LXIII.
Sed Germanicus cedentem in avia Arminium secutus, (Germanicus cedentem in avia Arminium secutus: ‘Germanicus pursued Arminius retiring into trackless regions.) ubi primum copia fuit, (ubi primum copia fuit: ‘as soon as he had a chance’: temporal ubi primum is regularly with perfect indicative to indicate immediate anteriority in respect of the action of the main verb; copia esse, ‘to have the opportunity’, is idiom, normally followed by genitive, e.g. copia dicendi, copia verborum.) evehi equites campumque quem hostis insederat eripi (evehi … eripi: the passive evehi has the sense of ‘to ride out’, eripio of ‘to wrest possession of’: both passives are governed by iubet, which prefer the passive form over the active whenever the infinitive is provided with its own acc. subject (equites for evehi and campum for eripi).) iubet. Arminius colligi suos et propinquare silvis monitos vertit repente: (Arminius colligi suos et propinquare silvis monitos vertit repente: the verb governing colligi is iubet, borrowed from the previous sentence; monitos is direct object of vertit, the same construction used with productas below: lit. ‘Arminius [instructs] his men to concentrate themselves and move closer to the woods; suddenly he turns them, having been warned, around.’) mox signum prorumpendi (signum prorumpendi: objective genitive gerund governed by a noun) dedit iis quos per saltus occultaverat. tunc nova acie (nova acie: ‘by the new enemy forces’) turbatus eques, missaeque subsidiariae cohortes (subsidiariae cohortes: in ch. 60 there is no mention of auxiliary forces accompanying the legions. Perhaps these were cohorts of veterans who were kept on, after completing their years of service, as a reserve in case of war, and served under their own banner. See note in ch. 17.) et fugientium agmine impulsae auxerant consternationem; trudebanturque in paludem gnaram vincentibus, iniquam nesciis, ni Caesar productas legiones instruxisset: (trudebanturque in paludem gnaram vincentibus, iniquam nesciis, ni Caesar productas legiones instruxisset: conditional sentence with negative condition (contrary to fact) in the past: lit. ‘they were being driven into a morass familiar to the victors, but fatal to those unaware of it, if Caesar had not made the legions, brought forward into view, ready for battle.’ The use of the imperfect indicative in the apodosis, in place of the expected imperfect subjunctive, trudebarentur, expresses the inevitability of the outcome in the absence of the corrective action stated in the protasis. G. 597, Remark 2 and 254, Remark 3.) inde hostibus terror, fiducia militi; et manibus aequis abscessum. (manibus aequis abscessum: abscessum [est] is impersonal use of the passive if intransitive verbs: lit. ‘it was separated without advantage to either side’, i.e. ‘on equal terms’; aequis manibus or aequa manu is idiom where manibus refers to the use of force.) mox reducto ad Amisiam exercitu (reducto ad Amisiam exercitu: probably to the same location along the Ems river where Caecina’s forces, the cavalry, and the fleet had convened in ch. 60) legiones classe, ut advexerat, reportat; (legiones classe … reportat: not so: only two of the eight legions made the return journey entirely by ship. Four went with Caecina and two more were led part of the way overland by Publius Vitellius (see ch. 70).) pars equitum litore Oceani petere Rhenum iussa; (pars equitum litore Oceani petere Rhenum iussa: Tacitus omits to account for the remainder of the cavalry, which probably was sent under Stertinius to accept the surrender of Segimerus, a chief of the Cherusci. See ch. 71.) Caecina, qui suum militem ducebat, monitus, quamquam notis itineribus regrederetur, (quamquam notis itineribus regrederetur: it does not mean that Caecina took the same route he used in coming, rather that in his forty years of military career he had had occasion to become familiar with the different path he is about to follow. quamquam …regrederetur: In Tacitus quamquam is regularly followed by subjunctive.) pontes longos quam maturrime superare. angustus is trames vastas inter paludes et quondam a L. Domitio aggeratus, (monitus …pontes longos quam maturrime superare, … angustus … trames … quondam a L. Domitio aggeratus: moneo can be found followed by infinitive alone, although ut or ne + subjunctive is more regular: ‘he was warned to cross the Long Bridges, a narrow strip of land formerly built up into a road by Lucius Domitius, as quickly as possible.’ quam maturrime: quam strengthens a superlative to the highest possible degree. Lucius Domitius was the grandfather of emperor Nero and the first Roman general to cross the Elbe. His expedition took place about 6 B.C.) cetera limosa, tenacia gravi caeno aut rivis incerta erant; (cetera limosa, tenacia gravi caeno aut rivis incerta erant: ‘the rest of the area was muddy bogs, sticky from the thick slime and insidious with streamlets.’) circum silvae paulatim adclives, quas tum Arminius inplevit, compendiis viarum et cito agmine onustum sarcinis armisque militem cum antevenisset. (compendiis viarum et cito agmine onustum sarcinis armisque militem cum antevenisset: causal cum, normally at the head of a clause, is placed here just before the verb: ‘since he had preceded the Roman army, weighted down by baggage and arms, using short cuts and quick marches’; compendium means ‘sparing’ or ‘saving’, here referred to distance.) Caecinae dubitanti quonam modo ruptos vetustate pontes reponeret simulque propulsaret hostem, castra metari in loco placuit, (Caecinae dubitanti quonam modo ruptos vetustate pontes reponeret simulque propulsaret hostem, castra metari in loco placuit: ‘to Caecina, pondering how in the world he was going to repair the bridges broken down by age and repulse the enemy at the same time, it was preferable to camp on the spot.’ dubitanti introduces an indirect question headed by quonam modo and requiring subjunctive; castra metari: ‘to measure the ground for a camp’; both meto and metor are used interchangeably.) ut opus et alii proelium inciperent. (ut opus et alii proelium inciperent: the subject is an implied milites: lit. ‘so that they could start the work and others the fighting’)