LIV.
Petita inde Euboea tramisit Lesbum (Euboea … Lesbum: Euboea is the extended large island off the east coast of Attica and Beotia, in the western part of the Aegean sea. Lesbos is an island off the western coast of Turkey.) ubi Agrippina novissimo partu Iuliam (Iuliam: the sixth and last child of Agrippina; she was better known as Livilla) edidit. tum extrema Asiae Perinthumque ac Byzantium, (Perinthumque ac Byzantium: Perinthum is on the central promontory in the northern (or Thracian) coast of the Propontis, near the town of Marmara, from which the Propontis takes its modern name. Byzantium is the city on the Bosphorus, which later became first Constantinople, then, centuries later, Instanbul.) Thraecias urbes, mox Propontidis angustias et os Ponticum (Propontidis angustias et os Ponticum: ‘the narrows of Propontis’ is the Bosphorus mentioned in previous note, a very narrow strait, 18 miles long, connecting the Propontis with the Black sea; some take angustias to refer to the Dardanelles. os Ponticum is the mouth or exit of the Bosphorus into the Black sea.) intrat, cupidine veteres locos et fama celebratos noscendi; (cupidine … noscendi: noscendi is objective genitive gerund complementing a noun) pariterque provincias internis certaminibus aut magistratuum iniuriis fessas refovebat. atque illum in regressu sacra Samothracum visere nitentem obvii aquilones depulere. (illum in regressu sacra Samothracum visere nitentem obvii aquilones depulere: illum refers to Germanicus: ‘contrary north winds (aquilones) threw him, trying to visit the mysteries of the Samothracians during his return journey, off course.’ sacra Samothracum: Samothrace is a small island in the NE Aegean, off the coast of eastern Thrace; the local people worshipped deities known as Cabeiri whose cult entailed complex initiatory practices.) igitur adito Ilio quaeque ibi varietate fortunae et nostri origine veneranda, (adito Ilio quaeque ibi varietate fortunae et nostri origine veneranda: a verb is understood after adito Ilio, thus : adito Ilio, [visae sunt] quaeque …: ‘ancient Troy having been reached, all the things there worthy of reverence, because of the ups and downs of shifty fortune and their connection with the origin of our race, were visited.’ nostri origine: lit. ‘by reason of the origin of us’; nostri is the genitive of the personal pronoun nos, in the way mei (‘of me’) is the genitive of ego. Ilium is another name for Troy; the Ilium Germanicus visited was restored by the Latin dictator Sulla, who believed it was the site of the ancient city. It took nearly another two thousand years before the real Troy was rediscovered by Schliemann.) relegit Asiam adpellitque Colophona ut Clarii Apollinis oraculo uteretur. (relegit Asiam adpellitque Colophona ut Clarii Apollinis oraculo uteretur: ‘Germanicus sailed back along the coast (relegit) of Asia and put in at Colophon in order to take advantage of the oracle of Apollo at Claros.’ Colophon was one of the twelve Ionian cities on the western coast of the Roman province of Asia. Claros, the site of a famous oracle of Apollo, was a few miles south of Colophon.) non femina illic, ut apud Delphos, (apud Delphos: Delphi, ancient city in Phocis in central Greece, site of the celebrated oracle of Apollo.) sed certis e familiis et ferme Mileto accitus sacerdos (ferme Mileto accitus sacerdos: ‘a priest imported, as a rule, from Miletus’; Miletus was on the western coast of Turkey, between Ephesus to the north and Halicarnassus to the south.) numerum modo consultantium et nomina audit; tum in specum degressus, hausta fontis arcani aqua, ignarus plerumque litterarum et carminum edit responsa versibus compositis super rebus quas quis mente concepit. (edit responsa … super rebus quas quis mente concepit: ‘gave his response about matters which each inquirer had formulated in his mind only.’ the prep. super takes abl. when its meaning is ‘concerning’, ‘about’.) et ferebatur Germanico per ambages, (per ambages: ‘by means of obscure circumlocutions’) ut mos oraculis, maturum exitum cecinisse.