XIX.
Aggerabatur nihilo minus (aggerabatur nihilo minus: impersonal use of the passive: ‘it was continued to pile up the turf nonetheless’.) caespes iamque pectori (pectori: Tacitus prefers the more poetic dative to the functional ad + acc.) usque adcreverat, cum tandem pervicacia victi inceptum omisere. Blaesus multa dicendi arte (multa dicendi arte: multa arte is abl. of quality; dicendi is objective genitive gerund with arte.) non per seditionem et turbas desideria militum ad Caesarem ferenda ait, (ait: hist. present introducing oratio obliqua, in which it functions now as a primary now as a historical verb of saying. See more below.) neque veteres ab imperatoribus priscis neque ipsos a divo Augusto tam nova petivisse; et parum in tempore (parum in tempore [esse]: parum is indeclinable neuter noun: lit. ‘that it was [too] little at the proper moment’, i.e. ‘that it was hardly the right moment to …’) incipientis principis curas onerari. si tamen tenderent in pace temptare quae ne civilium quidem bellorum victores expostulaverint cur contra morem obsequii, contra fas disciplinae vim meditentur? (si … tenderent … temptare quae ne …quidem …victores expostulaverint, cur … vim meditentur?: in regard to the present and perfect subjunctive meditentur and expostulaverint, the main verb ait is primary, according to consecution temporum, but is secondary or historical in relation to the imperfect tenderent. See note for ait above.) decernerent legatos seque coram mandata darent. (decernerent legatos seque coram mandata darent: decernerent and darent are hortatory or jussive subjunctives in oratio obliqua: they correspond to imperatives in direct speech. Again, ait, the main verb of speaking, functions as historical tense. se coram: though miles or milites is the grammatical subject of the clause, the words and thought are Blaesus’, the subject of the main verb ait: in such cases the reflexive se refers to that subject (indirect reflexive). Cf. A.G. 300, 2.) adclamavere ut filius Blaesi tribunus legatione ea fungeretur (ut … legatione ea fungeretur: legatione ea is abl. with intransitive fungor: ‘that he should discharge that mission’) peteretque militibus missionem ab sedecim annis: cetera mandaturos ubi prima provenissent. profecto iuvene modicum otium: sed superbire miles quod filius legati orator publicae causae satis ostenderet necessitate expressa quae per modestiam non obtinuissent. (superbire miles quod filius legati orator publicae causae satis ostenderet necessitate expressa [esse] quae per modestiam non obtinuissent: superbire is historical infinitive: ‘the soldiers grew intransigent, because the legate’s son being the advocate of the general cause clearly indicated that they had wrung by force what they would not have obtained by gentle means’; quod … ostenderet: quod is with subjunctive in that the reason is assumed by the soldiers, not assigned by the writer; furthermore, the sentence is in virtual oratio obliqua after superbire, which explains also the subjunctive obtinuissent, adding to the fact that the relative clause is governed by the infinitive expressa [esse]; cf. A.G. 593; obtinuissent corresponds to the future perfect obtinuerint of direct speech.)