Nepos, Hannibal 2

Hann. 2.1Nam ut omittam Philippum, quem absēns hostem reddidit Rōmānīs, omnium iīs temporibus potentissimus rēx Antiochus fuit.

For, to pass over Philip, whom he made an enemy of the Romans without even being there, the most powerful king of all in those times was Antiochus.

Note. ut omittam 'to pass over' is a stock purpose clause. absēns: Hannibal stirred Philip V of Macedon against Rome by a treaty (215 BC) without meeting him. Antiochus III of Syria is the king who took Hannibal in after he fled Carthage.

Hann. 2.1Hunc tantā cupiditāte incendit bellandī, ut usque ā rubrō marī arma cōnātus sit īnferre Ītaliae.

Hannibal fired him with such a desire for war that he tried to carry arms into Italy all the way from the Red Sea.

Note. bellandī is a gerund (genitive with cupiditāte). ā rubrō marī 'from the Red Sea': the Romans used the name loosely for the waters east of Arabia, i.e. from the far end of the king's empire.

Hann. 2.2Ad quem cum lēgātī vēnissent Rōmānī, quī dē eius voluntāte explōrārent darentque operam cōnsiliīs clandestīnīs ut Hannibalem in suspīciōnem rēgī addūcerent, tamquam ab ipsīs corruptus alia atque anteā sentīret, neque id frūstrā fēcissent idque Hannibal comperisset sēque ab interiōribus cōnsiliīs sēgregārī vīdisset, tempore datō adiit ad rēgem, eīque cum multa dē fidē suā et odiō in Rōmānōs commemorāsset, hoc adiūnxit: "pater meus" inquit "Hamilcar puerulō mē, utpote nōn amplius novem annōs nātō, in Hispāniam imperātor proficīscēns Karthāgine Iovī optimō maximō hostiās immolāvit.

When Roman envoys had come to him to find out what he intended, and were working by secret plans to make the king suspect Hannibal, as though, bribed by them, he had changed his views; and when they had not done this in vain, and Hannibal had found it out and saw that he was being shut out of the king's inner councils, he took his chance and went to the king, and after he had said a great deal about his loyalty and his hatred of the Romans, he added this: "When I was a little boy," he said, "no more than nine years old, my father Hamilcar, setting out from Carthage for Spain as commander, sacrificed victims to Jupiter Best and Greatest.

Note. A very long sentence: two cum-clauses ('when the envoys had come… and when they had not done it in vain…') and then the main verbs adiit and adiūnxit. tempore datō is an ablative absolute, 'when the chance came'. In Hannibal's words, puerulō mē … nātō is a dative of the person affected, and nōn amplius novem annōs nātō 'not more than nine years old' uses the accusative of extent of time with nātus. Iovī optimō maximō is the title of Jupiter of the Capitol, here used of the Carthaginian chief god.

Hann. 2.4Quae dīvīna rēs dum cōnficiēbātur, quaesīvit ā mē vellemne sēcum in castra proficīscī.

While this ceremony was being carried out, he asked me whether I would like to go with him to the camp.

Note. vellemne: the enclitic -ne turns the verb into an indirect yes/no question, 'whether I wanted'. sēcum refers to the subject of quaesīvit (his father).

Hann. 2.4Id cum libenter accēpissem atque ab eō petere coepissem nē dubitāret dūcere, tum ille, faciam, inquit, sī mihi fidem quam postulō dederis.

When I gladly accepted and began to beg him not to hesitate to take me, he said: 'I will do it, if you give me the pledge I ask for.'

Note. Note how Nepos puts the father's words straight into the story (faciam, inquit). dederis is future perfect: 'if you (shall have) give(n) me'.

Hann. 2.4Simul mē ad āram addūxit, apud quam sacrificāre īnstituerat, eamque cēterīs remōtīs tenentem iūrāre iussit numquam mē in amīcitiā cum Rōmānīs fore.

At once he led me to the altar at which he had begun to sacrifice, sent the others away, and ordered me to take hold of it and swear that I would never be on friendly terms with the Romans.

Note. eamque … tenentem: Hannibal had to hold the altar while swearing, which made the oath especially binding. fore is the future infinitive of sum (= futūrum esse).

Hann. 2.5Id ego iūsiūrandum patrī datum usque ad hanc aetātem ita cōnservāvī, ut nēminī dubium esse dēbeat, quīn reliquō tempore eādem mente sim futūrus.

I have kept this oath, given to my father, up to my present age so faithfully that no one ought to doubt that I will be of the same mind for the rest of my life.

Note. Id … iūsiūrandum is the object of cōnservāvī, put first for emphasis. quīn … sim futūrus 'that I will be': quīn after a negative expression of doubt, with the future participle + sim standing in for a future subjunctive.

Hann. 2.6Quārē sī quid amīcē dē Rōmānīs cōgitābis, nōn imprūdenter fēceris, sī mē cēlāris;

So if you plan anything friendly toward the Romans, you will not act unwisely if you hide it from me;

Note. sī quid: after sī, quis means 'anything' (indefinite). The futures cōgitābis, fēceris and cēlāris (= cēlāveris) make a lively warning: 'if you plan anything friendly toward Rome, you will not be unwise to hide it from me'.

Hann. 2.6cum quidem bellum parābis, tē ipsum frūstrāberis, sī nōn mē in eō prīncipem posueris."

but when you are preparing war, you will cheat yourself if you do not make me its leader."

Note. frūstrāberis is the future of the deponent frūstror, 'you will cheat yourself'.