1–3
quaeduminAsiageruntur,acciditcasuutlegatiPrusiaeRomaeapudT.QuintiumFlamininumconsularemcenarentatqueibideHannibalementionefactaexhisunusdicereteuminPrusiaeregnoesse.
2
ContextT. Quintium Flamininum in 197 BC Flamininus had defeated Philip V of Macedon at the Battle of Cynoscephalae, so this dinner-party coincidence seems almost too convenient; scholars think it's more likely Eumenes deliberately sent envoys to Rome to get Prusias forced into handing Hannibal over.
Styleaccidit casu 'it happened by chance': Nepos frames Hannibal's downfall as coming from nothing more than idle dinner-table gossip, which makes his death feel all the more unfair and arbitrary after everything he's survived.
4
idposterodieFlamininussenatuidetulit.
4–5
patresconscripti,quiHannibalevivonumquamsesineinsidiisfuturosexistimarent,legatosinBithyniammiserunt,inhisFlamininum,
1
Vocabularypatres conscripti 'the senators', literally 'the enrolled fathers': originally the heads of Rome's leading families, whose names were 'written on the roll' (conscribere) of the senate.
6–7
quiabregepeterent,neinimicissimumsuumsecumhaberetsibiquedederet.hisPrusiasnegareaususnonest:
2
Grammarsuum refers to the Romans, secum to Prusias, sibi again to the Romans — worth tracking carefully, since all three little words point to different people.
Styleinimicissimum suum 'their own bitterest enemy': even now, in old age and exile, Hannibal is still being described in the most extreme possible terms by Rome. His reputation has clearly never softened.
8
illudrecusavit,neidasefieripostularent,quodadversusiushospitiiesset:
1
Contextius hospitii the duty to protect a guest was taken very seriously in the ancient world; breaking it was seen as close to a religious crime, not just bad manners.
8–9
ipsi,sipossent,comprehenderent;locumubiesset,facileinventuros.
2
Grammarinventuros again we need to supply esse.
LitotesPrusias technically refuses nothing he just points the Romans straight to Hannibal's front door. It's a coward's way of betraying a guest without quite breaking his promise, and Nepos leaves the reader to notice the hypocrisy for themselves rather than spelling it out.
9–10
Hannibalenimunolocosetenebat,incastello,quodeiaregedatumeratmuneri,
1
Grammarmuneri predicative dative ('as a gift').
10–11
idquesicaedificarat,utinomnibuspartibusaedificiiexitushaberet,scilicetverens,neusuveniret,quodaccidit.
2
Grammarquod accidit this is in the indicative, so it isn't part of the reported speech; it's Nepos himself stepping in with a grim little comment of his own.
Stylescilicet verens, ne usu veniret, quod accidit Nepos can't resist pointing out, almost as an aside, that Hannibal's caution was justified: even after decades of always having an escape route ready, this time it won't be enough. It's a quietly ominous piece of foreshadowing right before the final scene.
12–13
huccumlegatiRomanorumvenissentacmultitudinedomumeiuscircumdedissent,puerabianuaprospiciensHannibalidixitplurespraeterconsuetudinemarmatosapparere.
1
Contextpuer a young slave boy, not a soldier. That Hannibal is relying on a child for something this critical says a great deal about how reduced his circumstances had become by the end: no bodyguard, no garrison, just a household boy checking the doors.
13–15
quiimperavitei,utomnesforesaedificiicircumiretacproperеsibinuntiaret,numeodemmodoundiqueobsideretur.
2
Grammarnum ... obsideretur a deliberative indirect question.
StyleEven at the very end, Hannibal's first instinct is still tactical — check every exit, gather the facts, then decide. This small detail keeps him consistent right up to the last moment with the resourceful, methodical character we've seen throughout the whole Life.
16–18
puercumceleriter,quidesset,renuntiassetomnesqueexitusoccupatosostendisset,sensitidnonfortuitofactum,sedsepetinequesibidiutiusvitamesseretinendam.
1
Grammaroccupatos again, supply esse.
18–19
quamnealienoarbitriodimitteret,memorpristinarumvirtutum,venenum,quodsempersecumhabereconsuerat,sumpsit.
3
Grammarconsuerat is a syncopated form of consueverat.
ContextAccording to tradition, Hannibal kept this poison hidden inside a ring on his finger — meaning he had, quite literally, been carrying his own way out with him for years, just in case it ever came to this.
Stylememor pristinarum virtutum 'remembering his past deeds of courage': Nepos gives Hannibal control right up to the final word of the chapter. Rather than being executed or captured, Hannibal chooses his own ending — the last, and arguably greatest, act of his own agency in the whole Life.
1–3
While these things were taking place in Asia, it happened by chance that in Rome envoys of Prusias were dining with Titus Quinctius Flamininus, an ex-consul, and there, when Hannibal was mentioned, one of the envoys said that he was in the kingdom of Prusias.
4
The next day Flamininus reported this to the senate.
4–5
The senators, who thought that while Hannibal lived they would never be free from plots, sent envoys to Bithynia, among them Flamininus,
6–7
to ask the king not to keep their bitterest enemy with him, but to hand him over to them. Prusias did not dare say no to them:
8
he did, however, refuse this: that they should not ask him to do anything which would go against the laws of hospitality:
8–9
they themselves, if they could, should arrest him; they would easily find the place where he was.
9–10
For Hannibal kept himself in one place, in a small fort which had been given to him by the king as a gift,
10–11
and he had built it in such a way that he had exits in every part of the building, clearly fearing that it might actually come to that, which is exactly what happened.
12–13
When the Roman envoys had come to this place and surrounded his house with a large force, a boy looking out from the door told Hannibal that more armed men than usual were appearing.
13–15
Hannibal ordered him to go round all the doors of the building and quickly report back to him whether he was surrounded in the same way on every side.
16–18
When the boy had quickly reported what the situation was and shown that all the exits were guarded, Hannibal realised that this had not happened by chance, but that he was the one being hunted, and that his life could no longer be preserved.
18–19
So that he would not lose it by someone else's decision, remembering his past deeds of courage, he took the poison which he had always been in the habit of keeping with him.