XIII
Nihil autem (autem: a particle of several shades of meaning (all duly listed in a good dictionary), found consistently as the second word in a clause. It distinguishes more than it opposes: here it may mark a return, so it has been suggested, to considunt armati in ch.11, to expand on the German customs in regard to the bearing of arms. Often overlooked in translation, as the need for such conjunctional adverbs is felt much less in English than in Latin.) neque publicae neque privatae rei, (nihil … neque publicae neque privatae rei: partitive genitive after the neuter nihil) nisi armati agunt. Sed arma sumere non ante cuiquam moris, quam civitas suffecturum probaverit. (arma sumere non ante cuiquam moris, quam civitas suffecturum probaverit: = non moris [est] cuiquam arma sumere antequam civitas suffecturum probaverit: ‘it is in defiance of the law for anyone to carry arms before the state has declared him capable’; suffecturum: lit. ‘going to be capable’, ‘capable from that point on’; non cuiquam moris esse: idiom; ante …quam (antequam) probaverit: antequam and priusquam take subjuctive for prospective (potential) action. The use of perfect subjunctive is rare, except in ante-classical Latin; cf. A.G. 551, Note.) Tum in ipso concilio, vel principum aliquis vel pater vel propinquus scuto frameaque juvenem ornant: haec apud illos toga, hic primus juventae honos: ante hoc domus pars videntur, mox reipublicae. Insignis nobilitas, aut magna patrum merita, principis dignationem etiam adolescentulis assignant: ceteris robustioribus ac jampridem probatis aggregantur; nec rubor, inter comites aspici. (ceteris robustioribus ac jampridem probatis aggregantur; nec rubor, inter comites aspici: the passage has been the subject of much controversy: first, if the reading is correct, one finds hardly credible that mere younsters be made principes of tribes; second, even less credible is that persons endowed with such honor should serve in the rank and file of another chieftain. Different readings have been tried without success: ceteris, for example, is changed in many texts to ceteri; this solves one problem, but opens the way to others. Some say that perhaps these principes were so only in rank, without the authority, and that title to the latter had to be earned by undergoing the apprentiship described.) Gradus quin etiam (quin etiam: see note in ch. 8.) et ipse comitatus habet judicio ejus, quem sectantur: magnaque et comitum aemulatio, quibus primus apud principem suum locus, et principum, cui plurimi et acerrimi comites. ([aemulatio] quibus primus apud principem suum locus, et … cui [principi] plurimi et acerrimi comites: quibus and cui are datives of possessor with implied forms of esse: ‘[rivalry as to] who has first place with his chief, and which chief has the most and bravest followers …’; the same construction is repeated below in cuique … id nomen, ea gloria est, except that there the form of esse is expressed. principem suum: suus is here used with the emphatic force of ‘his very own’. ) Haec dignitas, hae vires, magno semper electorum juvenum globo circumdari, in pace decus, in bello praesidium. Nec solum in sua gente cuique, sed apud finitimas quoque civitates id nomen, ea gloria est, si numero ac virtute comitatus emineat: (ea gloria est, si numero ac virtute comitatus emineat: indicative in apodosis of conditional sentence, subjunctive in protasis for potential condition (hypothesis represented as possible): ‘it is so much glory if their entourage would stand out in numbers and courage’. numero and virtute are ablatives of specification.) expetuntur enim legationibus et muneribus ornantur et ipsa plerumque fama bella profligant.