XLVI.
Neque Maroboduns iactantia sui aut probris in hostem abstinebat, (neque …iactantia sui aut probris in hostem abstinebat: abstineo is here used with simple abl. of separation without ab‘: ‘he did not refrain from boasting of himself or from insults against his opponent.’ The objective genitive sui is reflexive and rare (Ernout).) sed Inguiomerum tenens illo in corpore decus omne Cheruscorum, illius consiliis gesta quae prospere ceciderint testabatur: (Inguiomerum tenens illo in corpore decus omne Cheruscorum, illius consiliis gesta [esse] quae prospere ceciderint testabatur: ‘grasping Inguiomerus by the hand, he declared that in that man (in illo corpore) was all the renown of the Cherushi, and that all the things that turned out well [for them] had been done (gesta esse) thanks to his counsels.’ Yet, Inguiomerus’ counsel in Book 1, ch. 68 led to disaster. ceciderint: there is a definite tendency in Latin to use perfect subjunctive to represent the perfect indicative of direct discourse, even if the sequence of tense would require the pluperfect. A.G. 485, c., N. 2.) vaecordem Arminium et rerum nescium alienam gloriam in se trahere, quoniam tres vagas legiones et ducem fraudis ignarum perfidia deceperit, magna cum clade Germaniae et ignominia sua, (magna cum clade … et ignominia sua: ‘with great ruin to Germany and to his own disgrace’; two ablatives of manner, one with cum interposed between the noun and the adjective, the other with adjective but without cum) cum coniunx, cum fiius eius servitium adhuc tolerent. (cum coniunx, cum fiius eius servitium adhuc tolerent: inverse cum, normally with indicative, except in indir. discourse. Placed after the main verb, the temporal cum clause seems to contain the main idea of the sentence and is often accompanied by such adverbs as vix, iam, nondum, adhuc (A.G. 546, a., G. 581): ‘when his wife, when his son were bearing as yet the weight of servitude’; for the capture of Arminius’ pregnant wife , see Book 1, ch. 57. tolerent is repraesentatio for tolerarent, required by the sequence of tenses after the hist. main verb testabatur (A.G. 469, 585, b. and N). other examples of repraesentatio are sit and malint in the second note down from here.) at se duodecim legionibus petitum duce Tiberio (at se duodecim legionibus petitum duce Tiberio: at expresses contrast with what precedes: ‘he, on the other hand, was threatened by twelve legions led by Tiberius.’ This happened in 6 A.D., but no battle was fought, because Tiberius was recalled to stamp out a revolt in Pannonia and Dalmatia.) inlibatam Germanorum gloriam servavisse, mox condicionibus aequis discessum; neque paenitere quod ipsorum in manu sit, integrum adversum Romanos bellum an pacem incruentam malint. (neque paenitere [se] quod ipsorum in manu sit, integrum adversum Romanos bellum an pacem incruentam malint: in indir. discourse: lit. ‘that he did not regret, since it was now in their own hands whether they preferred total war with the Romans or peace without bloodshed’; the defective paenitet takes acc. of the person and gen. of the thing: here the latter is replaced by a clause with quod; quod ipsorum in manu sit: lit. ‘since it was in the hands of themselves’; bellum an pacem …malint: subjunctive in indir. alternate question, with an alone introducing the second part, as is regularly the case in Tacitus. integrum …bellum: either ‘all-outl war’ or ‘war with unimpaired forces’) his vocibus instinctos exercitus propriae quoque causae stimulabant, cum a Cheruscis Langobardisque pro antiquo decore aut recenti libertate et contra augendae dominationi certaretur. (cum a Cheruscis Langobardisque pro antiquo decore aut recenti libertate et contra augendae dominationi certaretur: causal cum + subjunctive: lit. ‘since it was fought by the Cherusci and Longobardi for the sake of ancient honor or for the recent liberty and on the opposite side for their dominion to be expanded’. The disjunctive aut separates the motives of the Cherushi from those of the Longobardi, thus: ‘the Cherusci, on one hand, fought for glory, the Longobardi (and the Semnones), on the other, for the freedom newly wrested from the Suevi. The prep. pro is usually with abl., occasionally with acc.) non alias maiore mole concursum (non alias maiore mole concursum: ‘never before [was] a collision of forces more powerful.’) neque ambiguo magis eventu, fusis utrimque dextris cornibus; sperabaturque rursum pugna, ni Maroboduus castra in collis subduxisset. (sperabaturque rursum pugna, ni Maroboduus castra in collis subduxisset: ‘the battle was expected to resume, had not Maroboduus withdrawn his camp to the hills’; conditional sentence contrary to fact: see note for …praepollebat, ni Inguiomerus cum manu clientium ad Maroboduum perfugisset in previous chapter. ni Marobodus castra in collis subduxisset: freely, ‘ had not Maroboduus given the order to withdraw to the hills’) id signum perculsi fuit; (id signum perculsi fuit: lit. ‘this was a sign of him having been beaten’; the gen. perculsi is from percello.) et transfugiis paulatim nudatus in Marcomanos concessit (transfugiis paulatim nudatus in Marcomanos concessit: ‘left without troops from desertions, he fled to the Marcomani’; transfugiis is abl. of cause. The Marcomani had settled in Bohemia (the largest and westernmost part od the modern Czech Republic), after driving out the Boii, a Celtic tribe.) misitque legatos ad Tiberium oraturos auxilia. (legatos …oraturos auxilia: in later writers the future participle may be found in simple agreement with a noun and expressing purpose; cf. A.G. 499, 2.) responsum est non iure eum adversus Cheruscos arma Romana invocare, qui pugnantis in eundem hostem Romanos nulla ope iuvisset. (nulla ope iuvisset: ‘had offered no assistance’; iuvisset is subjunctive for rel. clause in oratio obliqua after responsum est.) missus tamen Drusus, ut rettulimus, paci firmator. (paci firmator: ‘a keeper of the peace’; Tacitus often prefers a poetic dative in place of objective genitive.)