XVII.
Postremo promptis iam et aliis seditionis ministris velut contionabundus interrogabat (velut contionabundus interrogabat: ‘just as if he were someone in command haranguing the troops, he asked them …’; it appears that contionabundus occurs only in Livy and Tacitus; interrogabat brings in oratio obliqua that extends to the rest of the chapter.) cur paucis centurionibus paucioribus tribunis (paucis centurionibus paucioribus tribunis: aside from the legatus legionis and his immediate staff, in a legion there were sixty centurions, six tribunes, and an average of five thousand men.) in modum servorum oboedirent. quando ausuros exposcere remedia, nisi novum et nutantem adhuc principem precibus vel armis adirent? (quando ausuros exposcere remedia, nisi novum et nutantem adhuc principem precibus vel armis adirent?: the question is rhetorical, that is, a statement expressed for effect in the form of a question, thus requiring acc. + infinitive in oratio obliqua: ‘when would they demand redress, if they would not approach, with prayers or arms, a prince new to the job and still uncertain?’.) satis per tot annos ignavia peccatum, quod tricena aut quadragena stipendia (tricena aut quadragena stipendia: tricena, quadragena are distributive numerals; they answer to the question ‘How many at a time?’. stipendium is the pay received at the end of each year of service, hence thirty or forty stipendia is the same as years of service. Percennius conveniently exaggerates to drive his point home: the term of service was twenty years for a legionary, unless one volunteered to remain in the army.) senes et plerique truncato ex vulneribus corpore tolerent. (quod … tolerent: often in oratio obliqua the present and perfect subjunctive are found after a historical main verb of saying (here interrogabat) in place of the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive required by consecution temporum. The change (repraesentatio) is intended to add vividness to the narrative by bringing the action closer in time to the reader; cf. A.G. 585, b. and B. 318. Other examples of repraesentatio can be found in this chapter beside tolerent, such as superaverit, accipiant, acceperint, reddantur.) ne dimissis quidem finem esse militiae, (ne dimissis quidem finem esse militia: dimissis is dat. of possessor with esse: ‘not even those discharged had the end of their service’.) sed apud vexillum tendentis (apud vexillum tendentis: ‘camping under a banner’: vexillum and vexillarii can mean different things, but here they apply to veterans who were kept on after completing their twenty years of service as a reserve in case of war. Placed under a flag by themselves, they were relieved of all camp work and called upon in emergencies only. A legion may have had several hundreds of then at any one time.) alio vocabulo eosdem labores perferre. (alio vocabulo eosdem labores perferre: i.e. from legionarii they became vexillarii; Percennius exaggerates again: the vexillarii were relieved of most camp work.) ac si quis tot casus vita superaverit, (si quis tot casus vita superaverit: potential condition in oratio obliqua; quis is for aliquis after si; for superaverit see note above.) trahi adhuc (adhuc: here with the sense of insuper, ‘besides’.) diversas in terras ubi per nomen agrorum uligines paludum vel inculta montium (per nomen agrorum uligines paludum vel inculta montium: upon being discharged, a soldier could opt to have some land assigned to him in place of the gratuity. agrorum and paludum are genitives of definition: cf. L. 1255-1259; montium is partitive gen. after the neuter plur. inculta.) accipiant. enimvero militiam ipsam gravem, infructuosam: denis in diem assibus (denis in diem assibus: denis is abl. plur. of deni, –ae, adj., meaning ‘ten at a time’; at this period (14 A.D.) one as was equal to one sixteenth of a denarius; 4 asses made a sestertium and four sesterces a denarius.) animam et corpus aestimari: hinc vestem arma tentoria, hinc saevitiam centurionum et vacationes munerum redimi. (hinc vestem arma tentoria, hinc saevitiam centurionum et vacationes munerum redimi: while grain was supplied gratis, the men had to pay for clothing, arms, and tents furnished by the state; they also had to purchase reprieve from camp duties from the centurions, usually rough, greedy fellows, risen from the ranks, who would pile chores on a soldier if they knew he had money to pay for dispensations and who were not chary of using their vine rods if disobeyed. The issue of the abuse suffered at the hand of centurions came to head decades later, as described in Historiae, Book 1, ch. 46.) at hercule verbera et vulnera, duram hiemem, exercitas aestates, bellum atrox: aut sterilem pacem sempiterna. nec aliud levamentum quam si certis sub legibus militia iniretur, ut singulos denarios mererent, sextus decumus stipendii annus finem adferret, ne ultra sub vexillis tenerentur, sed isdem in castris praemium pecunia solveretur. (nec aliud levamentum [esse] quam si certis sub legibus militia iniretur, ut singulos denarios mererent, [ut] sextus decumus stipendii annus finem adferret, ne ultra sub vexillis tenerentur, sed [ut] isdem in castris praemium pecunia solveretur: the period (in oratio obliqua) consists of a conditional sentence of comparison wherein quam si introduces a protasis which in turns governs four result clauses, three positive and one negative: ‘that there was no other relief than if military service was entered under definite guidelines, so that they would earn a full denarius, the sixteenth year of service would bring the end of service, they would not be retained any longer under a standard, but the gratuity would be paid in the camp itself and in cash’; ut singulos denarios mererent: the as was devalued from one tenth to one sixteenth of a denarius after the Second Punic War. Percennius demands that the pay be increased again to a full denarius, now sixteen asses; the particle ne may on occasion be found, with or without ut, in place of ut non with a consecutive clause, especially to underscore intention (Ernout). ) an praetorias cohortis, quae binos; denarios acceperint, quae post sedecim annos penatibus suis reddantur, plus periculorum suscipere? (an praetorias cohortis … plus periculorum suscipere?: a Yes or No question with an usually expresses indignation or surprise; in oratio obliqua the use of the infinitive in place of subjunctive indicates that the question is rhetorical, thus equivalent to a statement of fact. periculorum is partitive genitive after the neuter plus.) non obtrectari a se urbanas excubias: (non obtrectari a se urbanas excubias: lit. ‘that the changes of the guard in the city were not being disparaged by him’: Prcennius is being bitterly sarcastic.) sibi tamen apud horridas gentis e contuberniis hostem aspici. (sibi … aspici: sibi is dat. of agent with the passive aspici: the construction is sometimes found with the compound tenses formed with the perfect participle, rarely with simple passive tenses, and that only in poetry.)