Cornelius Nepos

“ A much less interesting writer than Sallust is Cornelius Nepos. Like Catullus and several other authors of this period, he came to Rome from the north. His birthplace was probably Ticinum, on the river Po. Cornelius Nepos. Little is known of his life, which appears to have extended from a little before 100 B. C. to a little after 30 B. C. He was a friend of Catullus and of Cicero’s friend Atticus, probably also of other literary men at Rome. His works were all, with the exception of some love poems, historical and biographical. ”

“ In after times we have indeed numerous so- called letters, but they are no longer the same class of composition as these, nor have any recent letters the vigour, grace, and freedom of those of Cicero and Caesar.
A friend of many great men, and especially of Atticus, CORNELIUS NEPOS (74?-24 B.C.) owes his fame to the kindness of fortune more than to his own achievements. ”

“ After the revolution of the Roman state, the publication of his letters must have been dangerous, on account of the freedom with which he expresses himself concerning Octavius, and the ministers of his power. Cornelius Nepos mentions, that some of Cicero’s letters were published, but that sixteen books of Epistles to Atticus, from his consulship to his death, though extant, were by no means in common circulation663. The reigns of the princes who succeeded Augustus, were not more favourable to freedom than his own ”

“ These are men of the ordo senatorius; of the equites proper, the men who dealt rather in lending than borrowing, we have not such explicit accounts, because they were not in the same degree before the public. But of Atticus, the type of the best and highest section of the ordo equester, and of the amount and the sources of his wealth, we happen to know a good deal from the little biography of him written by his contemporary and friend Cornelius Nepos, taken together with Cicero's numerous letters to him. ”

“ XXI. The Senate, under present circumstances, endeavoured to soothe the people; they made no opposition to the distribution of the public land, and they allowed the people to elect another commissioner in place of Tiberius. Having come to a vote, they elected Publius Crassus81 a relation of Gracchus, for his daughter Licinia was the wife of Caius Gracchus. Cornelius Nepos,82 indeed, says that Caius did not marry the daughter of Crassus, but the daughter of Brutus83 who triumphed over the Lusitanians: however, the majority of writers state the matter as I have done. ”

“ For according to Plutarch's explanation, Theseus was the general in war, and the guardian of the laws; but in other respects nothing more than a citizen. So that they who are limited by popular controul are improperly called kings. Thus after the time of Lycurgus, and more particularly after the institution of the Ephori, the Kings of the Lacedaemonians are said by Polybius, Plutarch, and Cornelius Nepos, to have been Kings more in name than in reality. ”

“ He displayed great ability both as a general and statesman; but was put to death by Antigonus in B.C. 316, when he was 45 years of age. Being a Greek, he was disliked by the Macedonian generals, from whom he experienced very unjust treatment. It is evident from the biographies of him written by Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos, that he was one of the most eminent men of his era. ”

“ Ochus, on coming to the throne, put to death a great number of his kinsmen and of the principal persons about the court, together with their wives and children—fearing a like conspiracy against himself.
[794] Demosthen. cont. Aristokrat. p. 664, s. 153.
[795] The affirmation of Cornelius Nepos (Timotheus, c. 1) , that Timotheus made war on Kotys with such success as to bring into the Athenian treasury twelve hundred talents, appears extravagant as to amount; even if we accept it as generally true. ”

“ But if the examples of private men are not sufficient to justify me, I can cite Julius Casar, Augustus, Nerva, and Tiberius Casar. I forbear to add Nero to the catalogue, though I am aware that what is practised by the worst of men does not therefore degenerate into wrong: on the contrary, it still maintains its credit, if frequently countenanced by the best. In that number, Virgil, Cornelius Nepos, and prior to these, Ennius and Attius, justly deserve the most distinguished place. These last indeed were not senators, but goodness knows no distinction of rank or title. ”

“ He incurred great scandal by an amour with Fausta, the daughter of Sylla, and wife of Milo; who detecting the criminal intercourse, is said to have beat him with stripes, and extorted from him a large sum of money. He died, according to tradition, in the fifty-first year of his age.
CORNELIUS NEPOS was born at Hostilia, near the banks of the Po. Of his parentage we meet with no account; but from his respectable connections early in life, it is probable that he was of good extraction. Among his most intimate friends were Cicero and Atticus. ”

“ For Aspis, who dwelt in a wooded region, fortified with strongholds, not only ignored the king's commands, but even raided the bordering regions and stole what was being taken to the king. Although Datames was far from these regions and was being pulled away from a greater task by the king, he thought that the will of the king must be done voluntarily. So, he boarded a ship with a few men, but brave ones, thinking (correctly, as it turned out) that he would more easily crush a surprised enemy with a small force than a prepared enemy however large his army might be. ”

“ After that, becoming a professor of rhetoric, he gave instructions to Cneius Pompey the Great, and composed an account of his actions, as well as of those of his father, being the first freedman, according to the opinion of Cornelius Nepos [912] , who ventured to write history, which before his time had not been done by any one who was not of the highest ranks in society.
IV. About this time, EPIDIUS [913] having fallen into disgrace for bringing a false accusation, opened a school of instruction, in which he taught, among others, Mark Antony and Augustus. ”

“ He was at first, indeed, despised by the tyrants, as well as the small number of his followers; which circumstance proved both the ruin of those that despised him, and the security of him that was despised, for it rendered the one party slow to attack, and the other stronger by giving them time for preparation. The maxim, therefore, that "nothing should be despised in war," ought the more deeply to be fixed in the minds of all ”

“ Perceiving that no place was safe for him in Greece, on account of the power of the Lacedemonians, he went over into Asia to Pharnabazus, whom he so charmed, indeed, by his courtesy, that no man had a higher place in his favour; for he gave him Grunium, a strong-hold in Phrygia, from which he annually received fifty talents' revenue.
But with this good fortune Alcibiades was not content, not could endure that Athens, conquered as she was, should continue subject to the Lacedaemonians. ”

“ From these feelings it resulted, that they took his commission from him in his absence, and put another commander in his place. When he heard of this proceeding, he would not return home, but betook himself to Pactye, [14] and there established three fortresses, Borni, Bisanthe, and Neontichos, and having collected a body of troops, was the first man of any Grecian state [15] that penetrated into Thrace, thinking it more glorious to enrich himself with spoils from barbarians than from Greeks. ”

“ V. While he was doing this, Artaxerxes realised that he had sent his foremost commander from such a great war to such a small matter and regretted his decision, so he sent Aces as a messenger to the army to say that Datames should not set out to do what he had said and should not leave the army. Before he had reached the place he had been sent, he ran into the man who was bringing Aspis to the king. When Datames received great gifts from the king for this speed, he became the object of a great deal of emnity among the courtiers because they saw that he alone had achieved more than all of them. ”

“ But Phocion fell into a massive crime, because when the highest command of the people was invested in him and he was warned by Dercylus that Nicanor, the prefect of Cassander, was planning to attack the Piraeus of the Athenians and Dercylus asked him to ensure that the community was not stripped of its supply route, Phocion denied that there was any danger, in an assembly of the people, and promised that he himself would be a surety of this thing. But not much later, Nicanor made himself master of the Piraeus, without which Athens was utterly unable to exist. ”

“ Datames charges the remaining Pisidian resistors. He strikes with the first blow, he chases them down, he kills many, he takes the camp of the enemy. So, through this plan he simultaneously thwarted the traitors and crushed the enemy, and transformed an event that had been thought to be his doom into his salvation. We have read of no act of any other commander that was ever planned more cleverly or executed more quickly than this.
VII. But Sysinas, his oldest son, separated from him, went to the king and accused his father of rebellion. ”

“ I. Eumenes the Cardian. If he had been given fortune equal to his virtue, he would not have been a greater man, although far more illustrious and even more honoured, because we measure men's greatness by their virtue, not their fortune. For in the times when his life began, the Macedonians were prospering, and he was deprived of a lot as a result of living among them, because he was from a foreign community and he lacked nothing other than a noble lineage. ”

“ Again, when somone similar to Laphystius, named Damaenetus, began to disparage his deeds in an assembly of the people and let fly several words against Timoleon himself, he said that now at last he had to fulfill his vow, for he had always prayed to the immortal gods that he might restore such liberty to the Syracusans that anyone might be allowed to say whatever he wanted with impunity. When he had reached his final day, he was buried at public expense by the Syracusans in the gymnasium which is called the Timoleonteum, with all Sicily honouring him. ”

“ Strabo.
Pharnabāzus, a satrap of Persia, son of a person of the same name, B.C. 409. He assisted the Lacedæmonians against the Athenians, and gained their esteem by his friendly behaviour and support. His conduct, however, towards Alcibiades, was of the most perfidious nature, and he did not scruple to betray to his mortal enemies the man whom he had long honoured with his friendship. Cornelius Nepos, Alcibiades.—Plutarch.――An officer under Eumenes.――A king of Iberia.
Pharnăce, a town of Pontus. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 4.――The mother of Cinyras king of Pontus. Suidas. ”

“ For this reason, the people grew stronger and immediately condemned the leaders of the opposing faction to death and drove them out of the fatherland - Phocion and Demetrius of Phaleron among them - and they sent messengers to Polyperchon about this matter, requesting that he confirm this by decree. ”

“ To prevent him from entering the pass where the Cilician Gates are located, Datames was eager to occupy them first. But he could not assemble his forces so rapidly. As a result he was pushed back, with the force which he had assembled, and chose a place that could not be surrounded by enemies and that an enemy could not pass without being pressed on both sides, where, if he chose to fight, a large number of enemies could not harm his small force much. ”

“ VII. This happiness of Alcibiades proved by no means lasting; for after all manner of honours had been decreed him, and the whole management of the state, both at home and in the field, had been committed to him, to be regulated at his sole pleasure, and he had requested that two colleagues, Thrasybulus and Adimantus, should be assigned him (a request which was not refused) , proceeding with the fleet to Asia, he fell again under the displeasure of his countrymen, because he did not manage affairs at Cyme [13] to their wish; for they thought that he could do every thing. ”

“ Under the influence of these leaders, so great a change in affairs took place, that the Lacedaemonians, who had just before flourished as conquerors, were struck with fear and sued for peace; for they had been defeated in five battles by land, and three by sea, in which they had lost two hundred triremes, that had been captured and had fallen into the possession of their enemies. Alcibiades, with his colleagues, had recovered Ionia, the Hellespont, and many Greek cities besides, situated on the coast of Asia, of which they had taken several by storm, and among them Byzantium. ”

“ I. Character of Thrasybulus; he proceeds to deliver his country from the Thirty Tyrants, — II. His success and conduct in the enterprise, — III. His act of oblivion, III.— IV. He is honoured with an olive crown; is killed on the coast of Sicily. I. Thrasybulus, the son of Lycus, was a native of Athens. If merit is to be valued by itself, without regard to fortune, I doubt whether I ought not to place him first of all the Greek commanders. This I can say without hesitation, that I set no man above him in integrity, firmness, greatness of mind, and love for his country ”

“ So Caesar is called adolescentulus, in c. 49, at a time when he was in his thirty-third year." Dietsch. And Cicero, referring to the time of his consulship, says, Defendi rempublicam adolescens, Philipp. ii. 46.
[33] To engage in political affairs—Ad rempublicam. "In the phrase of Cornelius Nepos, honoribus operam dedi, I sought to obtain some share in the management of the Republic. All public matters were comprehended under the term Respublica." Cortius.
[34] Integrity—Virtute. ”