LVI.
Ambigua gens ea antiquitus (antiquitus: adverb, ‘from of old’; the word occurs less than a handful of times in Tacitus’ works.) hominum ingeniis et situ terrarum, quoniam nostris provinciis late praetenta penitus ad Medos porrigitur; (quoniam nostris provinciis late praetenta penitus ad Medos porrigitur: quoniam, like quod, quia, quando takes the indicative: ‘since [Armenia], bordering a large extent of our provinces, stretches out as far as Media’; nostris provinciis is dative with praetendo; penitus is adverb often accompanied by a preposition, which governs the case, ‘to a point as far away as …’; Medos are the people of Media, a region SE of Armenia and SW of the Caspian sea that corresponds to some degree to modern Azerbaijan.) maximisque imperiis interiecti (maximisque imperiis interiecti: ‘thrown between the two most powerful empires’; maximis imperiis is dative of indirect object with intericio. Cf. A.G. 370.) et saepius discordes sunt, adversus Romanos odio et in Parthum invidia. (saepius discordes … adversus Romanos odio et in Parthum invidia: [they were] too often (saepius) troublesome, against the Romans out of hate, against the Parthians out of envy.’ odio … invidia: ablatives of cause) regem illa tempestate non habobant, amoto Vonone: (amoto Vonone: see ch. 4 about the removal of Vonones from Arminia by the governor of Syria.) sed favor nationis inclinabat in Zenonem, Polemonis regis Pontici filium, quod is prima ab infantia instituta et cultum Armeniorum aemulatus, venatu epulis et quae alia barbari celebrant, proceres plebemque iuxta devinxerat. (quod is …proceres plebemque iuxta devinxerat: ‘because he had equally (iuxta) propitiated [to himself] the nobles and the plebs) igitur Germanicus in urbe Artaxata adprobantibus nobilibus, circumfusa multitudine, insigne regium capiti eius imposuit. (insigne regium capiti eius imposuit: ‘he placed on his head the emblem of royalty.’ In the case of oriental, kings the emblem consisted of the diadem and the tiara.) ceteri venerantes regem Artaxiam consalutavere, quod illi vocabulum indiderant ex nomine urbis. at Cappadoces in formam provinciae redacti Q. Veranium legatum accepere; et quaedam ex regiis tributis deminuta quo mitius Romanum imperium speraretur. (quo mitius Romanum imperium speraretur: for use of quo + subjunctive see note at the outset of previous chapter: lit. ‘that thereby a milder Roman government might be looked forward to’) Commagenis (Cappadoces … Commagenis: Cappadocia was located between Cilicia to the south and Pontus to the north; see also ch. 42. Commagene was a small landlocked kingdom east of Cilicia and SE of Cappadocia. Q. Veranius and Q. Servaeus, both officers serving under Germanicus, were sent, the first to Cappadocia, the other to Commagene, to organize the new Roman government. They then rejoined Germanicus and later testified against Piso.) Q. Servaeus praeponitur, tum primum ad ius praetoris translatis. (ad ius praetoris translatis: i.e. converted to a Roman province)