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Britanniae situm populosque multis scriptoribus memoratos non in comparationem curae ingeniive (non in comparationem curae ingeniive: ‘not for a comparison of the thoroughness or of the merits’; the enclitic –ve stands for the conj. ‘or’) referam, sed quia tum primum perdomita est. Ita quae priores nondum comperta eloquentia percoluere, rerum fide tradentur. (quae priores nondum comperta eloquentia percoluere, rerum fide tradentur: ‘things which, not being yet discovered, former writers embellished with their eloquence, shall now be related on the authority of facts’) Britannia, insularum quas Romana notitia complectitur maxima, (insularum quas Romana notitia complectitur maxima: ‘the largest of the islands which Roman knowledge embraces’) spatio ac caelo in orientem Germaniae, in occidentem Hispaniae (Hispaniae: the notion that Spain was situated west of Britain persisted until the second century A.D.) obtenditur, (in orientem Germaniae…obtenditur: ‘lies opposite Germany towards the orient’; the passive of obtendere, with dative, has the sense of ‘to stretch before’.) Gallis in meridiem etiam inspicitur; (Gallis…inspicitur: ‘it can be seen by the Gauls’; Gallis is dat. of agent, rare in prose but affected by Tacitus in place of abl. of agent with a or ab; cf. G. 354, Note 2.) septentrionalia eius, nullis contra terris, vasto atque aperto mari pulsantur. Formam totius Britanniae Livius veterum, Fabius Rusticus (Livius…Fabius Rusticus: Livy’s account of Britain is not in the 35 books that have survived, out of 142, and Rusticus’ history is also lost.) recentium eloquentissimi auctores oblongae scutulae vel bipenni (scapulae vel bipenni: depending on manuscript, the first word is variously given as scapulae, scupulae, or scutulae, the last meaning ‘small shield’; bipennis is a two-edged axe.) adsimulavere. Et est (et est: here et has the asseverative force of enim.) ea facies citra Caledoniam, unde et in universum fama [est]; (unde et in universum fama [est]: ‘hence the report is also for the whole’ i.e. ‘the reported shape is thought to extend to the entire island’) transgressis (transgressis: dative rather than abl. abs., ‘for those moving beyond the line’; cf. also note for transgressae in ch. 7.) inmensum et enorme (enorme: lit. ‘outside the norm’ i.e. ‘irregular’) spatium procurrentium extremo iam litore terrarum velut in cuneum tenuatur. (spatium procurrentium extremo iam litore terrarum velut in cuneum tenuatur: ‘the expanse of the lands stretching ahead is reduced in time to something like a wedge on the extreme portion of the shoreline.’, a reference perhaps to the triangular section of Scotland just below of the Orkney Islands) Hanc oram novissimi maris tunc primum Romana classis circumvecta insulam esse Britanniam adfirmavit, ac simul incognitas ad id tempus insulas, quas Orcadas vocant, invenit (Orcadas…invenit: the Orkneys were already known, as attested by Juvenal, Eutropius, and Pliny) domuitque. Dispecta est et Thule, (Thule: perhaps the Shetland Islands, perhaps Norway or even Iceland) quia hactenus iussum, (quia hactenus iussum: ‘because orders [were to go] thus far’) et hiems adpetebat. Sed mare pigrum et grave remigantibus perhibent (perhibent: ‘they claim’) ne ventis quidem perinde attolli, (ne…ventis attolli: ‘that they are not stirred by the winds’) credo quod rariores terrae montesque, causa ac materia (causa ac materia: ‘cause and material’, hendiadys) tempestatum, et profunda moles continui maris tardius impellitur. (tardius impellitur: ‘is more slowly set in motion’) Naturam Oceani atque aestus neque quaerere huius operis est, (neque…huius operis est: ‘it is not of this work, i.e. ‘it does not belong here’) ac multi rettulere: unum addiderim, (addiderim: potential subjunctive; the past is found used for the present more often than not.) nusquam latius dominari mare, multum fluminum (multum fluminum: ‘much of streams’, part. gen. after the neuter singular of certain words of quantity) huc atque illuc ferre, nec litore tenus (litore tenus: ‘as far as the shore’; tenus, prep., is placed after the abl. it governs) adcrescere aut resorberi, sed influere penitus atque ambire, et iugis etiam ac montibus inseri velut in suo. (velut in suo: ‘just as if [it were] in its own domain’)