Nepos, Epaminondas 6

Epam. 6.1Īdem cum in conventum vēnisset Arcadum, petēns ut societātem cum Thēbānīs et Argīvīs facerent, contrāque Callistratus, Athēniēnsium lēgātus, quī ēloquentiā omnēs eō praestābat tempore, postulāret ut potius amīcitiam sequerentur Atticōrum, et in ōrātiōne suā multa invectus esset in Thēbānōs et Argīvōs in eīsque hoc posuisset, animum advertere dēbēre Arcadēs, quālēs utraque cīvitās cīvēs prōcreāsset, ex quibus dē cēterīs possent iūdicāre: Argīvōs enim fuisse Orestem et Alcmeōnem mātricīdās, Thēbīs Oedipum nātum, quī, cum patrem suum interfēcisset, ex mātre līberōs prōcreāsset: huic in respondendō Epamīnōndās, cum dē cēterīs perōrāsset, postquam ad illa duo opprobria pervēnit, admīrārī sē dīxit stultitiam rhētoris Atticī, quī nōn animadverterit, innocentēs illōs nātōs domī, scelere admissō cum patriā essent expulsī, receptōs esse ab Athēniēnsibus.

Again, when he had come to the assembly of the Arcadians, asking them to make an alliance with the Thebans and the Argives, and on the other side Callistratus, the envoy of the Athenians, who at that time surpassed everyone in eloquence, was demanding that they rather follow friendship with the Athenians, and in his speech had attacked the Thebans and Argives at length, and had included this point among others, that the Arcadians ought to notice what kind of citizens each city had produced, so that they could judge the rest from them: for the Argives had been Orestes and Alcmaeon, who killed their mothers, and at Thebes had been born Oedipus, who, after killing his father, had children by his mother: in replying to him Epaminondas, when he had finished with the other points and came to these two reproaches, said that he wondered at the foolishness of the Athenian speaker, who had not noticed that those men had been born innocent at home and, after committing their crime, when they were driven out of their country, had been taken in by the Athenians.

Note. A very long period. The main clause comes only at the end: huic ... Epamīnōndās ... admīrārī sē dīxit stultitiam rhētoris Atticī. Before it, cum ... vēnisset, cum ... postulāret, (cum) ... invectus esset ... posuisset are all part of a long cum clause. animum advertere dēbēre Arcadēs is indirect statement giving Callistratus' point. In the myths Orestes and Alcmaeon killed their mothers and Oedipus killed his father; Epaminondas' retort is that Athens gave refuge to Orestes and Oedipus.

Epam. 6.4Sed maximē eius ēloquentia ēlūxit Spartae lēgātī ante pugnam Leuctricam.

But his eloquence shone out most of all at Sparta, when he was an envoy there before the battle of Leuctra.

Note. Spartae is locative, 'at Sparta'. lēgātī agrees with eius: 'his eloquence (as) envoy'. The peace conference at Sparta in 371 BC came just before the battle of Leuctra.

Epam. 6.4Quō cum omnium sociōrum convēnissent lēgātī, cōram frequentissimō conventū sīc Lacedaemoniōrum tyrannidem coarguit, ut nōn minus illā ōrātiōne opēs eōrum concusserit quam Leuctricā pugnā.

When the envoys of all the allies had gathered there, he exposed the tyranny of the Spartans before that crowded meeting so effectively that with that speech he shook their power no less than with the battle of Leuctra.

Note. Quō: 'to which place, where'. ut ... concusserit: result clause with the perfect subjunctive. nōn minus ... quam: 'no less ... than'.

Epam. 6.4Tum enim perfēcit, quod post appāruit, ut auxiliō sociōrum prīvārentur.

For it was then, as afterwards became clear, that he brought it about that they were deprived of the help of their allies.

Note. quod post appāruit: 'as afterwards became clear', a relative clause referring to the whole result clause.