LXXIV.
Nam quia ille robore exercitus impar, furandi melior, (robore … impar, furandi melior: ‘inferior in open warfare, superior in surprise attacks’; robore is abl. of specification or respect, ‘inferior as to strength’; furandi: the use of genitive gerund after a comparative is highly uncommon; lit. ‘of obtaining by stealth’) pluris per globos incursaret eluderetque et insidias simul temptaret, (pluris per globos incursaret eluderetque et insidias simul temptaret: subjunctive in independent clauses most often has potential sense to indicate likelihood; here it may be viewed as part of Blaesus’ musing on Tacfarinas’ possible strategy in the war ahead, before deciding on his own: ‘he would goad the Romans by incursions with small bands, avoid contact, and at the same time set traps to test the enemy.’) tres incessus, totidem agmina parantur. ex quis Cornelius Scipio legatus praefuit qua praedatio in Leptitanos et suffugia Garamantum; (Cornelius Scipio legatus praefuit qua praedatio in Leptitanos et suffugia Garamantum: ‘Cornelius Scipio was in charge where (qua) plundering raids [were made] against the people of Leptis and retreats among the Garamantes.’ suffugia Garamantum: ‘retreats of the Garamantes’, a tribe of Fezzan, a region of western Libya quite distant from eastern Tunisia where Tacfarinas was operating; Leptis is here Leptis Minor, a city between Thapsus and Adrumetum, near the western coast of Tunisia. Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio was a Roman senator acting as adjutant to Blaesus.) alio latere, ne Cirtensium pagi impune traherentur, (ne Cirtensium pagi impune traherentur: ‘lest the villages of Cirte should be harassed with impunity’; Cirte was the main city of Numidia, now Constantine in Algeria, not far from the Tunisian border.) propriam manum Blaesus filius (Blaesus filius: mentioned before in Book 1, ch. 19.) duxit: medio cum delectis, castella et munitiones idoneis locis imponens, dux ipse arta et infensa hostibus cuncta fecerat, (arta et infensa hostibus cuncta fecerat: ‘he made everything critical and dangerous for the enemy.’ artum as noun may also mean a narrow, confined place, indicating that the rebels were being cornered and left without escape.) quia, quoquo inclinarent, (quoquo inclinarent: ‘no matter in which direction they might move’; quoquo is rel. adverb; inclinarent is potential subjunctive.) pars aliqua militis Romani in ore, in latere et saepe a tergo erat; multique eo modo caesi aut circumventi. tunc tripertitum exercitum pluris in manus dispergit praeponitque centuriones virtutis expertae. nec, ut mos fuerat, acta aestate (acta aestate: abl. abs.: ‘summer being ended’) retrahit copias aut in hibernaculis veteris provinciae (veteris provinciae: of the old province of Africa, before the addition of Numidia by Augustus in 25 B.C.) componit, sed ut in limine belli (ut in limine belli: ‘just as on the threshold of war’, i.e. when setting out on a campaign, rather than at the end of one.) dispositis castellis per expeditos et solitudinum gnaros mutantem mapalia Tacfarinatem proturbabat, (dispositis castellis per expeditos et solitudinum gnaros mutantem mapalia Tacfarinatem proturbabat: ‘fortified places having been set up, Blaesus stalked Tacfarinas , forcing him, by means of mobile troops accustomed to the forlorn expanses [of the wilderness], to change his desert camps.’ mapalia is said of the huts in which nomads live.) donec fratre eius capto regressus est, (donec fratre eius capto regressus est: ‘until, Tacfarinas’ brother having been captured, he withdrew.’ Tacitus usually prefers subjunctive after donec; the indicative here is perhaps in view of the compound tense.) properantius tamen quam ex utilitate sociorum, relictis per quos resurgeret bellum. (properantius tamen quam ex utilitate sociorum, [eis] relictis per quos resurgeret bellum: ‘too early, however, with respect to the security of the province, those having been left by whose agency the war might restart’; properantius quam ex …: quam after a comparative, normally followed but ut or qui, rarely alone, has the meaning of ‘too…. for’: ex + abl. may have the sense of ‘in relation to’, ‘by the standards of, ‘concerning’; resurgeret is again potential subjunctive; relictis is abl. abs.) sed Tiberius pro confecto interpretatus id quoque Blaeso tribuit ut imperator a legionibus salutaretur, (Tiberius pro confecto interpretatus id quoque Blaeso tribuit ut imperator a legionibus salutaretur: interpretatus, being deponent, has active meaning: ‘Tiberius, having regarded [the war] as (pro) finished, granted Blaesus also this, that he be saluted by the legions as imperator.’ ut salutaretur is complementary final clause after tribuit, one of the verba voluntatis. See G. 546. pro confecto: ‘just as if terminated’) prisco erga duces honore qui bene gesta re publica gaudio et impetu victoris exercitus conclamabantur; (prisco erga duces honore qui bene gesta re publica gaudio et impetu victoris exercitus conclamabantur: prisco erga duces honore is abl. abs.: ‘being an ancient tribute to the generals who, because of their successful exploits in the service of the state, were hailed by the joyous enthusiasm of the victor’s army’; bene gesta re publica is more likely abl. of cause than abl. abs.: word-for-word, ‘for a well-conducted national exploit’; gaudio et impetus is hendiadys.) erantque plures simul imperatores nec super ceterorum aequalitatem. (nec [erant] super ceterorum aequalitatem: ‘nor were they above the equal status of their peers’ i.e. the title of imperator did not confer any precedence over one’s equals: it was merely honorific.) concessit quibusdam et Augustus id vocabulum ac tunc Tiberius Blaeso postremum. (ac tunc Tiberius Blaeso postremum: ellipsis for ac tunc Tiberius [concessit] Blaeso postremum: ‘and Tiberius on this occasion awarded it to Blaesus for the last time.’ postremum is adverb.)