Nepos, Datames 7

Dat. 7.1Ab hōc tamen virō Sisinās, maximō nātū fīlius, dēsciit ad rēgemque trānsiit et dē dēfectiōne patris dētulit.From this man, nevertheless, Sisinas, his eldest son, broke away, went over to the king and informed him of his father's revolt. Dat. 7.1Quō nūntiō Artaxerxēs commōtus, quod intellegēbat sibi cum virō fortī ac strēnuō negōtium esse, quī et prius cōgitāre quam cōnārī cōnsuēsset et, cum cōgitāsset, facere audēret, Autophrodatem in Cappadociam mittit.Disturbed by this news, because he understood that he had to deal with a brave and energetic man, who was accustomed to think before he attempted anything and, once he had thought, dared to act, Artaxerxes sends Autophradates into Cappadocia. Dat. 7.2Hic nē intrāre posset, saltum, in quō Ciliciae portae sunt sitae, Datamēs praeoccupāre studuit.To prevent him from entering, Datames tried to seize in advance the pass in which the Cilician Gates are situated. Dat. 7.3Sed tam subitō cōpiās contrahere nōn potuit.But he could not gather his forces so quickly. Dat. 7.3Ā quā rē dēpulsus cum eā manū, quam contrāxerat, locum dēlēgit tālem, ut neque circumīrētur ab hostibus neque praeterīret adversārius, quīn ancipitibus locīs premerētur, et, sī dīmicāre vellet, nōn multum obesse multitūdō hostium suae paucitātī posset.Thwarted in this, he chose, with the force he had gathered, a position of such a kind that he could not be surrounded by the enemy, nor could his adversary pass by without being hemmed in on both sides, and, if he wished to fight, the enemy's numbers could not do much harm to his own few.