XXXVI.
Consultatum ibi de remedio; etenim nuntiabatur parari legatos qui superiorem exercitum ad causam eandem traherent; destinatum excidio Vbiorum oppidum, (destinatum excidio Vbiorum oppidum: in oratio obliqua after nuntiabatur: ‘that the stronghold of the Ubii was singled out for destruction’; the fortified town became Colonia Agrippinensis (modern Cologne) in 50 A.D. in honor of Agrippina, Germanicus’ daughter and mother of emperor Nero. She was born there in 15 A.D.) imbutasque praeda manus in direptionem Galliarum erupturas. (imbutasque praeda manus in direptionem Galliarum erupturas: manus is best read as ‘troops’, since ‘hands’ would hardly go with the following eruputuras (Furneaux): ‘that the troops, having tasted looting, would next break into the Gallic provinces and ransack them’; imbutas praeda: ‘imbued with the prospect of pillaging’, ‘having been initiated to pillaging’; cf. ut specie parandarum copiarum civili praeda miles imbueretur, Historiae, Book 3, ch. 15.) augebat metum gnarus Romanae seditionis (augebat metum gnarus Romanae seditionis [hostis]: ‘the fact that the enemy was aware of the Roman revolt intensified the alarm.’) et, si omitteretur ripa, invasurus hostis: at si auxilia et socii adversum abscedentis legiones armarentur, civile bellum suscipi. (si omitteretur ripa, invasurus hostis: at si auxilia et socii adversum abscedentis legiones armarentur, civile bellum suscipi: two consecutive conditional sentences with potential condition in the protases, but with future participle and implied est or erat in the first apodosis and historical infinitive in the second. at si is in place of sin.) periculosa severitas, flagitiosa largitio: seu nihil militi sive omnia concede[re]ntur in ancipiti res publica. (seu nihil militi sive omnia concede[re]ntur in ancipiti res publica: seu …sive, ‘whether …or’, introduces a condition in the form of an alternative (A.G. 525, c.): ‘whether nothing or everything was conceded to the soldiers, the state was in a dangerous dilemma.’ The mood is generally the indicative, though in imperial times the subjunctive also occurs. The original text has the future concedentur, but some view it as a transcription error and prefer concederentur, in line with the previous omitteretur and armarentur. ) igitur volutatis inter se rationibus (volutatis inter se rationibus: abl. abs. of temporal sense with volutatis having middle sense: the meaning is either ‘after comparing each plan with the others’ or ‘after going over each plan among themselves’ (i.e. Germanicus and his staff) placitum ut epistulae nomine principis scriberentur: (placitum ut epistulae nomine principis scriberentur: placitum [est] is impersonal use of passive of an intrans. verb: ‘it was decided that a letter be written in Tiberius’ name.’ the verb placeo may be found followed by ut + subjunctive, the subjunctive alone, or by the infinitive.) missionem dari vicena stipendia meritis, exauctorari qui sena dena fecissent ac retineri sub vexillo ceterorum inmunes nisi propulsandi hostis, (missionem dari vicena stipendia meritis, exauctorari qui sena dena fecissent ac retineri sub vexillo ceterorum inmunes nisi propulsandi hostis: lit. ‘that full discharge be granted to those having drawn army pay for a period of twenty years; that those with sixteen years of service be released and retained under a standard, free of all other obligations except of repelling an enemy’; vicena and sena dena are distributive numerals: they tell how many in each allotment. The verb exauctorari also means ‘to discharge’, especially with disgrace, but the meaning is qualified by what follows; ceterorum is gen. plural of cetera, i.e. of all other camp duties; propulsandi hostis is example of gen. gerund admitting a direct object.) legata quae petiverant exsolvi duplicarique.