LX.
Sed Germanicus nondum comperto profectionem eam incusari (nondum comperto profectionem eam incusari: abl. abs. with dependent infinitive clause: ‘not having as yet been made aware that his expedition was being censured, he …’; the infinitive completing compertus or the participle of similar verbs of perception, is regularly passive (Ernout).) Nilo subvehebatur, orsus oppido a Canopo. (orsus oppido a Canopo: ‘having started from the town of Canopus’; oppido a Canopo is variation of a oppido Canopo, abl. of separation. Canopus was located near Alexandria on the last mouth of the Nile going west. It sank into insignificance after the rise of Alexandria.) condidere id Spartani ob sepultum illic rectorem navis Canopum, qua tempestate Menelaus Graeciam repetens diversum ad mare terramque Libyam deiectus est. (Menelaus Graeciam repetens diversum ad mare … deiectus est: ‘Menelaus, making for Greece again, was driven to a faraway sea.’ The story is told in Homer’s Odyssey: Menelaus, king of Sparta, upon his return from the war of Troy, was blown by a storm away from the Aegean Sea into the Mediterranean and onto the coast of Libya. On the first mouth of the Nile he found on going east from Libya, he buried the pilot of his ship, Canopus, and on the site established a city which he named after him.) inde proximum amnis os dicatum Herculi, (amnis os dicatum Herculi: ‘the mouth of the Nile dedicated to Hercules’; the westernmost mouth, where Canopus was buried, was also called Herakles’ mouth, from the Greek name of Hercules.) quem indigenae ortum apud se et antiquissimum perhibent eosque, qui postea pari virtute fuerint, in cognomentum eius adscitos; (antiquissimum perhibent eosque, qui postea pari virtute fuerint, in cognomentum eius adscitos: ‘they claim he was the most ancient [in the tradition of Hercules], and that those who afterwards were of comparable strength were also called Hercules,’ in cognomentum eius adscitos: lit. ‘were accepted in his name.’ The subjunctive fuerint of the relative clause in oratio obliqua corresponds to the perf. indicative fuerunt of direct speech.) mox visit veterum Thebarum (veterum Thebarum: ancient Thebes is located on the Nile, 500 miles (800 km.) from the Mediterranean coast and is today part of the city of Luxor.) magna vestigia. et manebant structis molibus litterae Aegyptiae, priorem opulentiam complexae: (priorem opulentiam complexae: ‘having documented the former opulence’; complector being deponent, complexae has active meaning.) iussusque e senioribus sacerdotum patrium sermonem interpretari, (iussus e senioribus sacerdotum patrium sermonem interpretari: ‘[one] of the more aged from among the priests was asked to interpret the idiom of his country.’ e senioribus is abl. of source; sacerdotum is partitive genitive after a comparative.) referebat habitasse quondam septingenta milia aetate militari, atque eo cum exercitu regem Rhamsen Libya Aethiopia Medisque et Persis et Bactriano ac Scytha potitum (regem Rhamsen Libya Aethiopia Medisque et Persis et Bactriano ac Scytha potitum: in oratio obliqua after referebat: ‘that the king Rhamses had conquered Libya, Ethiopia, Media, Persia, Bactria, and Scythia’; all the names of the countries are in the abl., being dependent on potitum [est], a verb that governs the ablative. For variety, Medis et Persis are not names of nations, but of the people inhabiting Media (an ancient country SW of the Caspian Sea) and Persia (later Parthia, today Iran). Bactriana or Bactria was the flat territory in central Afghanistan and Scythia the extensive level lands west, north, and east of the Caspian sea. By regem Rhamsen is meant the Egyptian king Rhamses II of the nineteenth dynasty, who lived between 1320 and 1255 B.C.) quasque terras Suri Armeniique et contigui Cappadoces colunt, (quasque terras Suri Armeniique et contigui Cappadoces colunt: the relative clause is purely explanatory, added by the author for the readers’ benefit, thus in the indicative, not being part of the inscriptions translated by the priest, which are in indirect discourse: ‘[ he conquered also] all the lands which the Syrians, Armenians, and their neighbors the Cappadocians inhabit.’ For Cappadocia see ch. 56.) inde Bithynum, hinc Lycium ad mare (inde Bithynum, hinc Lycium ad mare: ‘from that side to the sea of Bithynia, from this side to the sea of Lycia’, i.e. all the land between Bithynia on the Black sea and Lycia on the Mediterranean, comprising all of Asia Minor or Asiatic Turkey.) imperio tenuisse. legebantur et indicta gentibus tributa, pondu s argenti et auri, numerus armorum equorumque et dona templis ebur atque odores, quasque copias frumenti et omnium utensilium quaeque natio penderet, (quasque copias frumenti et omnium utensilium quaeque natio penderet: this rel. clause is again in indir. speech, hence the use of subjunctive: ‘and which amount of grain and other supplies each nation paid out’ ) haud minus magnifica quam nunc vi Parthorum aut potentia Romana iubentur.