Nepos, Miltiades 7

Milt. 7.1Post hoc proelium classem septuāgintā nāvium Athēniēnsēs eīdem Miltiadī dedērunt, ut īnsulās, quae barbarōs adiūverant, bellō persequerētur.

After this battle the Athenians gave the same Miltiades a fleet of seventy ships, so that he might make war on the islands that had helped the barbarians.

Note. eīdem Miltiadī: 'to the same Miltiades'. ut … persequerētur: purpose clause.

Milt. 7.1Quō in imperiō plērāsque ad officium redīre coēgit, nōnnūllās vī expugnāvit.

In this command he forced most of them to return to their duty, and some he took by storm.

Milt. 7.2Ex hīs Parum īnsulam opibus ēlātam cum ōrātiōne reconciliāre nōn posset, cōpiās ē nāvibus ēdūxit, urbem operibus clausit omnīque commeātū prīvāvit, dein vīneīs ac testūdinibus cōnstitūtīs propius mūrōs accessit.

Of these, when he could not win back by persuasion the island of Paros, puffed up by its wealth, he landed his forces from the ships, shut in the city with siege works and cut it off from all supplies; then, after setting up sheds and tortoises, he moved up closer to the walls.

Note. vīneīs ac testūdinibus: siege 'sheds' and 'tortoises', mobile roofs that protected soldiers approaching a wall (familiar from Caesar). propius mūrōs: propius used as a preposition with the accusative.

Milt. 7.3Cum iam in eō esset, ut oppidō potīrētur, procul in continentī lūcus, quī ex īnsulā cōnspiciēbātur, nesciō quō cāsū nocturnō tempore incēnsus est.

When he was already on the point of taking the town, a grove far off on the mainland, which could be seen from the island, caught fire at night, by what chance I do not know.

Note. in eō esset ut: 'was on the point of'. nesciō quō cāsū: 'by some chance or other'; nesciō quī acts as an indefinite and does not make a subjunctive.

Milt. 7.3Cuius flamma ut ab oppidānīs et oppugnātōribus est vīsa, utrīsque vēnit in opīniōnem signum ā classiāriīs rēgiīs datum.

When its flames were seen by the townspeople and the besiegers, both sides came to believe that a signal had been given by the king's marines.

Note. ut here is temporal, 'when', with the indicative. utrīsque vēnit in opīniōnem: 'it came into the minds of both sides'.

Milt. 7.4Quō factum est ut et Pariī ā dēditiōne dēterrērentur et Miltiadēs, timēns nē classis rēgia adventāret, incēnsīs operibus, quae statuerat, cum totidem nāvibus atque erat profectus Athēnās magnā cum offēnsiōne cīvium suōrum redīret.

Because of this it came about both that the Parians were deterred from surrendering and that Miltiades, fearing that the royal fleet was approaching, burned the works he had set up and returned to Athens with the same number of ships as he had set out with, to the great displeasure of his fellow citizens.

Note. cum totidem nāvibus atque erat profectus: atque after words of likeness (totidem, īdem, alius) means 'as'.

Milt. 7.5Accūsātus ergō est prōditiōnis, quod, cum Parum expugnāre posset, ā rēge corruptus īnfectīs rēbus discessisset.

He was therefore accused of treason, on the ground that, when he could have stormed Paros, he had been bribed by the king and gone away with the job unfinished.

Note. Accūsātus … prōditiōnis: the genitive of the charge with verbs of accusing. īnfectīs rēbus: 'with things undone', ablative absolute.

Milt. 7.5Eō tempore aeger erat vulneribus, quae in oppugnandō oppidō accēperat.

At that time he was ill from the wounds he had received in attacking the town.

Note. in oppugnandō oppidō: a gerundive phrase, 'in attacking the town'.

Milt. 7.5Itaque cum ipse prō sē dīcere nōn posset, verba fēcit frāter eius Stēsagorās.

So, since he could not speak in his own defence, his brother Stesagoras spoke for him.

Milt. 7.6Causā cognitā capitis absolūtus pecūniā multātus est, eaque līs quīnquāgintā talentīs aestimāta est, quantus in classem sūmptus factus erat.

When the case had been heard, he was acquitted of the capital charge but fined a sum of money, and the penalty was assessed at fifty talents, the amount that had been spent on the fleet.

Note. capitis absolūtus: genitive of the charge, 'acquitted on the capital charge'. līs: 'the assessed penalty', estimated (aestimāta) at fifty talents. A talent was a huge sum, about 26 kg of silver; fifty talents would equip a large fleet.

Milt. 7.6Hanc pecūniam quod solvere in praesentiā nōn poterat, in vincla pūblica coniectus est ibique diem obiit suprēmum.

Because he could not pay this money at once, he was thrown into the public prison and there met his last day.

Note. diem obiit suprēmum: 'he met his last day', i.e. died (489 BC). Herodotus says he died of his wound, and that his son Cimon paid the fine.