XXXVI.
Mox Artabanus tota mole regni ultum iit. (tota mole regni ultum iit: lit. ‘he went with the entire force of the kingdom to avenge [the defeat].’ ultum iit: acc. supine in -um to indicate purpose or intention with verbs of motion; see L. 2270. English has no equivalent for the supine, a verbal noun: it is translated by using the infinitive preceded by ‘to’ (here ‘to avenge’) or, less well, the gerund (‘for avenging’).) peritia locorum ab Hiberis melius pugnatum; (peritia locorum ab Hiberis melius pugnatum: lit. ‘it [was] fought better by the Iberi in view of their familiarity with the geography of the country.’ pugnatum [est] is impersonal use of the passive.) nec ideo abscedebat, ni contractis legionibus Vitellius et subdito rumore tamquam Mesopotamiam invasurus metum Romani belli fecisset. (nec ideo abscedebat, ni contractis legionibus Vitellius et subdito rumore tamquam Mesopotamiam invasurus metum Romani belli fecisset: ‘he would not desist [from his undertaking], had not Vitellius stirred up fear of a Roman war by concentrating his legions and spreading the rumor that he was about to invade Mesopotamia.’ nec ideo abscedebat ni … Vitellius … metum Romani belli fecisset: negative conditional sentence with contrary to fact condition (type III). The imperfect indicative in the apodosis expresses potential in the past since Latin treats possibility, necessity, obligation, power as facts, whereas English views them often as failures to realise and instead uses the conditional ‘would’ or ‘should’ or ‘ought to’ + the infinitive. See G. 254, Remark 1 and 2, A.G. 471, f., also Ernout. In a conditional sentence, the imperfect abscedebat in the apodosis implies that the outcome would have been assured had not an interruption occurred (G. 254, Remark 3). contractis legionibus Vitellius et subdito rumore: abl. abs. of causal sense, lit. ‘the legions having been brought together and the rumor counterfeited that …’; tamquam Mesopotamia invasurus [esset]: conditional clause of comparison with tamquam + active periphrasis in the subjunctive (here esset is understood): ‘as if he were about to invade Mesopotamia’, a region between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, anciently south of Armenia and inside the Parthian empire, today part if Iraq.) tum omissa Armenia versaeque Artabani res, inliciente Vitellio desererent regem saevum in pace et adversis proeliorum exitiosum. (tum omissa Armenia versaeque Artabani res, inliciente Vitellio desererent regem saevum in pace et adversis proeliorum exitiosum: ‘Armenia ‘[was] then lost and the fortunes of Artabanus took a turn for the worse, Vitellius beguiling [Artabanus’ subjects] to abandon a king cruel in peace and deleterious because of the reverses of the wars.’ inliciente Vitellio desererent: abl. abs. with hortatory subjunctive complementing in indirect speech the present participle: lit. ‘Vitellius cajoling them that they should abandon … ‘; inliciente itself is in place of a causal clause, ‘since Vitellius was cajoling them to … ’) igitur Sinnaces, quem antea infensum memoravi, patrem Abdagaesen aliosque occultos consilii et tunc continuis cladibus promptiores ad defectionem trahit, (Sinnaces … patrem Abdagaesen aliosque occultos consilii et tunc continuis cladibus promptiores ad defectionem trahit: ‘Sinnaces convinced his father Abdagaeses and other men secretive about their plans and at that time more eager to revolt on account of so many setbacks, … ‘; Sinnaces was mentioned in ch. 31. occultos consilii: occultus is found twice in Tacitus with a genitive of reference or specification, here and in Book 4, ch.7. Poets and later writers use this kind of genitive with almost any adjective, unlike classical writers who restrict the use to a limited number. See A.G. 249, a., d.) adfluentibus paulatim qui metu magis quam benevolentia subiecti repertis auctoribus sustulerant animum. (adfluentibus paulatim qui metu magis quam benevolentia subiecti repertis auctoribus sustulerant animum: ‘those who were submissive [to Artabanus] more out of fear than devotion had grown bold when leaders came to the fore, gradually swelling the ranks [of the rebels].’ repertis auctoribus is abl. abs. of temporal sense, lit. ‘leaders having been found’.) nec iam aliud Artabano reliquum quam si qui externorum corpori custodes aderant, (nec iam aliud Artabano reliquum quam si qui externorum corpori custodes aderant: ‘and already nothing else (nec … aliud) was left to Artabanus, but some bodyguards from among his foreign attendants.’ quam si qui externorum corpori custodes aderant: lit. ‘other than if any guards at all for his person of the mercenaries were [still] at hand’; si quis or si qui and si quid: ‘if anyone’ or ‘anything at all’; qui is for aliqui after si) suis quisque sedibus extorres, quis neque boni intellectus neque mali cura sed mercede aluntur ministri sceleribus. (suis quisque sedibus extorres, quis neque boni intellectus neque mali cura sed mercede aluntur ministri sceleribus: ‘all of them men driven out of their own country, who have neither conscience of virtue nor qualms about doing evil, but hirelings that are kept as instruments for crimes’; quisque … extorres: for use of quisque with the plural extorres see note for se quisque stimulant in previous chapter.) his adsumptis in longinqua et contermina Scythiae fugam maturavit, spe auxilii, quia Hyrcanis Carmaniisque per adfinitatem innexus erat: (his adsumptis in longinqua et contermina Scythiae fugam maturavit, spe auxilii, quia Hyrcanis Carmaniisque per adfinitatem innexus erat: ‘these men having been taken along [by him], he fled in great hurry to the distant frontier regions of Scythia, in hope of assistance, for he had been connected by marriage to the Hyrcanians and the Carmanians.’ Hyrcania is modern Daghestan, so named after the Dahae, one of the Scythian tribes inhabiting the southeast corner of the Caspian sea. Artabanus had been raised among the Dahae. Carmania was a mostly desertic region extending west from Kerman in southeastern Iran to the strait of Ormuz at the entrance of the Persian gulf. in longinqua et contermina: the frequent use of neuter plural adjectives as nouns is a hallmark of Tacitus’ style.) atque interim posse Parthos absentium aequos, praesentibus mobilis, ad paenitentiam mutari. (interim posse Parthos absentium aequos, praesentibus mobilis, ad paenitentiam mutari: ‘meanwhile, [he thought] it possible that the Parthians, open-minded towards absent prices, troublesome to those present, would, [in time], become more amenable to repentance.’ posse … mutari: infinitives + acc. subject in virtual oratio obliqua, since the passage reports the thoughts in Artabanus’ mind. absentium aequos: another genitive of reference or specification with an adjective, ‘equitable as to absent princes’; see note for occultos consilii above.)