XXIV
Quinto expeditionum anno (quinto …anno: 82 A.D.) nave prima transgressus (nave prima transgressus: an obscure passage, as it is not clear where Agricola was headed in a ship, nor what need he and his troops had of such conveyance. At least one translator construes the passage as referring to Agricola’s sea operations around Britain and renders it thus: ‘He crossed yet uncharted waters with his fleet’, prima being, in his view, neuter plural, meaning ‘expanses of the sea until then unexplored’. Others, suspecting corruption of the text, suggest various fixes, one being, for instance, that the original reading was in avia primum transgressus, i. e. ‘venturing for the first time into the trackless wilds [of Caledonia]’.) ignotas ad id tempus gentis crebris simul ac prosperis proeliis domuit; eamque partem Britanniae quae Hiberniam aspicit copiis instruxit, in spem magis quam ob formidinem, si quidem (si quidem: or siquidem, almost equivalent to quia, especially in post-classical Latin) Hibernia medio inter Britanniam atque Hispaniam (inter Britanniam atque Hispaniam: for the notion of Spain being west of Britain, cf. note in ch. 10.) sita et Gallico quoque mari opportuna (Gallico … mari opportuna: ‘convenient because of the Gallic sea’; the Gallic sea was the portion of the Atlantic west of Brittany and the Bay of Biscay) valentissimam imperii partem magnis in vicem usibus miscuerit. (magnis in vicem usibus miscuerit: lit. ‘would have combined for great reciprocal uses the best parts …’; subjunctive after si quidem in that the clause expresses Agricola’s opinion) Spatium eius, si Britanniae comparetur, angustius nostri maris (nostri maris: the Romans called the Mediterranean mare nostrum, ‘our sea’) insulas superat. Solum caelumque et ingenia cultusque hominum haud multum a Britannia differunt; [in] melius aditus portusque per commercia et negotiatores cogniti. Agricola expulsum seditione domestica unum ex regulis gentis exceperat ac specie amicitiae in occasionem (in occasionem: ‘as opportunity offered’) retinebat. Saepe ex eo audivi legione una et modicis auxiliis debellari obtinerique Hiberniam posse; idque etiam adversus Britanniam profuturum, si Romana ubique arma et velut e conspectu libertas tolleretur. (idque etiam adversus Britanniam profuturum [esse], si Romana ubique arma et velut e conspectu libertas tolleretur: ‘and this [occupation] would be advantageous even with respect to Britain, if Roman arms spread everywhere and liberty were, so to speak, removed from sight’)