XXXIII
Excepere orationem alacres, ut barbaris moris, (ut barbaris modis [est]: ‘as is usual with barbarian ways’) fremitu cantuque et clamoribus dissonis. Iamque agmina et armorum fulgores audentissimi cuiusque procursu; (iamque agmina et armorum fulgures audentissimi cuiusque procursu: the verb must be supplied, something like ‘now battalions formed up, their arms aglitter, and the bravest ran out in front’; procursu is abl. of attendant circumstance, ‘with the rushing forward of all the boldest men’) simul instruebatur acies, cum Agricola quamquam laetum et vix munimentis coercitum militem accendendum adhuc ratus, (quamquam laetum et vix munimentis coercitum militem accendendum [esse] adhuc ratus: ‘deciding that the troops, albeit keen and hardly contained in the fortifications, should be inflamed still further’) ita disseruit: ‘septimus annus est, commilitones, ex quo virtute et auspiciis imperii Romani, fide atque opera vestra (opera nostra: the earliest manuscript has nostra, others have vestra, in keeping with vicistis.) Britanniam vicistis. Tot expeditionibus, tot proeliis, seu fortitudine adversus hostis seu patientia ac labore paene adversus ipsam rerum naturam opus fuit, neque me militum neque vos ducis paenituit. (me militum … vos ducis paenituit: the impers. use of peniteo requires acc. of the person feeling regret and gen. of the thing or person causing regret.) Ergo egressi, ego veterum legatorum, vos priorum exercituum terminos, finem Britanniae non fama nec rumore, sed castris et armis tenemus: (tenemus: double entendre, as the verb means both ‘to grasp with the mind’ and ‘to have in one’s power’) inventa Britannia et subacta. Equidem (equidem: ‘in truth’) saepe in agmine, cum vos paludes montesve et flumina fatigarent, fortissimi cuiusque voces audiebam: (fortissimi cuiusque voces audiebam: ‘I would hear the words of all the bravest men’; cf. audentissimi cuiusque above.) “quando dabitur hostis, quando in manus [veniet]?” (quando animus [venient]?: animus is usually amended to read ad manus or cominus; veniet or venient depending on whether hostis is sing. or plur.) Veniunt, e latebris suis extrusi, et vota virtusque in aperto, (in aperto: cf. note in ch. 1 for ut …pronum magisque in aperto erat, ita … ) omniaque prona victoribus atque eadem victis adversa. Nam ut superasse tantum itineris, evasisse silvas, transisse (superasse …evasisse …transisse: the three perf. infinitives are here used as verbal nouns and subjects.) aestuaria pulchrum ac decorum in frontem, (in frontem: ‘on the advance’) ita fugientibus periculosissima quae hodie prosperrima sunt; neque enim nobis aut locorum eadem notitia aut commeatuum eadem abundantia, sed manus et arma et (et …et: ‘not only …but also …’) in his omnia. Quod ad me attinet, iam pridem mihi decretum est neque exercitus neque ducis terga tuta esse. Proinde et honesta mors turpi vita potior, et incolumitas ac decus eodem loco sita sunt; nec inglorium fuerit (nec inglorium fuerit: potential subjunctive: the perfect may stand for the present without change of meaning; cf. B. 280, 1) in ipso terrarum ac naturae fine cecidisse. (cecidisse: example of an infinitive –here perf. inf.—used as a noun and subject of a clause)