XXXV.
Vt seditionem attigit, ubi modestia militaris, ubi veteris disciplinae decus, quonam tribunos, quo centuriones exegissent, (quonam tribunos, quo centuriones exegissent: subjunctive for indirect question: ‘to what place on earth they had removed their tribunes and centurions’; quonam = quo + nam, ‘where in fact’) rogitans, nudant universi corpora, cicatrices ex vulneribus, verberum notas exprobrant; mox indiscretis vocibus pretia vacationum, angustias stipendii, duritiam operum ac propriis nominibus incusant vallum, fossas, pabuli materiae lignorum adgestus, (duritiam operum ac propriis nominibus incusant vallum, fossas, pabuli materiae lignorum adgestus: ‘they denounced the rigor of their labors, [mentioning] by their specific names the rampart, the ditches, the quest for forage, materials, and wood.’) et si qua alia ex necessitate aut adversus otium castrorum quaeruntur. (et si qua alia … quaeruntur: si qua is from si quis, often written siquis and meaning ‘anything’, ‘whatever’: ‘and anything else that is demanded’) atrocissimus veteranorum clamor oriebatur, qui tricena aut supra stipendia (tricena aut supra stipendia: tricena is distributive numeral, ‘thirty at one time’, and tricena aut supra stipendia means ‘a stint of thirty years or more of army service.’) numerantes, mederetur fessis, (mederetur fessis …orabant: mderetur from medeor is hortatory subjunctive: ‘they pleaded with him that he should bring relief to spent men’) neu mortem in isdem laboribus, sed finem tam exercitae militiae neque inopem requiem orabant. (neu mortem …, sed finem … neque inopem requiem orabant: neu has here the force of neque, ‘and …not’, especially after the previous positive command or exhortation (Ernout): ‘and entreated not death …, but the end of …, and not a beggarly retirement.’ The change of construction from mederetur to three nouns as direct objects, mortem, finem, requiem, each with a different conjunction, is meant to simulate the volley of demands fired at Germanicus from various directions by the mass of veterans.) fuere etiam qui legatam a divo Augusto pecuniam reposcerent, faustis in Germanicum ominibus; (fuere etiam qui legatam a divo Augusto pecuniam reposcerent, faustis in Germanicum ominibus: fuere qui introduces a clause of characteristic or tendency with the subjunctive (G. 631). faustis in Germanicum ominibus: the abl. abs. seemingly hangs in the air, but is simply the soldiers’ way of saying they have no quarrel with Germanicus and wish him well. Next, they even venture to offer him the empire. There is no doubt that the army viewed Germanicus as the rightful heir of Augustus. legatam pecuniam refers to the legacy mentioned in ch. 8.) et si vellet imperium promptos ostentavere. (si vellet imperium promptos [se] ostentavere: ‘they showed themselves ready, if he desired the empire.’ Tacitus omits the reflexive se as part of his economy of words: another example is moriturum in place of se moriturum in the infinitive clause governed by clamitans below. si vellet is potential condition in the past.) tum vero, quasi scelere contaminaretur, praeceps tribunali desiluit. (quasi scelere contaminaretur: comparative particles such as quasi, velut, tamquam, and others present a comparison under a hypothetical form, implying that it is contrary to fact, thus requiring subjunctive (Ernout).) opposuerunt abeunti arma, minitantes, ni regrederetur; (minitantes, ni regrederetur: ‘threatening violence unless he would go back’; the condition is negative with ni or nisi, potential, and prospective in the past.) at ille moriturum potius quam fidem exueret clamitans, (ille moriturum potius quam fidem exueret clamitans: ‘again and again exclaiming that he would die rather than break his oath’; like priusquam or antequam, potius quam is followed by subjunctive for action anticipated or merely presumed (cf. G. 577, Note 6 and L 1897); besides, the clause is in oratio obliqua governed by clamitans; ille is emphatic.) ferrum a latere diripuit elatumque deferebat in pectus, ni proximi prensam dextram vi attinuissent. (ferrum … deferebat in pectus, ni proximi prensam dextram vi attinuissent: negative protasis (ni is for nisi) with plup. subjunctive for unreal condition in the past; imperfect indicative in apodosis to imply an action very near actual occurrence but for the intervention of the action of the protasis. Cf. L. 2104.) extrema et conglobata inter se pars contionis ac, vix credibile dictu, (vix credibile dictu: rather strangely for Tacitus, he relies from time to time on stock phrases with the abl. supine to express disbelief; lit. ‘hardly credible in the saying’) quidam singuli propius incedentes feriret hortabantur; (quidam … feriret hortabantur: ‘some encouraged him that he should strike.’ feriret is hortatory subjunctive.) et miles nomine Calusidius strictum obtulit gladium, addito acutiorem esse. (addito acutiorem esse: one-word abl. abs. governing an infinitive clause: lit. ‘having been added that his [sword] was sharper’) saevum id malique moris etiam furentibus visum, (saevum id malique moris etiam furentibus visum: ‘such behavior (id) appeared distasteful and barbaric even to the furious mutineers.’ mali moris, ‘of an uncivilized nature’, is objective genitive (i.e. the uncouth treatment of which Germanicus was the object).) ac spatium fuit quo (spatium fuit quo … raperetur: lit. ‘there was a pause that thereby he would be dragged away.’ quo is found replacing ut in clauses of final sense.) Caesar ab amicis in tabernaculum raperetur.