Nepos, Hannibal 7

Hann. 7.1Cum in apparandō ācerrimē esset occupātus, Karthāginiēnsēs bellum cum Rōmānīs composuērunt.

While he was very busy with these preparations, the Carthaginians made peace with the Romans.

Hann. 7.1Ille nihilō sētius exercituī posteā praefuit rēsque in Āfricā gessit usque ad P. Sulpicium C. Aurēlium cōnsulēs.

He nonetheless stayed at the head of the army afterwards and campaigned in Africa until the consulship of Publius Sulpicius and Gaius Aurelius.

Note. nihilō sētius 'none the less'. usque ad … cōnsulēs dates by consuls: P. Sulpicius and C. Aurelius were consuls in 200 BC.

Hann. 7.2Hīs enim magistrātibus lēgātī Karthāginiēnsēs Rōmam vēnērunt, quī senātuī populōque Rōmānō grātiās agerent, quod cum iīs pācem fēcissent, ob eamque rem corōnā aureā eōs dōnārent simulque peterent, ut obsidēs eōrum Fregellīs essent captīvīque redderentur.

For in their year of office Carthaginian envoys came to Rome to thank the senate and people of Rome for having made peace with them, to present them with a golden crown for this, and at the same time to ask that their hostages might live at Fregellae and that their prisoners might be returned.

Note. Hīs … magistrātibus is an ablative of time: 'when these men were in office'. The subjunctives agerent, dōnārent, peterent express purpose after quī ('envoys who were to thank…'). Fregellīs is locative.

Hann. 7.3Hīs ex senātūs cōnsultō respōnsum est: mūnus eōrum grātum acceptumque esse;

By decree of the senate the answer given to them was this: their gift was welcome and accepted;

Note. From here to the end of the next two sentences the senate's reply is given in indirect speech: accusative + infinitive (mūnus … esse, obsidēs … futūrōs, captīvōs nōn remissūrōs [esse]).

Hann. 7.3obsidēs, quō locō rogārent, futūrōs;

the hostages would be wherever they asked;

Hann. 7.3captīvōs nōn remissūrōs, quod Hannibalem, cuius operā susceptum bellum foret, inimīcissimum nōminī Rōmānō, etiamnum cum imperiō apud exercitum habērent itemque frātrem eius Magōnem.

the prisoners they would not send back, because the Carthaginians still kept Hannibal in command of the army, the man through whose work the war had been undertaken, the bitterest enemy of the Roman name, and his brother Mago too.

Note. quod … habērent: the reason is in the subjunctive because it is the senate's reason, reported. cuius operā 'through whose work'. foret = esset.

Hann. 7.4Hōc respōnsō Karthāginiēnsēs cognitō Hannibalem domum et Magōnem revocārunt.

When they learned of this reply, the Carthaginians called Hannibal and Mago home.

Hann. 7.4Hūc ut rediit, rēx factus est, postquam imperātor fuerat, annō secundō et vīcēsimō: ut enim Rōmae cōnsulēs, sīc Karthāgine quotannīs annuī bīnī rēgēs creābantur.

As soon as he returned there he was made king, in the twenty-second year after he had become commander: for just as consuls were elected at Rome, so at Carthage two kings were elected every year for a year's term.

Note. Nepos calls the Carthaginian chief magistrates (sufetes) rēgēs 'kings', and compares them to Roman consuls: two were chosen each year (annuī bīnī). Hannibal held the office in 196 BC.

Hann. 7.5In eō magistrātū parī dīligentiā sē Hannibal praebuit, ac fuerat in bellō.

In this office Hannibal showed the same care as he had shown in war.

Hann. 7.5Namque effēcit ex novīs vectīgālibus nōn sōlum ut esset pecūnia, quae Rōmānīs ex foedere penderētur, sed etiam superesset, quae in aerāriō repōnerētur.

For by means of new taxes he made sure not only that there was money to be paid to the Romans under the treaty, but also that there was a surplus to be put in the treasury.

Note. nōn sōlum ut esset … sed etiam superesset: two result clauses after effēcit. The money was the war indemnity Carthage owed Rome under the peace treaty.

Hann. 7.6Deinde M. Claudiō L. Fūriō cōnsulibus Rōmā lēgātī Karthāginem vēnērunt.

Then, in the consulship of Marcus Claudius and Lucius Furius, envoys came from Rome to Carthage.

Note. Furius and Claudius were the consuls of 196 BC; the following year Hannibal fled.

Hann. 7.6Hōs Hannibal ratus suī exposcendī grātiā missōs, priusquam iīs senātus darētur, nāvem ascendit clam atque in Syriam ad Antiochum perfūgit.

Hannibal, thinking they had been sent to demand his surrender, secretly boarded a ship before the senate gave them a hearing, and fled to Antiochus in Syria.

Note. suī exposcendī grātiā 'for the sake of demanding him': a gerundive phrase with grātiā (= causā). suī is the genitive of the reflexive pronoun. ratus is the perfect participle of reor, used like a present: 'thinking'.

Hann. 7.7Hāc rē palam factā Poenī nāvēs duās, quae eum comprehenderent, sī possent cōnsequī, mīsērunt, bona eius pūblicārunt, domum ā fundāmentīs disiēcērunt, ipsum exulem iūdicārunt.

When this became known, the Carthaginians sent two ships to arrest him if they could catch him, confiscated his property, pulled his house down to its foundations, and declared him an exile.

Note. publicārunt, iūdicārunt are shortened perfects (= publicāvērunt, iūdicāvērunt). bona as a noun means 'goods, property'.