Nepos, Miltiades 6

Milt. 6.1Cuius victōriae nōn aliēnum vidētur quāle praemium Miltiadī sit tribūtum docēre, quō facilius intellegī possit eandem omnium cīvitātum esse nātūram.

It does not seem out of place to show what reward was given to Miltiades for this victory, so that it may be more easily understood that the nature of all states is the same.

Note. nōn aliēnum vidētur … docēre: 'it does not seem out of place to show'. quāle praemium … sit tribūtum: indirect question. quō facilius: quō introduces a purpose clause containing a comparative.

Milt. 6.2Ut enim populī Rōmānī honōrēs quondam fuērunt rārī et tenuēs ob eamque causam glōriōsī, nunc autem effūsī atque obsolētī, sīc ōlim apud Athēniēnsēs fuisse reperīmus.

For just as the honours of the Roman people were once rare and slight, and for that reason glorious, but are now lavished and cheapened, so we find it was once among the Athenians.

Note. Nepos was writing in the late Republic, when honours were handed out freely; he is contrasting the strict old ways with his own day.

Milt. 6.3Namque huic Miltiadī, quī Athēnās tōtamque Graeciam līberārat, tālis honōs tribūtus est, in porticū, quae Poecilē vocātur, cum pugnā dēpingerētur Marathōnia, ut in decem praetōrum numerō prīma eius imāgō pōnerētur isque hortārētur mīlitēs proeliumque committeret.

For to this Miltiades, who had freed Athens and all Greece, this honour was given: when the battle of Marathon was painted in the colonnade called the Poecile, his portrait was placed first among the ten generals, and he was shown urging on the soldiers and joining battle.

Note. The Painted Stoa (Stoa Poikile) at Athens had a famous painting of Marathon in which Miltiades was shown in front urging on the troops. That was his whole 'reward'.

Milt. 6.4Īdem ille populus, posteāquam maius imperium est nactus et largītiōne magistrātuum corruptus est, trecentās statuās Dēmētriō Phalēreō dēcrēvit.

That same people, after it had gained greater power and been corrupted by the lavish gifts of its magistrates, voted three hundred statues to Demetrius of Phalerum.

Note. Demetrius of Phalerum governed Athens for Macedon (317–307 BC); the three hundred statues set up to him were pulled down when he fell.