Lys. 4.1Atque hōc locō nōn est praetereundum factum Pharnabazī, satrapis rēgiī.And at this point the deed of Pharnabazus, the king's satrap, must not be passed over. Lys. 4.1Nam cum Lȳsander praefectus classis in bellō multa crūdēliter avārēque fēcisset dēque iīs rēbus suspicārētur ad cīvēs suōs esse perlātum, petiit ā Pharnabazō ut ad ephorōs sibi testimōnium daret, quantā sānctitāte bellum gessisset sociōsque trāctāsset, dēque eā rē accūrātē scrīberet: magnam enim eius auctōritātem in eā rē futūram.For when Lysander, as admiral, had done many cruel and greedy things in the war, and suspected that reports of these had reached his fellow citizens, he asked Pharnabazus to give him a testimonial to the ephors as to how scrupulously he had waged war and treated the allies, and to write carefully about the matter: for his authority in this would carry great weight. Lys. 4.2Huic ille līberāliter pollicētur: librum grandem verbīs multīs cōnscrīpsit, in quibus summīs eum effert laudibus.Pharnabazus generously promises him this: he wrote a long document in many words, in which he extols him with the highest praise. Lys. 4.2Quem cum hic lēgisset probāssetque, dum signātur, alterum parī magnitūdine et tantā similitūdine, ut discernī nōn posset, signātum subiēcit, in quō accūrātissimē eius avāritiam perfidiamque accūsārat.When Lysander had read and approved it, while it was being sealed Pharnabazus substituted another, already sealed, of the same size and so similar that it could not be told apart, in which he had accused his greed and treachery in the fullest detail.
Lys. 4.3Lȳsander domum cum redīsset, postquam dē suīs rēbus gestīs apud maximum magistrātum quae voluerat dīxerat, testimōniī locō librum ā Pharnabazō datum trādidit.When Lysander had returned home, after he had said what he wished about his achievements before the highest magistracy, he handed over the document given by Pharnabazus by way of testimony. Lys. 4.3Hunc summōtō Lȳsandrō cum ephorī cognōssent, ipsī legendum dedērunt.When the ephors, having sent Lysander out, had read it, they gave it to him to read himself. Lys. 4.3Ita ille imprūdēns ipse suus fuit accūsātor.Thus, unwittingly, he was his own accuser.