XXI.
Quae postquam L. Apronio (nam Camillo successerat) (L. Apronio … Camillo: for Lucius Apronius cf. Book 1. ch. 56 and 72 and Book 2, ch. 32. For Furius Camillus cf. Book 2, ch. 52. L. Apronio is dat. of agent with the passive comperta. Camillo is dat. with successerat.) comperta, magis dedecore suorum quam gloria hostis anxius, raro ea tempestate et e vetere memoria facinore decumum quemque ignominiosae cohortis sorte ductos fusti necat. (raro ea tempestate et e vetere memoria facinore decumum quemque ignominiosae cohortis sorte ductos fusti necat: facinore, here with sense of ‘deed’, ‘action’, ‘undertaking’, ‘practice’ is abl. of instrument: ‘he had every tenth man of that ignoble cohort beaten (fusti, abl.: ‘with cudgels) to death, using a practice from ancient memory, rarely resorted to at the time of these events.’ Decimation was carried out by the fellow soldiers, armed with sticks, at the signal of one of the officers.) tantumque severitate profectum ut vexillum veteranorum, non amplius quingenti numero, easdem Tacfarinatis copias praesidium cui Thala nomen adgressas fuderint. (tantumque severitate profectum ut vexillum veteranorum … easdem …copias praesidium cui Thala nomen adgressas fuderint: consecutive sentence with tantum introducing the main and ut the dependent clause: ‘so much was gained by severity that a detachment of veterans put to flight the same forces attacking the fort of Thala.’ cui Thala nomen [erat]: ‘which was called Thala’, cui being dat. of possessor with implied erat; it appears that Thala is a place on the western border of the province of Africa with Numidia. fuderint: consecutive sentences are not bound by the sequence of tenses and here the perfect subjunctive merely reflects the perfect indicative that would be used if the clause was not dependent. vexillum veteranorum: veterani were soldiers who had completed their years of service, but instead of being discharged, were placed in a separate corps called vexillarii or veterani sub vexillo, under their own banner, and kept in service with considerable privileges while awaiting their final discharge (Furneaux).) quo proelio Rufus Helvius easdem Tacfarinatis copias gregarius miles servati civis decus rettulit donatusque est ab Apronio torquibus et hasta. Caesar addidit civicam coronam, (torquibus et hasta … civicam coronam: torquis is a military decoration in the form of a neck-chain; hasta was a headless spear, also called hasta pura (= ‘without iron’), given to brave soldiers as a badge of dignity; civica corona: a crown of oak leaves, the award for saving a citizen’s life. It was the second-highest decoration one could aspire to in the Roman army. We know from an inscription that Helvius retired from the army with the rank of senior centurion and that he adopted the surname Civica.) quod non eam quoque Apronius iure proconsulis tribuisset questus magis quam offensus. (quod non eam quoque Apronius iure proconsulis tribuisset questus magis quam offensus: ‘[Tiberius] complained more than he was offended, because Apronius had not also awarded the crown using his power of proconsul.’ Tacitus obviously implies that Tiberius pretended to complain when in fact he was delighted that the award had been left to him to bestow. quod … tribuisset: see note for quod …daret in previous chapter.) sed Tacfarinas perculsis Numidis et obsidia aspernantibus (perculsis Numidis et obsidia aspernantibus: abl. abs. of causal sense: ‘the Numidians being despondent and disdaining sieges’) spargit bellum, ubi instaretur cedens ac rursum in terga remeans. (Tacfarinas … spargit bellum, ubi instaretur cedens ac rursum in terga remeans: ‘Tacfarinas broadens the theater of war, giving way whenever he was pressed hard, then returning to attack us in the rear.’ spargit is historical present; ubi instaretur: impersonal use of the passive of an intransitive verb: lit. ‘whenever it should be resisted’; instaretur is subjunctive in iterative clause with ubi or other subordinating conjunctions. See G. 567, Note.) et dum ea ratio barbaro fuit, inritum fessumque Romanum impune ludificabatur: (dum ea ratio barbaro fuit, inritum fessumque Romanum impune ludificabatur: when dum has the meaning of ‘for as long as’ it can be found with any tense of the indicative: ‘for as long as the barbarian followed (‘had’) this strategy, he safely made game of the baffled and exhausted Romans.’ barbaro is dat. of possessor with fuit (cf. B. 190). postquam deflexit ad maritimos locos, inligatus praeda stativis castris adhaerebat, missu patris Apronius Caesianus (Apronius Caesianus: the son of the governor Lucius Apronius; he became consul in 39 A.D.) cum equite et cohortibus auxiliariis, quis velocissimos legionum addiderat, (quis velocissimos legionum addiderat: quis is an ancient form of quibus: ‘to which he had added …’; legionum: at this time a second legion (one from Pannonia) was sent to Africa as reinforcement.) prosperam adversum Numidas pugnam facit pellitque in deserta.