XXVII.
Eadem aestate mota per Italiam servilis belli semina fors oppressit. (mota …servilis belli semina fors oppressit: ‘luck smothered the seeds spread throughout Italy of a servile war.’) auctor tumultus T. Curtisius, quondam praetoriae cohortis miles, primo coetibus clandestinis apud Brundisium et circumiecta oppida, mox positis propalam libellis (mox positis propalam libellis: abl. abs.: ‘then, announcements having been posted in public view’; propalam is adverb.) ad libertatem vocabat agrestia per longinquos saltus et ferocia servitia, (ad libertatem vocabat agrestia per longinquos saltus et ferocia servitia: ‘he was calling to freedom the primitive rural slaves across the wooded expanses (saltus) [of Calabria].’ Brundisium or modern Brindisi is on the Adriatic coast of the peninsula of Salento, the ‘heel’ of Italy, in ancient times called Calabria. Today the name ‘Calabria’ applies to the ‘toe’ of Italy, and Brundisium is now in Apulia, or Puglia in Italian.) cum velut munere deum tres biremes adpulere ad usus commeantium illo mari. (cum velut munere deum tres biremes adpulere ad usus commeantium illo mari: ‘when, as if it were a gift of the gods, three biremes (for the needs of the people engaged in trade in those waters) entered the harbor’; ad usus commeantium: the phrase here means ‘for the protection of the trade routes’; cum …adpulere: example of the use of cum inversum, so-called because the cum clause, always subordinate, appears to be more important than the main clause. This happens when cum introduces — as ‘when’ does in English — an unexpected event that diverts attention away from the main clause. Inverse cum is regularly followed by perfect indicative. Cf. G. 581. biremes: or Liburnae, fast-sailing, agile ships, modeled after the galleys of the Liburni, a people living along the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic. These three warships were detached from the fleet based at Ravenna (see ch. 5) to protect trade across the Adriatic sea.) et erat isdem regionibus Cutius Lupus quaestor, cui provincia vetere ex more calles evenerant: (cui provincia vetere ex more calles evenerant: ‘to whom, in keeping with ancient use, the pasture grounds had fallen by lot as a province; provincia has here the sense of ‘jurisdiction’, ‘sphere of duty’; there were four praetors so assigned to ‘provinces’ concerned mostly with trade.) is disposita classiariorum copia coeptantem cum maxime coniurationem disiecit. (is disposita classiariorum copia coeptantem cum maxime coniurationem disiecit: ‘he drew up the force of marines and nipped the conspiracy in the bud.’ disposita classiariorum copia: abl. abs., ‘the force of marines having been drawn up’; coeptantem cum maxime coniurationem: ‘just as (cum maxime) the revolt [was] about to begin’) missusque a Caesare propere Staius (T. Curtisius, … Cutius Lupus, … Staius: none of these three names are known aside from being mentioned here.) tribunus cum valida manu ducem ipsum et proximos audacia in urbem traxit, lam trepidam ob multitudinem familiarum quae gliscebat immensum, minore in dies plebe ingenua. (immensum … ingenua: immensum, ‘immeasurably’, is adverbial accusative, like ceterum, iterum, postremum, commodum, ultimum, and others; ingenuus here means ‘free-born’.)