Hannibal arrives at the court of Prusias, King of Bithynia (1), and prepares to fight Eumenes II, an ally of Rome (2–3). He devises a novel biological weapon for use against Eumenes' superior fleet (4–6). The episode with Eumenes is the most detailed in the Life (10.4–11.6).
(1) cōnservātīs suīs rēbus and illūsīs Crētēnsibus omnibus: Nepos begins this section with two consecutive ablative absolutes. Poenus: i.e., Hannibal. illūsīs: > illudō, –ere, not ille, illa, illud.
Prūsiam: Prusias I "The Lame" (c. 243–182 BC), the king of Bithynia, a kingdom on the southern shore of the Black Sea. It is unclear why Prusias would be in the neighboring kingdom of Pontus when Hannibal met him (in Pontum). [image: coin depicting Prusias I]
apud quem: i.e., Prusias; a connective relative (AG §308f).
eōdem animō: ablative of quality (AG §415; see 2.5), "of the same mind."
neque aliud quicquam…quam: "and (ēgit) nothing other than"; Hannibal is the subject of the sentence.
(2) quem cum: note that the subordinating cum is postponed after the connective relative, which refers to Prusias.
domesticīs opibus: ablative of specification (AG §418; 1.1), indicating the respect in which Prusias was minus rōbustum, "too weak."
dissidēbat ab eō Pergamēnus rēx Eumenēs, Rōmānīs amīcissimus: Eumenes II (197–159 BC), the king of Pergamon (Pergamēnus rēx) was a staunch ally of Rome (Rōmānīs amīcissimus; on the meaning of amīcitiā, see 2.4). After Antiochus’ defeat at Magnesia, the Romans granted Eumenes extensive territory in Asia Minor, bringing him into conflict with Prusias. [Map: Hellenistic Kingdoms, c. 188 BC]
ab eō: i.e., Prusias.
et marī et terrā: correlatively, "both…and..."; these ablatives of place are more commonly rendered as terrā marīque.
(3) utrobīque: adverb, "on both parts" or "on both sides," i.e., et marī et terrā.
quō: connective relative (AG §308f; 8.4, 9.1); "for this reason," i.e., propter Rōmānōrum societātem.
Hannibal: nominative subject of cupiēbat despite its position within the indirect statement (eum…opprimī). Roman authors often juxtapose names and pronouns.
quem: a connective relative; its antecedent is eum, i.e., Eumenes.
sī remōvisset: pluperfect subjunctive not because Hannibal’s assessment of the situation is incorrect but because the protasis appears in indirect speech. Nepos uses the subjunctive because Hannibal originally thought (arbitrābātur): "if I eliminate Eumenes (removerit, future perfect), everything else will be…" When Nepos reports the future perfect, removerit is rendered as the pluperfect subjunctive, remōvisset (AG §589).
ad hunc interficiendum: ad + gerundive, expressing purpose, "to kill him" (AG §506).
tālem iniit ratiōnem: "he devised the following plan."
(4) classe: ablative of means.
erant dēcrētūrī: future active periphrastic (AG §195) > decernō, "they were about to fight."
superābātur: subject is Hannibal; "he was surpassed by" → "he was inferior to," with an ablative of specification, (nāvium) multitūdine.
dolō erat pugnandum: the neuter indicates that this is the impersonal gerundive (AG §500.3).
cum pār nōn esset armīs: causal cum clause, "because...." armīs: ablative of specification.
quam plūrimās: "as many as possible" (quam + superlative), subject of the passive infinitives, colligī…que…conicī.
imperāvit: imperō is typically followed by ut + subjunctive; here, imperāvit introduces an indirect statement: [eōs] colligī…–que…conicī.
in vāsa fīctilia: "into earthenware vessels"; vāsa is neuter plural. [Image: Cicak, Snakes on a Boat]
(5) hārum cum effēcisset magnam multitūdinem: circumstantial cum clause. effēcisset: pluperfect subjunctive in secondary sequence after historical presents, convocat and praecipit (AG §485e). hārum: i.e., venēnātās serpentēs vīvās.
diē ipsō: ablative of time when.
factūrus erat: compare to erant dēcrētūrī (10.4).
convocat...que...praecipit: historical presents to convey a sense of lively narrative (AG §469; see 4.3).
iīsque: dative with praecipit, introducing a substantive purpose clause, omnēs ut…concurrant…tantum…habeant sē dēfendere (AG §563, sometimes called a jussive noun clause).
omnēs ut...concurrant: the word order is unusual; again Nepos has positioned a word before the subordinating conjunction for emphasis.
in ūnam...nāvem: an example of hysterologia, or the insertion of words that interrupts the syntactic flow of the sentence; it emphasizes the order that everyone (omnēs) attack only Eumenes’ ship (ūnam...nāvem).
concurrant: present subjunctive depending on praecipit.
ā cēterīs: "against all the other nāvibus."
tantum satis habeant: "they should consider it enough to..." → "they should be satisfied to...." Because tantus conveys only the idea of relative greatness, it may also denote a small amount, "just enough."
id: the demonstrative refers to the sense of what came before, i.e., sē dēfendere by means of snakes.
illōs…cōnsecūtūrōs [esse]: depends on an implied verb of speaking (e.g., dīxit, 12.3), "Hannibal said that they would accomplish this...”; cōnsequor regularly has a sense of "follow up, overtake, attain" but here must mean "attain, accomplish"; cf. Nepos, Life of Themistocles 6.3, where Nepos observes that Athenians "attained universal glory" (tantam gloriam...erant consecuti) by their victories over the Persians.
(6) rēx: subject of veherētur in the indirect question introduced by the interrogative adjective quā; it has been displaced before its relative clause for additional emphasis.
ut [classiāriī] scīrent: result clause.
sē factūrum [esse]: depends on an implied verb of speaking, like illōs…consecūtūrōs (10.5).
magnō iīs pollicētur praemiō fore: a double dative construction dependent on pollicētur, "he promises that it will be a (source of) great reward for them" (AG §382). magnō…praemiō: dative of purpose with fore = futūrum esse); iīs: dative of reference with fore.
