XLV.
Interim Silius cum legionibus duabus incedens praemissa auxiliari manu vastat Sequanorum (Sequanorum: the Sequani were located NE of the Aedui, between the Jura mountains along the NW side of Switzerland and the Saone river. Their chief town was Vesontio, modern Besancon.) pagos qui finium extremi et Aeduis contermini sociique in armis erant. (qui finium extremi et Aeduis contermini sociique in armis erant: lit ‘[the villages] that were the last of their territory, bordering on the Aedui and allied to them in the war’; Aeduis is dat. with both contermini and socii; cf. alicui socius.) mox Augustodunum petit propero agmine, certantibus inter se signiferis, fremente etiam gregario milite, ne suetam requiem, ne spatia noctium opperiretur: (fremente etiam gregario milite, ne suetam requiem, ne spatia noctium opperiretur: abl. abs. followed by dependent negative purpose clause: ‘the common soldier also champing at the bit, [urging] not to observe the usual rest periods and the night halts’) viderent modo adversos et aspicerentur; id satis ad victoriam. (viderent modo adversos et aspicerentur; id satis ad victoriam: viderent and aspicerentur are hortative subjunctives in indirect discourse, introduced by a verb of saying to be inferred from fremente: ‘let them only catch sight of their adversaries, let them only be seen [by them, they said], that would suffice for victory.’) duodecimum apud lapidem Sacrovir copiaeque patentibus locis apparuere. in fronte statuerat ferratos, in cornibus cohortis, a tergo semermos. ipse inter primores equo insigni adire, memorare (adire, memorare: historical infinitives) veteres Gallorum glorias quaeque Romanis adversa intulissent; (quae Romanis adversa intulissent: ‘the defeats which they had dealt the Romans’; among other setbacks suffered by the Romans at the hand of the Gauls, was the sack of Rome by Brennus, king of the Senones in 390 B.C.; intulissent is subjunctive in that the rel. clause is in oratio obliqua after memorare.) quam decora victoribus libertas, quanto intolerantior servitus iterum victis. (quam decora victoribus libertas, quanto intolerantior servitus iterum victis: ‘how honorable freedom [would be] to them victorious, by how much more oppressive slavery [would be] to them defeated a second time’; the first time was by Julius Caesar during the conquest of Gaul in 58 – 51 B.C. quam ant quanto bring in indirect questions, here with verb understood (in indirect discourse either esse or esset, depending on the different shade of meaning). The abl. quanto is most often followed by a comparative, ‘by how much more …; victoribus and victis are datives of interest.)