Nepos, Themistocles 5

Them. 5.1Hic etsī male rem gesserat, tamen tantās habēbat reliquiās cōpiārum, ut etiamtum iīs opprimere posset hostēs: iterum ab eōdem gradū dēpulsus est.

Although he had fared badly here, he still had such large remnants of his forces that even then he could have crushed the enemy with them: a second time he was driven from his position by the same man.

Note. Hic: 'here' (adverb), i.e. at Salamis. etsī … tamen: 'although … still'. ab eōdem gradū dēpulsus est: 'he was dislodged from his position by the same man', a metaphor from wrestling or fighting.

Them. 5.1Nam Themistoclēs, verēns nē bellāre persevērāret, certiōrem eum fēcit id agī, ut pōns, quem ille in Hellēspontō fēcerat, dissolverētur ac reditū in Asiam exclūderētur, idque eī persuāsit.

For Themistocles, fearing that he would keep on fighting, informed him that a plan was afoot to break up the bridge he had made on the Hellespont and to cut him off from returning to Asia; and he convinced him of it.

Note. verēns nē: 'fearing that'. certiōrem eum fēcit: 'he informed him' (literally 'made him more certain'), followed by the indirect statement id agī ut …, 'that a plan was afoot to …'.

Them. 5.2Itaque quā sex mēnsibus iter fēcerat, eādem minus diēbus trīgintā in Asiam reversus est sēque ā Themistocle nōn superātum, sed cōnservātum iūdicāvit.

So by the same way that had taken him six months to march, he went back to Asia in less than thirty days, and he judged that he had not been beaten by Themistocles but saved.

Note. quā … eādem: 'by the same way by which'; quā and eādem are adverbs of route. minus diēbus trīgintā: minus without quam, with the ablative of comparison or as an adverb: 'in less than thirty days'.

Them. 5.3Sīc ūnīus virī prūdentiā Graecia līberāta est Eurōpaeque succubuit Asia.

Thus by the wisdom of one man Greece was freed and Asia gave way to Europe.

Note. Eurōpae succubuit Asia: Nepos ends the war with a grand antithesis of continents.

Them. 5.3Haec altera victōria, quae cum Marathōniō possit comparārī tropaeō.

This was a second victory that can be compared with the trophy of Marathon.

Note. Marathōniō … tropaeō: the 'trophy' of Marathon stands for the victory itself (490 BC, won by Miltiades, the subject of Nepos's first Life).

Them. 5.3Nam parī modō apud Salamīna parvō numerō nāvium maxima post hominum memoriam classis est dēvicta.

For in the same way, at Salamis, the greatest fleet in human memory was defeated by a small number of ships.