XX.
Interea manipuli ante coeptam seditionem Nauportum (Nauportum: Ober-Laibach in Slovenia, NE of Trieste.) missi ob itinera et pontes et alios usus, postquam turbatum in castris accepere, (postquam turbatum [esse] in castris accepere: postquam is regularly with indicative; turbatum [esse] is impersonal use of passive: lit. ‘after they heard it had been revolted in the camp’) vexilla convellunt (vexilla convellunt: vexillum was the banner of smaller units, such as the maniples; it was fixed in the ground near the place where the unit was operating and pulled up whenever the unit moved, that being the sense here of convellere.) direptisque proximis vicis ipsoque Nauporto, quod municipii instar erat, (municipii instar erat: ‘it was the equivalent of a municipal town’, i.e. it had Roman citizens residing there, a forum, and privileges that approached those of the capital. After being pillaged by the soldiers Nauportus never recovered, the nearby colony of Emona, modern Ljubljana, prospering in its place.) retinentis centuriones inrisu et contumeliis, postremo verberibus insectantur, praecipua in Aufidienum Rufum praefectum castrorum (praefectum castrorum: an office first mentioned in Augustus’ time; the camp prefect outranked the tribunes in the legion, had disciplinary powers, and was in charge of the camp. He also commanded the legion in the legate’s absence.) ira, quem dereptum vehiculo (dereptum vehiculo: vehiculo is probably dative in Tacitus, as dirimo is found with both dat. and abl.) sarcinis gravant aguntque primo in agmine per ludibrium rogitantes an tam immensa onera, (onera: a Roman soldier was required to carry a backpack weighing sixty ponds on twenty mile marches.) tam longa itinera libenter ferret. (rogitantes an … libenter ferret: an asks an indirect Yes or No question, here with pointed sarcasm: ‘they kept asking him whether he bore [such a huge load] joyfully’.) quippe Rufus diu manipularis, dein centurio, mox castris praefectus, antiquam duramque militiam revocabat, vetus operis ac laboris (vetus operis ac laboris: operis an laboris are genitives of relation after a Greek model, ‘hardened as to military service and its labors’) et eo inmitior quia toleraverat. (eo inmitior quia toleraverat: ‘for that reason all the more ruthless because he had endured’; quia, like quod or quando, is regularly with indicative.)