Nepos, Eumenes 6

Olympias appeals to Eumenes

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Eum. 6.1Ad hunc Olympias, māter quae fuerat Alexandrī, cum litterās et nūntiōs mīsisset in Asiam cōnsultum, utrum repetītum īret Macedoniam (nam tum in Ēpīrō habitābat) et suās rēs occupāret, huic ille prīmum suāsit, nē sē movēret et exspectāret, quoad Alexandrī fīlius regnum adipīscerētur;When Olympias, who had been Alexander's mother, had sent letters and messengers to him in Asia to consult him whether she should go and reclaim Macedonia (for at that time she was living in Epirus) and take possession of her affairs, he first advised her not to stir and to wait until Alexander's son should gain the throne; Eum. 6.2sīn aliquā cupiditāte raperētur in Macedoniam, oblīvīscerētur omnium iniūriārum et in nēminem acerbiōre ūterētur imperiō.but if she were carried away by some desire into Macedonia, she should forget all injuries and exercise no harsh authority against anyone. Eum. 6.3Hōrum illa nihil fēcit: nam et in Macedoniam profecta est et ibi crūdēlissimē sē gessit.She did none of these things: for she both set out for Macedonia and conducted herself there most cruelly. Eum. 6.3Petiit autem ab Eumene absente, nē paterētur Philippī domus ac familiae inimīcissimōs stirpem quoque interimere, ferretque opem līberīs Alexandrī.But she asked Eumenes, far away as he was, not to allow the bitterest enemies of Philip's house and family to destroy his line as well, and to bring help to Alexander's children.

Eum. 6.4Quam veniam sī daret, quam prīmum exercitūs parāret, quōs sibi subsidiō addūceret.If he granted this favour, he should prepare armies as soon as possible to bring to her aid. Eum. 6.4Id quō facilius faceret, sē omnibus praefectīs, quī in officiō manēbant, mīsisse litterās, ut eī pārērent eiusque cōnsiliīs ūterentur.To make it easier for him to do this, she had sent letters to all the governors who remained loyal, telling them to obey him and follow his counsel. Eum. 6.5Hīs rēbus Eumenēs permōtus satius dūxit, sī ita tulisset fortūna, perīre bene meritīs referentem grātiam quam ingrātum vīvere.Deeply moved by this, Eumenes thought it better, if fortune so ordained, to perish repaying those who had deserved well of him than to live ungrateful.

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Grammar in this passage: purpose clauses ×2, indirect statement ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (95 words)

ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
māter, mātris, f.	mother
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
litterae, -ārum f. pl.	letters (of the alphabet); a letter, dispatch
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
nūntius, -ī, m.	messenger; message
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus	send
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
cōnsulō, -ere, -uī, -tus	consult
utrum (conj.)	whether (utrum … an: whether … or)
repetō, -ere, -petīvī, -petītum	demand back; seek again
eō, īre, iī, itus	go
nam, conj.	for
tum, adv.	then, at that time
habitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	dwell, inhabit
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
rēs, reī, f.	thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
occupō, -cupāre, -cupāvī, -cupātus	seize; fill
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.	that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
prīmum, adv.	first, in the first place
suādeō, -ēre, suāsī, suāsus	advise, urge
nē, adv.	not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
moveō, movēre, mōvī, mōtus	move
exspectō, -spectāre, -spectāvī, -spectātus	look out for, wait for, await, expect; wait
quoad (conj.)	as long as; until
fīlius, -ī, m.	son
regnum, -ī, n.	royal power, rule, throne; kingdom, realm
adipīscor, -ī, adeptus sum	obtain, win, gain
sīn (conj.)	but if
aliquī, -qua, -quod, indef. pron. adj.	some, any
cupiditās, -tātis, f.	desire, longing, eagerness
rapiō, -ere, -uī, -tus	seize, snatch
oblīvīscor, -līvīscī, -lītus	forget
omnis, -e	all, every
iniūria, -ae, f.	injury, wrong, hurt, harm
nēmō, nēminis, m. and f.	no one, nobody
acerbus, -a, -um	bitter, harsh, painful
ūtor, ūtī, ūsus	use
imperium, -ī, n.	command; sway, rule
nihil, n., indecl.	nothing
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus	make, do; iter facere, see iter
proficīscor, -ficīscī, -fectus sum	set out, depart, march
ibi, adv.	in that place, there
crūdēliter (adv.)	cruelly
gerō, gerere, gessī, gestus	carry, wear; carry on, do
petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus	seek, ask; attack
autem, conj.	moreover; but, however; now
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
absēns, -entis	absent, away
patior, patī, passus, bear	suffer, allow
domus, -ūs, f.	house, home
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
familia, -ae f.	household (incl. slaves and dependents)
inimīcus, -a, -um	unfriendly, hostile
stirps, stirpis f.	stock, root; family, race
quoque, adv.	also
interimō, -imere, -ēmī, -ēmptus	do away with, kill
ferō, ferre, tulī, lātus	bear, bring
que, enclitic conj.	and
ops, opis f.; pl. opēs, -um	help; (pl.) resources, wealth, power
līberī, -ōrum, m. plur.	children
venia, -ae f.	pardon, forgiveness
sī, conj.	if
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
quam, adv.	how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
exercitus, -ūs, m.	army
parō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	make ready, prepare
subsidium, -ī, n.	reserve, reinforcement, support, help
addūcō, -dūcere, -dūxī, -ductus	lead to, bring, take; induce, influence
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
quō, adv.	to what place? whither? to which place, whither; for which reason, wherefore, therefore; quō ūsque, till when? how long?
facile, adv.	easily
praefectus, -ī m.	commander, officer
officium, -ī, n.	service; duty
maneō, manēre, mānsī, mānsus	remain
littera, -ae f.	letter (of the alphabet); pl. letter, writing
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
pāreō, -ēre, -uī	obey
cōnsilium, -ī, n.	advice; plan, design, purpose; prudence
permoveō, -ēre, -mōvī, -mōtum	move deeply, influence
satius, comp. (n.)	better, preferable (satius est: it is better)
dūcō, dūcere, dūxī, ductus	lead; make, dig; with or without in mātrimōnium, marry
ita, adv.	in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as
fortūna, -ae, f.	fortune
pereō, -īre, -ii, -itūrus	pass away, perish
bene, adv.	well; successfully
mereō, -ēre, meruī, meritus	deserve, earn
referō, referre, rettulī, relātus	bring or carry back, return; pedem referre, to draw back, retire, retreat; grātiam referre, see grātia
grātia, -ae, f.	favor; gratitude, thanks; plur., thanks; grātiās agere, to give thanks, thank; grātiam referre, to return a favor, show gratitude, requite
ingrātus, -a, -um	unwelcome, unpleasant; ungrateful
vīvō, vīvere, vīxī, vīctus	live

Nepos, Eumenes. 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.