XLII.
Interim Florus insistere destinatis, (insistere destinatis: ‘he was persisting in his designs.’ insistere, like the following pellicere, is historical infinitive.) pellicere alam equitum, (alam equitum: the ala Treverorum, a cavalry wing or regiment also mentioned in the Historiae; an ala usually comprised 300 men, divided in ten turmae or squadrons of thirty men, each in turn divided into three decuries of ten men.) quae conscripta e Treviris militia disciplinaque nostra habebatur, (quae … militia disciplinaque nostra habebatur: ‘which [regiment] was kept in Roman service and under Roman discipline’; habebatur (‘was maintained’) shows that the unit was permanently in service, i.e. not disbanded at the end of a war or a campaign.) ut caesis negotiatoribus Romanis (caesis negotiatoribus Romanis: negotiatores were bankers and money lenders, genuine capitalists, thus higher on the social ladder than mercatores.) bellum inciperet; (pellicere …ut … bellum inciperet: ‘he was inducing [them] to start the war.’ pellicere is found followed by a complementary final clause or by ad or in + acc.) paucique equitum corrupti, plures in officio mansere. aliud vulgus obaeratorum aut clientium (aliud vulgus obaeratorum aut clientium: aliud vulgus is meant to separate the cavalry unit from the common herd of debtors; clientium refers to the practice of Gallic aristocrats of maintaining a large body of dependants who lived under their patronage, ready to do their bidding.) arma cepit; petebantque saltus quibus nomen Arduenna, (saltus quibus nomen Arduenna: saltus (plur.) is forested mountain country, a good example being the Ardennes in the SE corner of Belgium, just west of Luxenbourg.) cum legiones utroque ab exercitu, quas Visellius et C. Silius adversis itineribus obiecerant, ([legiones] quas Visellius et C. Silius … obiecerant: ‘the legions which Visellius and Gaius Silius had brought forward’; for Lucius Visellius Varro see previous chapter; Gaius Silius was governor of Gemannia superior (cf. Book 1, ch. 31). The legions came in opposite directions from upper and lower Germany.) arcuerunt. (cum … arcuerunt: ‘when [the legions] prevented [them]’; a case of temporal cum inversum with perfect indicative. Cf. G. 581. arcuerunt is from arceo, not arcuo.) praemissusque cum delecta manu Iulius Indus e civitate eadem, discors Floro (discors Floro: here discors is with dat.: ‘inimical to Florus’.) et ob id navandae operae avidior, (navandae operae avidior: ‘more eager to be of service’; navandae operae: may be dat. of purpose, lit. ‘for the work to be performed’; although avidus is normally with gen., Tacitus uses dat. at least once elsewhere (Historiae, Book 1, ch. 7: servorum manus subitis avidae).) inconditam multitudinem adhuc (inconditam multitudinem adhuc: ‘a multitude still untrained to discipline’) disiecit. Florum incertis latebris (incertis latebris: ‘obscure hideouts’ or, perhaps better in the present context, ‘unreliable hideouts’) victores frustratus, postremo visis militibus, qui effugia insederant, sua manu cecidit. isque Trevirici tumultus finis.