Nepos, Themistocles 3

Them. 3.1Huius cōnsilium plērīsque cīvitātibus displicēbat et in terrā dīmicārī magis placēbat.

His plan displeased most of the states, and they preferred to fight on land.

Note. in terrā dīmicārī: impersonal passive infinitive, 'that the fighting be done on land'.

Them. 3.1Itaque missī sunt dēlēctī cum Leōnidā, Lacedaemoniōrum rēge, quī Thermopylās occupārent longiusque barbarōs prōgredī nōn paterentur.

So picked men were sent with Leonidas, king of the Spartans, to hold Thermopylae and not let the barbarians advance any further.

Note. Thermopylae ('Hot Gates') was the narrow pass between the mountains and the sea; Leonidas held it with about 300 Spartans and several thousand allies. barbarōs: the Greeks' word for all non-Greeks, here the Persians.

Them. 3.1Iī vim hostium nōn sustinuērunt eōque locō omnēs interiērunt.

They could not withstand the force of the enemy, and all of them died in that place.

Note. eōque locō: 'in that very place'. Nepos compresses: in fact Leonidas sent most of the allies away and fell with the Spartans and a few others.

Them. 3.2At classis commūnis Graeciae trecentārum nāvium, in quā ducentae erant Athēniēnsium, prīmum apud Artemīsium inter Euboeam continentemque terram cum classiāriīs rēgiīs cōnflīxit.

But the common fleet of Greece, of three hundred ships, two hundred of them Athenian, first fought the king's sailors at Artemisium, between Euboea and the mainland.

Them. 3.2Angustiās enim Themistoclēs quaerēbat, nē multitūdine circumīrētur.

For Themistocles was looking for narrow waters, so as not to be surrounded by sheer numbers.

Note. nē multitūdine circumīrētur: purpose clause. The narrow channel cancelled the Persians' advantage in numbers, the same idea that wins Salamis in chapter 4.

Them. 3.3Hinc etsī parī proeliō discesserant, tamen eōdem locō nōn sunt ausī manēre, quod erat perīculum, nē, sī pars nāvium adversāriōrum Euboeam superāsset, ancipitī premerentur perīculō.

Although they had come away from there with an even battle, they did not dare to stay in the same place, because there was a danger that, if part of the enemy fleet sailed round Euboea, they would be caught between two dangers.

Note. parī proeliō: 'with an even battle', i.e. a draw. quod erat perīculum nē …: 'because there was a danger that …'; nē after expressions of fear means 'that'. ancipitī perīculō: 'a double danger', attacked from both sides.

Them. 3.4Quō factum est ut ab Artemīsiō discēderent et exadversum Athēnās apud Salamīna classem suam cōnstituerent.

So it came about that they left Artemisium and stationed their fleet at Salamis, opposite Athens.

Note. exadversum Athēnās: 'opposite Athens'; exadversum is here a preposition with the accusative. Salamis lies just off the coast of Attica.