XL.
Eodem anno Galliarum civitates ob magnitudinem aeris alieni (aeris alieni: aes alienum, lit. ‘another’s brass’, means ‘someone else’s money, i.e. ‘money borrowed’, ‘debt’. The provinces borrowed money at interest from the Roman rich to pay the tribute, money that often they could not repay.) rebellionem coeptavere, cuius extimulator acerrimus inter Treviros Iulius Florus, apud Aeduos Iulius Sacrovir. (inter Treviros Iulius Florus, apud Aeduos Iulius Sacrovir: Julius Florus and Julius Sacrovir, as well as Julius Indus in ch. 42, took their name from their patron Julius Caesar or Augustus, who had extended the citizenship to their forefathers. The Treviri were settled in Gallia Belgica (northern France), on both sides of the Moselle, their main town being Augusta Treverorum, modern Trier or Treves, on the Moselle, just east of Luxenbourg. The Aedui or Haedui were in Gallia Lugdunensis between the Loire and the Saone, having Augustodunum (modern Autun, SW of Dijon, now identified as the Bibracte of Julius Caesar) as their chief center. Of the four provinces of Gaul, Aquitania and Gallia Narbonensis did not join the revolt.) nobilitas ambobus et maiorum bona facta eoque Romana civitas olim data, (nobilitas ambobus et maiorum bona facta eoque Romana civitas olim data: ambobus, from ambo meaning ‘both’, is plur. dative of possessor with an implied erat: ‘both had a noble origin and the services (bona facta) of their forefathers [to Rome] and for that reason in former times was granted the Roman citizenship.’) cum id rarum nec nisi virtuti pretium esset. (cum id rarum nec nisi virtuti pretium esset: a temporal clause with narrative cum (cf. A.G. 546) requiring subjunctive: ‘at a time when this was a rare thing, not [granted] unless {as] a recompense for virtue; nisi is here without finite verb, not a rare occurrence (Petitmangin).) ii secretis conloquiis, ferocissimo quoque adsumpto aut quibus ob egestatem ac metum ex flagitiis maxima peccandi necessitudo, (ii secretis conloquiis, ferocissimo quoque adsumpto aut quibus ob egestatem ac metum ex flagitiis maxima peccandi necessitudo: ferocissimo quoque adsumpto is abl. abs. followed by clause with implied erat and quibus as dative of possessor: ‘these two men, having recruited in secret conferences the most spirited fellows and those who had the most pressing need of committing crimes because of their penury and fear of dishonor, …’; quibus peccandi necessitudo {erat]: in English the Latin subject becomes the direct object of the verb ‘to have’ and the possessor quibus becomes the subject, giving: ‘those who had stringent need of sinning’; metum ex flagitiis: the abl. with ex gives the source or the cause of something, in this case fear.) componunt Florus Belgas, Sacrovir propiores Gallos concire. (propiores Gallos concire: ‘to arouse to action the nearest Gauls’; propiores may refer to the Gallic communities nearest Sacrovir or, as often in Tacitus, closer to Italy, e.g. the Allobroges in Gallia Narbonensis.) igitur per conciliabula et coetus (conciliabula et coetus: conciliabula are places for public assembly and exchange, such as markets, courts, temples, theaters; coetus are meetings called with a specific purpose in mind.) seditiosa disserebant de continuatione tributorum, gravitate faenoris, saevitia ac superbia praesidentium, et discordare militem audito Germanici exitio. (et discordare militem audito Germanici exitio: in indirect speech after disserebant: ‘and also that the Roman army was disaffected after hearing of Germanicus’ murder’; audito … exitio is abl. abs. replacing a temporal clause.) egregium resumendae libertati tempus, si ipsi florentes quam inops Italia, quam inbellis urbana plebes, nihil validum in exercitibus nisi quod externum, (nihil validum … nisi quod externum: negative conditional sentence in indirect discourse with verb implied in both protasis and apodosis, namely esse in the latter and foret or esset in the former. Cf. next note below.) cogitarent. (egregium resumendae libertati tempus [esse], si ipsi florentes quam … cogitarent: yet another conditional sentence in indirect discourse: lit. ‘that the occasion [was] ideal for freedom to be recovered, if they themselves, being prosperous, considered how …’; the condition is logical, type I, in the present, thus apodosis with present infinitive (implied) and protasis with imperfect subjunctive, in accordance with consecution temporum after disserebant, a historical verb of saying. Cf. B. 319, A. quam introduces indirect questions with verb in the subjunctive when expressed.)