LXI.
Civilis barbaro voto post coepta adversus Romanos arma propexum rutilatumque crinem patrata demum caede legionum deposuit; (Civilis … voto post coepta adversus Romanos arma propexum rutilatumque crinem patrata demum caede legionum deposuit: ‘Civilis, in observance of a vow [taken] after the hostilities initiated against the Romans, cut his hair left to grow and dyed red, the liquidation of the legions having finally been achieved’; propexum actually means ‘combed forward and down as the hair grows’; patrata …caede: abl. abs. of causal force.) et ferebatur parvulo filio quosdam captivorum sagittis iaculisque puerilibus figendos obtulisse. (parvulo filio quosdam captivorum sagittis iaculisque puerilibus figendos obtulisse: ‘that he had offered his infant son some of the captive soldiers to be transfixed with his toy arrows and darts’.) ceterum (ceterum: cf. note in ch. 47.) neque se neque quemquam Batavum in verba Galliarum adegit, fisus Germanorum opibus et, si certandum adversus Gallos de possessione rerum foret, inclutus fama et potior. (fisus Germanorum opibus et, si certandum adversus Gallos de possessione rerum foret, inclutus fama et potior: ‘confident in the forces of Germany and, if it were necessary to fight against the Gauls for the supremacy of things, he was advantaged by his reputation and was stronger’. si certandum …foret: see note for veniam ostentantis, si praesentia sequerentur in ch. 49.) Munius Lupercus legatus legionis (Munius Lupercus legatus legionis: see ch. 18.) inter dona missus Veledae. ea virgo nationis Bructerae (nationis Bructerae: the nation of the Bructeri was settled around Munster in Westphalia, WSW of Hannover. Cf. also ch. 21) late imperitabat, vetere apud Germanos more, quo plerasque feminarum fatidicas et augescente superstitione arbitrantur deas. (vetere … more, quo plerasque feminarum fatidicas et augescente superstitione arbitrantur deas: ‘in accordance with an ancient tradition whereby many of their women are believed soothsayers and, the superstititious belief gaining strength, [even] goddesses’; augescente superstitione: abl. abs. of conditional sense, ‘if the superstition keeps spreading’; it may also be abl. of attendant circumstance (cf. B. 227, 2. e.) or even cause.) tuncque Veledae auctoritas adolevit; nam prosperas Germanis res et excidium legionum praedixerat. sed Lupercus in itinere interfectus. pauci centurionum tribunorumque in Gallia geniti reservantur pignus societati. (pignus societati: ‘as surety for the alliance’; societati: Tacitus frequently uses dative where genitive would be expected; other examples: initium bello, causam seditioni.) cohortium alarum legionum hiberna subversa cremataque, iis tantum relictis quae Mogontiaci ac Vindonissae sita sunt. (iis tantum relictis quae Mogontiaci ac Vindonissae sita sunt: abl. abs. with dependent rel. clause. Windonissae: modern Windisch, NW of Zurich, about one third of the distance from Zurich to Basel.)