XLVII.
At Sabinus, donec exercitus in unum conduceret, (donec exercitus in unum conduceret: donec is almost regularly with subjunctive in Tacitus. Not so in classical writers.) datis mitibus responsis, postquam Pomponius Labeo e Moesia cum legione, rex Rhoemetalces cum auxiliis popularium qui fidem non mutaverant, venere, (postquam Pomponius Labeo e Moesia cum legione, rex Rhoemetalces cum auxiliis popularium qui fidem non mutaverant, …venere: ‘Pomponius Labeo from Moesia and king Rhoemetalces arrived, the one with a legion, the other with reinforcements of native auxiliaries that had remained loyal.’ Pomponius Labeo was governor of Moesia under Tiberius. Charged with malfeasance, he and his wife Paxea committed suicide, as narrated in Book 6, ch, 29. Rhoemetalces II was mentioned in Book 2, ch. 67, Book 3, ch. 38. A loyal friend of Rome, he was the son of Rhascuporis and shared the kingdom of Thrace with the sons of Cotys, the previous monarch.) addita praesenti copia ad hostem pergit, compositum iam per angustias saltuum. quidam audentius apertis in collibus visebantur, quos dux Romanus acie suggressus (acie suggressus: ‘approaching with his force’; according to Lewis and Short, the verb suggredior is Tacitean.) haud aegre pepulit sanguine barbarorum modico ob propinqua suffugia. mox castris in loco communitis (castris … communitis: abl. abs.: ‘a camp having been fortified’) valida manu montem occupat angustum et aequali dorso continuum usque ad proximum castellum quod magna vis armata aut incondita (vis armata aut incondita: ‘a force of regular and irregular troops’) tuebatur. simul in ferocissimos, qui ante vallum more gentis cum carminibus et tripudiis persultabant, (cum carminibus et tripudiis persultabant: ’leaped and pranced about the place, singing and dancing’) mittit delectos sagittariorum. ii dum eminus grassabantur (dum eminus grassabantur: ‘as long as they operated from a distance’; dum in the sense of ‘as long as’ takes most tenses of the indicative to designate a factual stretch of time within which an action takes place.) crebra et inulta vulnera fecere: propius incedentes eruptione subita turbati sunt receptique subsidio Sugambrae cohortis, quam Romanus promptam ad pericula nec minus cantuum et armorum tumultu trucem haud procul instruxerat. (sunt receptique subsidio Sugambrae cohortis, quam Romanus promptam ad pericula nec minus cantuum et armorum tumultu trucem haud procul instruxerat: ‘they were rescued by the support of a Sugambrian cohort, which the Roman [commander] had drawn up not far away, ever eager to face danger and not less formidable [than the enemy] for the clamor of their war songs and [the clashing] of their arms.’ sunt recepti: recipio is here understood in the military sense of ‘to withdraw to a position of safety’ and in the wider sense of ‘to rescue or save’ (Oxf. Lat. Dict). Sugambrae cohortis: the Sugambri, a Germanic tribe, lived at this time on the Gallic side of the Rhine. They were considered excellent soldier material. For more on the Sugambri see note in Book 2, ch. 26.)