LXIII.
Civilis et Classicus rebus secundis sublati, an coloniam Agrippinensem diripiendam exercitibus suis permitterent dubitavere. (an coloniam Agrippinensem diripiendam exercitibus suis permitterent dubitavere: indirect questions introduced by dubito an are equivalent to mild affirmation (G. 457, 2.): ‘they considered whether they should deliver Cologne to their troops to be sacked’. Here the gerundive is used as an ordinary adjective to modify coloniam and denote eventuality.) saevitia ingenii et cupidine praedae ad excidium civitatis trahebantur: obstabat ratio belli et novum imperium inchoantibus utilis clementiae fama; Civilem etiam beneficii memoria flexit, quod filium eius primo rerum motu in colonia Agrippinensi deprehensum honorata custodia habuerant. (quod …habuerant: the use of indicative after quod indicates that the reason given is factual, not assumed.) sed Transrhenanis gentibus invisa civitas opulentia auctuque; (opulentia auctuque: ablatives of cause, ‘on account of its opulence and expanding power’. Another reason is mentioned in ch. 28.) neque alium finem belli rebantur quam si promisca ea sedes omnibus Germanis foret aut disiecta Vbios quoque dispersisset. (neque alium finem belli rebantur quam si promisca ea sedes omnibus Germanis foret aut disiecta Vbios quoque dispersisset: ‘they were convinced there was no other possible end of the war than if that city were open to all Germans or if, being destroyed, it would have dispersed the Ubii as well’. The Ubii were hated by all Germans in that they, a German tribe, had accepted (and prospered under) Roman rule, to the point of changing their name to ‘Agrippinenses’. quam si introduces a conditional clause of comparison, here in indir. discourse after rebantur. The mood is subjunctive, as expected, and tenses obey the rule of sequence, rather than those governing the conditional.)