XLIII.
‘Cur enim primo contionis die ferrum illud, (ferrum illud: illud is emphatic, ‘that sword you all know of’; cf. ch. 35.) quod pectori meo infigere parabam, detraxistis, o inprovidi amici? melius et amantius ille qui gladium offerebat. (parabam …offerebat: inceptive use of imperfect indicative to express the beginning of an action.) cecidissem certe nondum tot flagitiorum exercitu meo conscius; (tot flagitiorum exercitu meo conscius: ‘accessory with my army of so many crimes’; Gemanicus, as head of the army, feels responsible for their seditious conduct. exercitu meo is abl. of accompaniment without cum with nouns of military forces. Cf. A.G. 413, a.) legissetis ducem, qui meam quidem mortem inpunitam sineret, Vari tamen et trium legionum ulcisceretur. (cecidissem …, legissetis ducem, qui meam quidem mortem inpunitam sineret, Vari tamen et trium legionum ulcisceretur: cecidissem … legissetis … sineret … ulcisceretur: four potential subjunctives: the two pluperfects apply to actions preceding in time those expressed by the two imperfects. quidem contrasts the two parallel terms meam and Vari, both qualifying mortem; placed after meam it emphasizes the word with concessive force, while the second term Vari is introduced by tamen. The sense is: ‘even if he would allow my death [to go] unpunished, yet Varus’ death he would avenge …’. Varus, as mentioned on earlier occasions, lost three legions (the Seventeenth, the Eighteenth, and the Nineteenth) and his own life in a battle near the Teutoburg Forest against the German forces of Arminius in 9 A.D. Germanicus made it the main goal of his campaigns in Germany to avenge the disaster. He only partly succeeded, as described in Book 2 of the Annals, but was able to retrieve the eagles of the three legions.) neque enim di sinant ut Belgarum quamquam offerentium decus istud et claritudo sit (neque enim di sinant ut Belgarum quamquam offerentium decus istud et claritudo sit …: lit. ‘indeed, would that the gods not allow that it be the distinction and the glory of the Belgae, though offering [their aid], to …’; sinant is optative subjunctive, as is also vertant below. No record has been traced, apart from this incidental reference, of the Belgae offering help against the Germans at the time of Varus’ death. quamquam offerentium: the practice of using subordinating conjunctions like concessive quamquam as adverbs modifying participles began in classical time and gained increasing currency later (Ernout). istud is here with regular demonstrative force, ‘this’. Cf. istis in next annotation.) Romano nomini, compressisse Germaniae populos. tua, dive Auguste, caelo recepta mens, tua, pater Druse, imago, tui memoria isdem istis cum militibus, (isdem istis cum militibus: in this case istis is demonstrative of the second person: it designates the interlocutor, i.e. Drusus, ‘with these very troops of yours’ (Ernout).) quos iam pudor et gloria intrat, eluant hanc maculam (eluant hanc maculam: the subjects of eluant, an optative subjunctive like vertant next, are mens and imago; maculam refers to the revolt, as confirmed by the words that follow, but is often interpreted as referring to Varus’ debacle.) irasque civilis in exitium hostibus vertant. vos quoque, quorum alia nunc ora, alia pectora (alia … ora, alia pectora: alia is here with the sense of ‘changed’, ‘other than it was’.) contueor, si legatos senatui, obsequium imperatori, si mihi coniugem et filium redditis, discedite a contactu ac dividite turbidos: (si legatos senatui … redditis, discedite … ac dividite …: Germanicus cleverly hints at the likelihood of a pardon if the mutineers distance themselves from the ringleaders. The indicative in the protasis shows this to be a logical, or type I, conditional sentence; the condition is simple: given one thing, the other necessarily follows, with nothing implied about the reality or fulfilment of the supposed case; the apodosis need not be in the same tense or even mood; often the imperative is found, as here. Cf. G. 594, 595. dividite, here followed by direct object, has the transitive sense of ‘isolate’; more often with a or ab, ‘keep apart from’. si legatos senatui …redditis: either part of Germanicus’ rhetorical effusion or Tacitus forgets that the envoys are already on their way to Rome. See ch. 39 at the end.) id stabile ad paenitentiam, id fidei vinculum erit.’