IX.
Flumen Visurgis (flumen Visurgis: unless part of the Latin text has been lost at this point, nothing is said of the march of the army from the river Ems (Amisia) to the Weser (Visurgis), an indication that the advance was uneventful.) Romanos Cheruscosque interfluebat. eius in ripa cum ceteris primoribus Arminius adstitit, quaesitoque an Caesar venisset, (quaesitoque an Caesar venisset: quaesito is abl. abs. of the neuter perfect participle: lit. ‘whether Caesar had arrived having been asked’; an, mostly reserved for alternative questions, is also used to ask simple questions, direct or indirect, to which the answer may be yes or no, thus involving a measure of doubt. Cf. L. 1503.) postquam adesse responsum est, ut liceret cum fratre conloqui oravit. erat is in exercitu cognomento Flavus, (cognomento Flavus: ‘by the nickname of Flavus’, an obvious reference to his blond hair; Flavus will be mentioned again in ch. 16 of Book 11 in relation to his son Italicus.) insignis fide et amisso per vulnus oculo paucis ante annis duce Tiberio. tum permissu * * progressusque salutatur ab Arminio; (tum permissu * * progressusque salutatur ab Arminio: some words of the Latin text are missing at this point, not enough to affect the general drift.) qui amotis stipatoribus, (amotis stipatoribus:) ut sagittarii nostra pro ripa dispositi abscederent postulat, et postquam digressi, unde ea deformitas oris interrogat (unde ea deformitas oris interrogat: indirect questions may be introduced either by special particles, -ne, an, etc. (as in quaesitoque an Caesar venisset above), or, as here, by interrogative adverbs and pronouns: ‘he asked where the disfigurement of his face came from.’ Another example is below: quodnam praemium recepisset exquirit, ‘what kind of reward he had received’; the use of subjunctive, if a verb is present, is de rigueur, unless the question is rhetorical. Both interrogat and exquirit are historical presents.) fratrem. illo locum et proelium referente, (illo locum et proelium referente: many ablatives abs. are best rendered in English by an equivalent coordinate clause: ‘he named the place and the battle’; another example is inridente Arminio vilia servitii pretia below : ‘Arminius laughed at the miserly rewards of bondage.’) quodnam praemium recepisset exquirit. Flavus aucta stipendia, torquem et coronam (torquem et coronam: marks of honor for bravery: torques is an ornamental collar or necklace of twisted metal, Viking or Celtic in origin, adopted by the Romans as military decoration.) aliaque militaria dona memorat, inridente Arminio vilia servitii pretia.