XXIII.
Incendebat haec fletu et pectus atque os manibus verberans. mox disiectis quorum per umeros (per umeros: per + acc. to express means or instrument was generally reserved for persons in classical times and the simple abl. for things.) sustinebatur, praeceps et singulorum pedibus advolutus (pedibus advolutus: the passive advolutus has middle sense: ‘rolling towards the feet’; advolvo is found with ad+ acc., but also with dat. as here.) tantum consternationis invidiaeque concivit, ut pars militum gladiatores, qui e servitio Blaesi erant, pars ceteram eiusdem familiam vincirent, alii ad quaerendum corpus effunderentur. (tantum consternationis invidiaeque concivit, ut … vincirent … effunderentur: consecutive sentence with the correlatives tantum …ut introducing the main and the dependent clause; concivit is from concieo or concio, ‘to stir up’.) ac ni propere neque corpus ullum reperiri, (neque corpus ullum reperiri, …neque illi fuisse umquam fratrem: the two clauses are infinitive in that they depend on pernotuisset, one of the declarative verbs (verba dicendi or declarandi) that govern indirect discourse: ‘both that no corpse whatsoever was found and that he never had had a brother’; illi refers to Vibulenus and is dat. of possessor with fuisse.) et servos adhibitis cruciatibus (adhibitis cruciatibus: abl. abs.: ‘torture having been applied’) abnuere caedem, neque illi fuisse umquam fratrem pernotuisset, haud multum ab exitio legati aberant. (ni propere … pernotuisset, haud multum ab exitio legati aberant: pernotuisset is from pernotesco: ‘if it had not become quickly clear that …, they would not have been far from the murder of the legate’: conditional sentence with negative protasis led into by ni (nisi) and with plup. subjunctive for condition contrary to fact (Type III condition) in the past; the apodosis is expressed by the imperfect indicative in that its action is seen as inevitable or already begun before being interrupted by the action of the protasis. Cf. G. 597, Remark 2, and A.G. 517, b. The same construction recurs below: see note for legiones octava et quinta decuma ferrum parabant, ni ….) tribunos tamen ac praefectum castrorum extrusere, sarcinae fugientium direptae, (tribunos … extrusere, sarcinae fugientium direptae [sunt]: ‘they drove away the tribunes, the baggage of the fugitives was plundered’: two coordinate clauses, one active, one passive, and different subjects: no discernible reason for the changes except a quest for stylistic variety.) et centurio Lucilius interficitur cui militaribus facetiis vocabulum ‘cedo alteram’ indiderant, quia fracta vite in tergo militis (fracta vite in tergo militis: abl. abs.; the vine rod was the symbol of a centurion’s authority.) alteram clara voce ac rursus aliam poscebat. (centurio Lucilius interficitur cui militaribus facetiis vocabulum ‘cedo alteram’ indiderant, quia … poscebat: interficitur is historical present: ‘the centurion Lucilius was killed to whom in their facetious soldierly jargon they had applied the nickname of ‘Hand Me Another’, because he kept asking for …’. cedo and cette, ‘give me’, are ancient singular and plural imperatives used in popular talk, the only two surviving forms of this defective verb; quia poscebat: the indicative is regularly found after quia.) ceteros latebrae texere, uno retento Clemente Iulio qui perferendis militum mandatis habebatur idoneus (uno retento Clemente Iulio qui perferendis militum mandatis habebatur idoneus: abl. abs. governing a dependent relative clause; perferendis mandatis: the dative gerundive is found after adjectives denoting fitness like idoneus: ‘suitable for carrying out the instructions of the soldiers’. A.G. 505, a.) ob promptum ingenium. quin (quin: emphatic use of quin as adverb to add to the chaotic situation described in precedence: ‘nay, there is more’) ipsae inter se legiones octava et quinta decuma ferrum parabant, dum centurionem cognomento Sirpicum illa morti deposcit, quintadecumani tuentur, (dum centurionem cognomento Sirpicum illa morti deposcit, quintadecumani tuentur: illa, the subject of deposcit, refers to the Eighth legion, mentioned earlier: ‘since the one demanded the death of a centurion named Sirpicus and the men of the Fifteenth protected him’. dum …deposcit, …tuentur: in Tacitus dum may be found with the force of causal cum to give a reason; G. 570, Note 2. cognomento Sirpicum: cognomentum usually refers to a real name and vocabulum (see note above on ‘Cedo alteram’) to a nickname, yet commentators point out that Sirpicus is derived from scirpus or sirpus, ‘bulrush’, from the fact that he whipped his men with ropes made from bulrushes. morti deposcit: morti is dative of purpose, ‘demands for death’.) ni miles nonanus preces et adversum aspernantis minas interiecisset. (legiones octava et quinta decuma ferrum parabant, ni miles nonanus … interiecisset: see note for ni …pernotuisset, haud multum ab exitio legati aberant above.)