LX.
Conciti per haec non modo Cherusci, sed (non modo …, sed: in Tacitus sed is not always followed by the customary etiam and etiam is at times not preceded by sed.) conterminae gentes, tractusque in partis Inguiomerus Arminii patruus, vetere apud Romanos auctoritate; (vetere apud Romanos auctoritate: abl. of quality: ‘long respected by the Romans’, not necessarily as a friend) unde maior Caesari metus. et ne bellum mole una ingrueret (ne bellum mole una ingrueret: negative purpose clause: ‘to prevent the war from bearing down on him in all its fury’) Caecinam cum quadraginta cohortibus Romanis (cum quadraginta cohortibus Romanis: i.e. with the four legions of Germania inferior, ten cohorts to a legion) distrahendo hosti per Bructeros ad flumen Amisiam mittit, (Caecinam … distrahendo hosti per Bructeros ad flumen Amisiam mittit: distrahendo hosti: dative of purpose, which writers of the silver age seem to prefer to a prepositional phrase with ad + acc. The gerundive lays stress on the task ahead, so that some grammarians refer to it as ‘Dative of work contemplated’. Amisia is the river Ems; the Bructeri inhabited the space between the southern portion of the Ems and the Lippe, south of the modern city of Münster. Caecina reached the Ems probably at Rheine, not far NW of Münster, and this may well have been the meeting point agreed with Peto and Germanicus (see below).) equitem Pedo praefectus finibus Frisiorum ducit. (equitem Pedo praefectus finibus Frisiorum ducit: only mention of Pedo Albinovanus, a cavalry commander, in Tacitus’ work; he wrote a poem about Germanicus’ campaign, of which only a fragment has survived. The abl. finibus, in place of per + acc., has quasi-instrumental force to indicate direction, on the example of via, ‘on the way to…’ (Furneaux). The Frisii, a nation friendly to the Romans, lived in Holland, mainly along the coastal stretch between the Rhine and the mouth of the Ems. Peto followed the Rhine until he reached Frisian territory, then turned east towards the Ems.) ipse inpositas navibus quattuor legiones per lacus vexit; (ipse inpositas navibus quattuor legiones per lacus vexit: Germanicus had with him the four legions of Germania superior stationed at Mogontiacum (Mainz). Auxiliary infantry is not mentioned either in his or in Caecina’s case and was probably left to defend the camps. per lacus: the lagoon lakes in central-north Holland (Lacus Flevo); they disappeared in the Middle Ages when several giant inundations swept away most of the land surrounding the lakes and formed the Zuyder Zee. From the Rhine Germanicus entered the lakes by Drusus’ canal (Fossae Drusianae) dug by his father about 12 B.C. From the lakes he followed the Dutch coast until he reached the mouth of the Ems. The question arises as to why he took such as circuitous route when a much more direct path from Vetera was available. Perhaps the marshy terrain and the danger of ambushes while stretched out on the march in forested areas may have made a longer journey by water seem safer and easier.) simulque pedes eques classis apud praedictum amnem convenere. Chauci cum auxilia pollicerentur, in commilitium adsciti sunt. (Chauci cum auxilia pollicerentur, in commilitium adsciti sunt: cum is here causal: ‘since they were offering help, the Chauci were admitted as part of the forces.’ The Chauci inhabited the coastal regions of the North Sea as far as the Weser river and had settlements on both sides of the mouth of the Ems.) Bructeros sua urentis expedita cum manu L Stertinius missu Germanici fudit; (Bructeros sua urentis expedita cum manu L Stertinius missu Germanici fudit: ‘on orders from Germanicus, Lucius Stertinius with a lightly armed force scattered the Bructeri burning their possessions.’ Stertinius will be mentioned once more in Book 1 and four times in Book 2, either at the head of cavalry or of special forces. expedita cum manu is abl. of manner with cum interposed between the adjective and the noun, the alternative to the simple abl. expedita manu.) interque caedem et praedam repperit undevicesimae legionis aquilam (undevicesimae legionis aquilam: the Nineteenth legion was one of the three legions under Varus destroyed by Arminius six years earlier, in 9 B.C.; the eagles of the other two legions, the Seventeenth and Eighteenth, were recovered later (see Book 2, ch. 25 and 41).) cum Varo amissam. ductum inde agmen ad ultimos Bructerorum, (ad ultimos Bructerorum: ‘to the farthest limits of the Bructeri’) quantumque Amisiam et Lupiam amnis inter vastatum, (quantumque Amisiam et Lupiam amnis inter vastatum: lit. ‘as much [of the territory] between the Ems and the Lippe being ravaged’; Amisiam et Lupiam amnis inter: a case of anastrophe of the preposition, the inversion of the regular order of words, limited to dissyllabic prepositions like inter, simul, propter, contra, infra, etc.) haud procul Teutoburgiensi saltu (haud procul Teutoburgiensi saltu: the exact location of the Teutoburgiensis saltus is still uncertain, though many place it in the range of low forested hills SW of Hanover or NE of Dortmund, near the half point, if a straight line is drawn between the two cities, and just south of Bielefeld. procul is here preposition, found mostly in poetry, probably a short form of procul ab (Ernout).) in quo reliquiae Vari legionumque insepultae dicebantur.