XLVI.
Non diu haec nec apud laetos: (non diu haec nec apud laetos: lit. ‘the speech [was] neither for long nor among men glad to hear it.’) etenim propinquabat legionum acies, inconditique ac militiae nescii oppidani neque oculis neque auribus satis competebant. (oppidani neque oculis neque auribus satis competebant: lit. ‘the townspeople were not sufficiently functional in respect to eyes and ears.’ oculis …auribus: ablatives of specification; cf. A.G. 418.) contra Silius, etsi praesumpta spes hortandi causas exemerat, (etsi praesumpta spes hortandi causas exemerat: concessive etsi is found more commonly with indicative; cf. G. 604: ‘even though the presumed hope of success had removed the reasons of exhorting’; spes hortandi: objective gen. gerund after a noun; cf. A.G. 347, 348, and 504.) clamitabat tamen pudendum ipsis quod Germaniarum victores adversum Gallos tamquam in hostem ducerentur. (pudendum [esse] ipsis quod Germaniarum victores adversum Gallos tamquam in hostem ducerentur: ‘[he said] that it was dishonorable for themselves the fact that they, the conquerors of the Germans, should be led against the Gauls, as if against an enemy.’ ipsis is dat. of agent with the passive periphrastic conjugation (gerundive + forms of esse). See G. 251 and 355. quod …ducerentur: the relative quod introduces here an explanatory clause (cf. G. 525), and is followed by subjunctive in indir. discourse. tamquam in hostem: tamquam is here without finite verb.) ‘una nuper cohors rebellem Turonum, una ala Trevirum, paucae huius ipsius exercitus turmae profligavere Sequanos. (Turonum … Trevirum … Sequanos: for the defeat of the Turoni see ch. 41, of the Treveri ch. 42, and of the Sequani ch. 45. For the sake of variety, Turonum and Trevirum are singular, Sequanos plural) quanto pecunia dites et voluptatibus opulentos tanto magis imbellis Aeduos evincite (quanto pecunia dites et voluptatibus opulentos tanto magis imbellis Aeduos evincite: the imperative evincite is combined with a comparative sentence where the correlatives quanto [magis] and tanto magis introduce the two parts: ‘thrash these Aedui: the richer [they are] as to money and the better supplied as to pleasures, the softer [they are].’ pecunia and voluptatibus are ablatives of specification.) et fugientibus consulite.’ (et fugientibus consulite: ‘and take care of the fugitives’ that is, ‘do not neglect to take prisoners.’ fugientibus is dat. with consulo; cf. consulere alicui or alicui rei.) ingens ad ea clamor et circumfudit eques frontemque pedites invasere, nec cunctatum apud latera. paulum morae attulere ferrati, restantibus lamminis adversum pila et gladios; (restantibus lamminis adversum pila et gladius: abl. abs.: ‘the steel plates being resistant against javelins and sword’; resto means ‘to withstand’, ‘to hold firm’.) set miles correptis securibus et dolabris, ut si murum perrumperet, caedere tegmina et corpora; (ut si murum perrumperet, caedere tegmina et corpora: ut si introduces a conditional clause of comparison which requires subjunctive. The tense is regulated by the main verb, here caedere, a historical infinitive like prosternere further down. Cf. A.G. 524.: ‘they hacked away at the protective armor and at the bodies inside as if they were demolishing a wall.’) quidam trudibus aut furcis inertem molem prosternere, iacentesque nullo ad resurgendum nisu (nullo ad resurgendum nisu: abl. abs.: lit. ‘there being no effort towards rising again’; the use of the gerundive always implies a necessary action.) quasi exanimes linquebantur. Sacrovir primo Augustodunum, dein metu deditionis in villam propinquam cum fidissimis pergit. illic sua manu, reliqui mutuis ictibus occidere: incensa super villa omnis cremavit. (incensa super villa omnis cremavit: order: villa incensa super [eos] omnis cremavit: ‘the house, set on fire over them, cremated all of them’; omnis: in Tacitus the acc. plur. of masc. and fem. adjectives of the third declension always end in -is, never -es.)