque in cōnspectum venīre studuit.By doing this for a long time he persuaded the man that he had undertaken an endless war against the king, while all the same, so as not to give him any suspicion of treachery, he neither sought a conference with him nor tried to come into his sight. Dat. 10.3Sīc absēns amīcitiam gerēbat, ut nōn beneficiīs mūtuīs, sed commūnī odiō, quod ergā rēgem suscēperant, continērī vidērentur.So he kept up the friendship at a distance, in such a way that they seemed to be held together not by mutual kindnesses but by the common hatred which they had conceived towards the king.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×4, gerunds and gerundives ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (90 words)
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
tamen, adv.however, yet, nevertheless
tam, adv.so
callidus, -a, -umclever, crafty
vir, virī, m.man
extrēmus, -a, -umlast, extreme, furthest
tempus, temporis, n.time, season
capiō, capere, cēpī, captustake, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
fīlius, -ī, m.son
dolus, -ī, m.trick, craft
namque, conj.for
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
polliceor, -licērī, -licituspromise
rēx, rēgis, m.king
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.himself, herself, itself, themselves
interficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectusput out of the way, kill
sī, conj.if
permittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missumallow, permit; entrust
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
quīcumque, quaecumque, quodcumquewhoever, whatever
volō, velle, voluīwish
licet, -ēre, -uit or -itum est, impers.is lawful or permitted
impūne (adv.)without punishment
faciō, facere, fēcī, factusmake, do; iter facere, see iter
fidēs, -eī f.faith, trust; pledge
que, enclitic conj.and
dē, prep, with abl.down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
rēs, reī, f.thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
mōs, mōris, m.way, manner, habit, custom
dextra, -ae, f.right hand (manus understood)
dō, dare, dedī, datusgive
accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptustake to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missussend
cōpia, -ae, f.supply, abundance; plur., forces, troops
parō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusmake ready, prepare
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
absum, abesse, āfuī, āfutūrusbe away, be absent, be distant; be wanting
amīcitia, -ae f.friendship, alliance
cum, prep, with abl.with
prōvincia, -ae f.province; here, the Roman Province in southern Gaul
vexō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumharass, ravage
castellum, -ī n.fort, redoubt
expugnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumtake by storm, capture
magnus, -a, -umlarge, big, great, mighty; loud
praeda, -ae, f.booty, spoil, plunder
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
partim (adv.)partly (partim … partim: some … others)
suus, -a, -umhis, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
dispertiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītusdivide up, distribute
ad, prep. with acc.to, toward; at, near; for
pār, parisequal
modus, -ī, m.way, manner
complūrēs, -plūra, plur. adj.several, many
trādō, -dere, -didī, -ditusgive across, over, or up, deliver; hand down, relate, report
diū, adv.for a long time, a long time or while, long; comp
persuādeō, -suādēre, -suāsi, -suāsuspersuade, prevail upon, induce
homō, hominis, m.man
īnfīnītus, -a, -umboundless, countless
adversus, -a, -umfacing; unfavourable, unsuccessful
suscipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptusundertake
bellum, -ī, n.war
cum, conj.when, while, after; since; although
nihilō (adv.)by nothing; nihilō minus: none the less, nevertheless
magis, comp. adv.more, rather
nē, adv.not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
quis, qua, quid, indef. pron.any one, anybody, anything, some one, somebody, something
suspīciō, -ōnis, f.suspicion
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
praebeō, -ēre, -uī, -itushold forth, supply, furnish, give; show, present, exhibit
īnsidiae, -ārum, f. plur.ambush; plot, stratagem
neque or nec, conj.and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
colloquium (conloquium), -ī n.conference, talk
petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītusseek, ask; attack
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
cōnspectus, -ūs, m.sight
veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventuscome
studeō, -ēre, -uībe eager, give attention, apply oneself
sīc, adv.so, thus
gerō, gerere, gessī, gestuscarry, wear; carry on, do
nōn, adv.not
beneficium, -ī, n.well-doing, kindness, service, benefit
mūtuus, -a, -umborrowed, lent; mutual (pecūnia mūtua: a loan)
sed, conj.but
commūnis, -ecommon, shared, public
odium, -ī, n.hatred
ergā, prep, with acc.toward, for
contineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentushold together, keep within, shut up in; bound
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsussee; pass., seem
Nepos, Datames. 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.