XLII.
‘Non mihi uxor aut filius patre et re publica cariores sunt, sed illum quidem sua maiestas, imperium Romanum ceteri exercitus defendent. coniugem et liberos meos, (coniugem et liberos meos: liberos is rhetorical plural: only the infant Caligula was in the camp.) quos pro gloria vestra libens ad exitium offerrem, (ad exitium offerrem: offerrem is potential subjunctive to express intention; the imperfect is for potential in the past (Ernout).) nunc procul a furentibus summoveo, ut quidquid istud sceleris imminet, meo tantum sanguine pietur, (ut quidquid istud sceleris imminet, meo tantum sanguine pietur: ‘so that whatever knavery of yours hangs over us is expiated with my blood only’; istud, here neutral pronoun, points to the person or persons one is speaking with and often implies contempt. sceleris, after the neuter istud, is partitive genitive, a construction Tacitus avails himself of at every opportunity; another mark of his style is the use of poetic or archaic words, such as piare in place of expiare.) neve occisus Augusti pronepos, interfecta Tiberii nurus nocentiores vos faciant. (neve occisus Augusti pronepos, interfecta Tiberii nurus nocentiores vos faciant: neve is used to join the preceding ut clause with a negative purpose clause, with the enclitic -ve acting as a copula (= et ne); ‘…and to avoid that the murdered great-grandson of Augustus and the slain daughter-in-law of Tiberius should make you more stained with crime’; occisus …interfecta: example of perfect participles being used in an attributive role, like ordinary adjectives.) quid enim per hos dies inausum intemeratumve vobis? (quid enim per hos dies inausum intemeratumve [est] vobis?: ‘indeed, what has not in recent days been dared or profaned by you?’ vobis is dative of agent found with tenses of passive verbs that require the use of perfect participle. The enclitic -ve is in place of aut.) quod nomen huic coetui dabo? militesne appellem, qui filium imperatoris vestri vallo et armis circumsedistis? an civis, (militesne appellem … an civis: alternative question with -ne …an introducing the two parts of the question; appellem is potential subjunctive, expressing doubt, ‘what am I to call you, soldiers or citizens,…’) quibus tam proiecta senatus auctoritas? (quibus tam proiecta senatus auctoritas?: quibus is dative of agent with proiecta [est]: ‘…by whom the authority of the senate has been treated with such contempt?’ See note for quid enim per hos dies inausum intemeratumve vobis? above.) hostium quoque ius et sacra legationis et fas gentium rupistis. divus Iulius seditionem exercitus verbo uno compescuit, Quirites vocando (Quirites vocando: Quirites are the citizens of Rome considered in their civil capacity. By using the term, Caesar meant that the men were no longer soldiers, but civilians, and would be disbanded. The incident, reported by Suetonius and Plutarch, occurred in 47 B.C., when the Tenth legion refused to embark for Africa and continue the fight against the Pompeians. A later emperor, Alexander Severus, used the same term under similar circumstances, adding as an afterthought “and not good ones either”.) qui sacramentum eius detrectabant: divus Augustus vultu et aspectu Actiacas legiones exterruit: (Augustus … Actiacas legiones exterruit: the episode comes also from Suetonius and refers to the unrest among the legions returning victorious from the naval battle at Actium in 30 B.C., which on disembarking at Brindisi on the Adriatic coast of Italy were demanding money rewards and an immediate discharge.) nos ut nondum eosdem, ita ex illis ortos si Hispaniae Syriaeve miles aspernaretur, tamen mirum et indignum erat. (nos ut nondum eosdem, ita ex illis ortos si Hispaniae Syriaeve miles aspernaretur, tamen mirum et indignum erat: nos is direct objects of aspernaretur and eosdem is apposition of nos, hence in the same case: lit. ‘if the army of Spain or Syria were to spurn me, though [I’m not] yet like them, yet descended from them, it would still be inconceivable and scandalous.’ nos is enallage, the use of plural for the singular of ‘we’. ut …ita, ‘though …yet’: ut (with indicative) may have concessive sense. Cf. A.G. 527, f. si …asperneretur, …erat: conditional sentence with unreal condition in the protasis and imperfect indicative in the apodosis to indicate that the result is considered a reality under the condition. ex illis ortos: Germanicus was the grandson of Augustus, himself the grandson of Julius Caesar.) primane et vicesima legiones, illa signis a Tiberio acceptis, tu (primane et vicesima legiones, illa …, tu …: the enclitic -ne after prima shows that the sentence following is a question, but this is generally translated as being more exclamatory than interrogative, given that it expresses Germanicus’ great indignation. There is no accord among commentators as to which legion ille and tu apply: from the grammar standpoint ille refers to the First legion, being the first mentioned, and tu to the Twentieth, but the First legion could not have been a newly formed legion, as implied in the text, whereas the Twentieth may well have been a new legion raised by Tiberius at the time of the Pannonian revolt.. Thus, the readers are left to decide on their own. One possible explanation is that Germanicus, who is in the camp of the First legion and speaking to its soldiers, is more likely to address it with tu and the more distant — in space as well as in thought — Twentieth legion with ille (Furneaux).) tot proeliorum socia, tot praemiis aucta, egregiam duci vestro gratiam refertis? hunc ego nuntium patri laeta omnia aliis e provinciis audienti feram? ipsius tirones, ipsius veteranos non missione, non pecunia satiatos: hic tantum interfici centuriones, eici tribunos, includi legatos, (interfici centuriones, eici tribunos, includi legatos: the passives interfici, eici, includi are historical infinitives, and so is trahere below; legatos certainly refers to the legion commanders, not to the senate’ envoys, being next in order after centuriones and tribunos. Besides, the envoys were maltreated, but not imprisoned.) infecta sanguine castra, flumina, (infecta sanguine … flumina: obvious hyperbole, both the action and the plural flumina, by which the Rhine is meant.) meque precariam animam inter infensos trahere.