LXII.
Legio sexta decima cum auxiliis simul deditis a Novaesio (a Novaesio: Novaesium was the winter quarter of the Sixteenth legion.) in coloniam Trevirorum (in coloniam Trevirorum: that is to Trier or Treves in central west Germany, a short distance east of Luxenbourg) transgredi iubetur, praefinita die intra quam castris excederet. (praefinita die intra quam castris excederet: ‘the day was fixed within which they were to depart from the camp’; intra quam …excederet: subjunctive in rel. clause of final sense; dies is here feminine.) medium omne tempus per varias curas egere, (per varias curas egere: ‘had their minds occupied with various concerns’; agere is here intransitive.) ignavissimus quisque caesorum apud Vetera exemplo paventes, melior pars rubore et infamia: (melior pars rubore et infamia: supply paventes: ‘the better soldiers were troubled by the shame of dishonor’.) quale illud iter? quis dux viae? et omnia in arbitrio eorum quos vitae necisque dominos fecissent. alii nulla dedecoris cura pecuniam aut carissima sibimet ipsi circumdare, (alii … pecuniam aut carissima sibimet ipsi circumdare: ‘others crammed money or valuable possessions about their persons’; both sibimet and ipsi are for emphasis to denote self-absorption: ‘themselves, around their own persons’; circumdare is historical infinitive, like several others both above and below in the chapter.) quidam expedire arma telisque tamquam in aciem accingi. (quidam expedire arma telisque tamquam in aciem accingi: ‘some checked their armor and armed themselves, as if about to go in battle’. tamquam is here used for simple comparison, without conditional force. accingi is reflexive.) haec meditantibus advenit proficiscendi hora (haec meditantibus advenit proficiscendi hora: lit. ‘the hour for departure came for those absorbed in these ways’) expectatione tristior. quippe intra vallum deformitas haud perinde notabilis: (deformitas haud perinde notabilis: ‘their disgraceful condition was not so apparent’. haud perinde: ‘not to the same extent’) detexit ignominiam campus et dies. revulsae imperatorum imagines, inhonora signa, (inhonora signa: decorations of honor were fastened to the shafts of the standards and eagles, especially portrait medallions of emperors; cf. also Book 1, ch. 41.) fulgentibus hinc inde Gallorum vexillis; silens agmen et velut longae exequiae; dux Claudius Sanctus effosso oculo dirus ore, ingenio debilior. duplicatur flagitium, postquam desertis Bonnensibus castris altera se legio miscuerat. (postquam desertis Bonnensibus castris altera se legio miscuerat: this altera legio is the First legion from the camp at Bonna; cf. ch. 19) et vulgata captarum legionum fama cuncti qui paulo ante Romanorum nomen horrebant, procurrentes ex agris tectisque et undique effusi insolito spectaculo nimium fruebantur. (spectaculo nimium fruebantur: ‘they gloated to excess over the spectacle’; fruor governs the ablative.) non tulit ala Picentina (ala Picentina: never mentioned before in Tacitus.The name may be that of the prefect Rustius Picens or may come from Picenum, a region on the eastern side of central Italy, east of Umbria. If the latter is true, this body of cavalry would be the only Italian auxiliary unit, probably attached to the Sixteenth legion, in the armies of the Rhine, all others being of provincial origin.) gaudium insultantis vulgi, spretisque Sancti promissis aut minis Mogontiacum abeunt; ac forte obvio interfectore Voculae Longino, coniectis in eum telis (obvio interfectore Voculae Longino, coniectis in eum telis: lit. ‘Vocula’s assassin Longinus being met on the way, they made a beginning of future expiation of their guilt by darts directed against him’. An exception to the rule of total independence of the abl. abs. from the rest of the sentence: eum in the main clause refers to Longinus, the substantive in the abl. abs. See G. 410, R. 3 for more.) initium exolvendae in posterum culpae (initium exolvendae … culpae: ‘the beginning of the guilt to be atoned’; the gerundive is preferable to the active genitive gerund with direct object, exolvendi culpam. ) fecere: legiones nihil mutato itinere (nihil mutato itinere: nihil is adverb modifying mutato, not noun, ‘not at all changed’) ante moenia Trevirorum considunt.