The Problematic Opening of the Nepotian Biography by Conone

Abstract

The paper focuses on several historical and textual problems that afflict the opening part of Nepos’ biography written by the Athenian general Conon. In the first chapter, the paper will underscore the encomiastic purposes that characterise this life. Then, the paper will analyse the use of the words praetor and praefectus made by Nepos in the Liber. This analysis is strictly connected to a textual problem that characterises the clause praefectus classis magnas mari gessit (Con. 1.1): here the paper suggests that the text of the manuscript tradition could be saved through textual and historical data. In the third and final section, the paper will try to explain which kind of honos, according to Nepos, Conon received after his military achievements on land and sea.