XXV
Ceterum (ceterum: the connective adv. marks a return to the narrative after the digression about Ireland; usually translated as ‘however that may be’ or ‘be that as it may’, ‘having said that’ — with reference to what has just been said — or not translated at all; cf. note in ch. 11) aestate, qua sextum officii annum (sextum annum: 83 A.D.) incohabat, amplexus civitates trans Bodotriam (trans Bodotriam: ‘beyond the Firth of Forth’) sitas, quia motus universarum ultra gentium et infesta hostilis exercitus itinera (infesta hostilis exercitus itinera: ‘routes infested with a hostile army’; infestus is usually found with the abl., not gen.) timebantur, portus classe exploravit; quae ab Agricola primum adsumpta in partem virium (quae [classis] ab Agricola primum adsumpta in partem virium: lit. ‘which [fleet] was for the first time employed by Agricola as part of his forces’; this ‘first’ attributed to Agricola is open to question, unless primum applies solely to the campaigns in Britain.) sequebatur egregia specie, (sequebatur egregia specie: ‘followed in grand style’) cum simul terra, simul mari bellum impelleretur, ac saepe isdem castris pedes equesque et nauticus miles mixti copiis et laetitia (mixti copiis et laetitia: the passive mixti refers to pedes equesque et nauticus miles and has the active sense of the English participle ‘sharing’; copiis and laetitia are ablatives of specification, ‘sharing in respect to provisions and good cheer’.) sua quisque facta, suos casus attollerent, (quisque …attollerent: subjunctive., like compararentur next, because still part of the cum clause introduced earlier; to note that quisque is plur., a usage that became accepted only in post-classical times; cf. G., 107, note.) ac modo silvarum ac montium profunda, modo tempestatum ac fluctuum adversa, hinc terra et hostis, hinc victus Oceanus militari iactantia compararentur. (militari iactantia compararentur: ‘they were compared with soldier-like boastfulness’) Britannos quoque, ut ex captivis audiebatur, visa classis obstupefaciebat, (Britannos …visa classis obstupefaciebat: lit. ‘the seen fleet amazed the Britons’; freely, ‘the sight of the fleet’) tamquam aperto maris sui secreto ultimum victis perfugium clauderetur. (tamquam aperto maris sui secreto …perfugium clauderetur: tamquam introduces a conditional clause and aperto secreto is abl. abs.: ‘as if escape were barred, the secret of their sea being exposed’) Ad manus et arma conversi (ad manus et arma conversi: ‘resorting to armed conflict’; manus et arma is hendiadys) Caledoniam incolentes populi magno paratu, (magno paratu: ‘with large preparation’) maiore fama, (maiore fama: maiore agrees with paratu, ‘greater on account of rumour’) uti mos est de ignotis, (uti mos est de ignotis: ‘as the tendency is about things unknown’) oppugnare ultro (ultro: ‘of their own accord’) castellum adorti, (oppugnare … castella adorti: adoriri is one of the verbs that take an inf. as the object, lit. ‘they undertook the attacking’; cf. G., 423, note 2.) metum ut provocantes addiderant; (metum ut provocantes addiderant: ‘they had caused fear, as the attackers’) regrediendumque citra Bodotriam et cedendum potius quam pellerentur (potius quam pellerentur: the conjunctional phrase potius quam is equivalent to antequam or priusquam, which require subjunctive to denote expectation; lit. ‘before they should be forced out’; cf. G. 577, N. 6 and 631, 3, R. 2.) ignavi specie prudentium admonebant, (regrediendum …cedendum … admonebant: supply esse; lit. ‘they warned that it should be retreated and given way’, impersonal use of passive periphrastic construction) cum interim cognoscit (cognoscit: dramatic switch to present tense, a case of repraesentatio, for which see A.G. 469, Note.) hostis pluribus agminibus (pluribus agminibus: ‘with several attack groups’) inrupturos. Ac ne superante numero et peritia locorum circumiretur, diviso et ipso in tris partes exercitu (diviso … in tres partes exercitu: military theory considers dividing one’s forces in the face of a superior enemy a very serious mistake, as events were to prove.) incessit.