Nepos, Miltiades 5

Milt. 5.1Hōc in tempore nūlla cīvitās Athēniēnsibus auxiliō fuit praeter Plataeēnsēs.

At this time no state brought help to the Athenians except the Plataeans.

Note. auxiliō fuit: a double dative (dative of purpose with the dative of the person helped), 'was a help to the Athenians'. Plataea, a small town in Boeotia, was Athens' loyal ally.

Milt. 5.1Ea mīlle mīsit mīlitum.

That state sent a thousand soldiers.

Note. mīlle here is a noun with a partitive genitive (mīlitum), as mīlia always is.

Milt. 5.1Itaque hōrum adventū decem mīlia armātōrum complēta sunt, quae manus mīrābilī flagrābat pugnandī cupiditāte.

And so with their arrival the number of ten thousand armed men was made up, and this band was burning with a wonderful eagerness to fight.

Milt. 5.2Quō factum est ut plūs quam collēgae Miltiadēs valēret.

Because of this it came about that Miltiades carried more weight than his colleagues.

Note. Quō factum est ut: 'from this it came about that'. plūs valēre: 'to have more influence'.

Milt. 5.2Eius ergō auctōritāte impulsī Athēniēnsēs cōpiās ex urbe ēdūxērunt locōque idōneō castra fēcērunt.

Driven by his authority, then, the Athenians led their forces out of the city and pitched camp in a suitable place.

Milt. 5.3Dein posterō diē sub montis rādīcibus aciē regiōne īnstrūctā nōn apertissimā (namque arborēs multīs locīs erant rārae) proelium commīsērunt hōc cōnsiliō, ut et montium altitūdine tegerentur et arborum tractū equitātus hostium impedīrētur.

Then on the next day, at the foot of the mountain, with their line drawn up in ground that was not wholly open (for there were scattered trees in many places), they joined battle with this plan: that they might be covered by the height of the mountains, and that the enemy's cavalry might be hindered by the line of trees.

Note. regiōne … nōn apertissimā: 'in a not very open area'; a superlative with nōn makes a mild understatement. The two ut-clauses explain hōc cōnsiliō: 'with this plan, that …'.

Milt. 5.4Dātis etsī nōn aequum locum vidēbat suīs, tamen frētus numerō cōpiārum suārum cōnflīgere cupiēbat, eōque magis, quod, priusquam Lacedaemoniī subsidiō venīrent, dīmicāre ūtile arbitrābātur.

Datis, although he saw that the ground was not favourable to his men, still wanted to fight, relying on the number of his forces, and all the more because he judged it useful to fight before the Lacedaemonians came to help.

Note. priusquam … venīrent: the subjunctive shows anticipation, 'before they could come'. The Spartans arrived only after the battle, because a religious festival had held them back.

Milt. 5.4Itaque in aciem peditum centum, equitum decem mīlia prōdūxit proeliumque commīsit.

So he led into line a hundred thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry and joined battle.

Note. Nepos' number of 100,000 infantry is an exaggeration; the Athenian victory was real and famous, but the Persian force was much smaller.

Milt. 5.5In quō tantō plūs virtūte valuērunt Athēniēnsēs, ut decemplicem numerum hostium prōflīgārint, adeōque eōs perterruērunt, ut Persae nōn castra, sed nāvēs petierint.

In this battle the Athenians were so much superior in courage that they routed an enemy ten times their number, and so terrified them that the Persians made not for their camp but for their ships.

Note. tantō plūs … ut: 'so much more … that', with tantō an ablative of the measure of difference. prōflīgārint = prōflīgāverint, perfect subjunctive in a result clause, stressing the completed fact.

Milt. 5.5Quā pugnā nihil adhūc exstitit nōbilius: nūlla enim umquam tam exigua manus tantās opēs prōstrāvit.

Nothing has yet happened more famous than that battle: for never did so small a band overthrow such great power.