LXIV.
Barbari perfringere stationes seque inferre munitoribus nisi (perfringere stationes seque inferre munitoribus nisi: nisi or nixi is perfect participle of nitor: lit. ‘striving to shatter our defense posts and betake themselves to the men at work’; monitoribus is dat. with inferre.) lacessunt, circumgrediuntur, occursant: miscetur operantium bellantiumque clamor. et cuncta pariter Romanis adversa, locus uligine profunda, idem ad gradum instabilis, procedentibus lubricus, (locus uligine profunda, idem ad gradum instabilis, procedentibus lubricus: uligine profunda is abl. of quality: ‘a place of deep mud, both (idem) unstable for (ad) a firm footing and slippery to those advancing’) corpora gravia loricis; neque librare pila inter undas poterant. contra Cheruscis sueta apud paludes proelia, procera membra, hastae ingentes ad vulnera facienda quamvis procul. (hastae ingentes ad vulnera facienda quamvis procul: ‘oversize spears for inflicting wounds at no matter what distance’; a similar comment about the unusually large size of the spears is found in Germania, ch. 6. ad vulnera facienda: use of acc. gerundive + ad to denote purpose; another examples, with ad postposed, is ducendum ad agmen near the end of the chapter.) nox demum inclinantis iam legiones adversae pugnae exemit. (inclinantis iam legiones adversae pugnae exemit: ‘rescued the legions, now giving way, from a losing battle’; adversae pugnae is probably dat. (see ut …se ipsos morti eximant hortatur in ch. 48), though eximo is also found with simple abl. or ex or de + abl.) Germani ob prospera indefessi, ne tum quidem sumpta quiete, quantum aquarum circum surgentibus iugis oritur vertere in subiecta, (quantum aquarum circum surgentibus iugis oritur vertere in subiecta: lit. ‘they turned all the water [that] issues forth in many places (circum, adv.) on the rising slopes into the lands below.’ quantum aquarum: partitive genitive after the neuter quantum, ‘as much of the water as there is’.) mersaque humo et obruto quod effectum operis (mersaque humo et obruto quod effectum operis: mersa humo et obruto is abl abs. with dependent rel. clause; the implied noun or pronoun that goes with obruto is either opere or eo, the antecedent of quod: ‘the ground being flooded and what of the work had been done destroyed’) duplicatus militi labor. quadragesimum id stipendium Caecina parendi aut imperitandi (quadragesimum … stipendium … parendi aut imperitandi: stipendia is the same as ‘year of army service’: ‘the fortieth year of obeying and commanding’; see note for tricena aut quadragena stipendia in ch. 17. parendi and imperitandi are examples of active or subjective genitive gerund (years he spent in obeying and commanding). Cf. G. 363, 364.) habebat, secundarum ambiguarumque rerum sciens eoque interritus. igitur futura volvens non aliud repperit quam ut hostem silvis coerceret, (futura volvens non aliud repperit quam ut hostem silvis coerceret: ‘turning over in his mind all options open to him, he found no other course except to keep the enemy confined inside the woods.’ non aliud …quam, non aliter… quam and similar constructions are negative turns of phrase of virtually comparative sense. They are found replacing nisi (Ernout), meaning ‘except that’, ‘save that’, ‘but for’ and followed by subjunctive with or without ut. Cf. L. 1895, G. 557, Note 2.) donec saucii quantumque gravioris agminis anteirent; (donec … anteirent: donec is with subjunctive if anticipation or suspense is implied.) nam medio montium et paludum porrigebatur planities, quae tenuem aciem pateretur. (quae tenuem aciem pateretur: rel. clause with potential subjunctive: ‘which might allow a thin line of battle [to be deployed]’) deliguntur legiones quinta dextro lateri, unetvicesima in laevum, primani ducendum ad agmen, vicesimanus adversum secuturos. (primani [ deliguntur] ducendum ad agmen, vicesimanus adversum secuturos: ‘the First legion is chosen to lead the column, the Twentieth against pursuers’, i.e. against attacks in the rear that were bound to occur. adversum, alternate form of adversus, is prep. with accusative.)