XXXVII
Eundem Germaniae sinum (eundem Germaniae sinum: the ingens flexus mentioned at the outset of ch. 35, the Danish peninsula, still called today the Cimbric Chersonesus after the Cimbri) proximi Oceano Cimbri (Cimbri: vestiges of their settlements can still be seen in the north section of Jutland. Strangely, Tacitus makes no mention of the Teutones, their allies against Rome, who were wiped out in a separate battle at Aix-en-Provence, a year before the Cimbri suffered the same fate at Vercelli in northwestern Italy.) tenent, parva nunc civitas, sed gloria ingens; (gloria ingens: gloria is abl. of respect, ‘immense as to glory’) veterisque famae lata vestigia manent, utraque ripa castra ac spatia, quorum ambitu nunc quoque metiaris (nunc quoque metiaris: ‘you may measure even now’; the present metiaris is potential subjunctive used with the indefinite second person singular of certain verbs; cf. A.G. 447, 2.) molem manusque (castra ac spatia … molem manusque: hendiadys, ‘vast encampments’ and ‘warlike might’ respectively; the latter has also been construed as ‘the mass and power’.) gentis et tam magni exitus fidem. (tam magni exitus fidem: ‘proof of such massive exodus’: in 113 B.C. a large-scale migration of the Cimbri and the Teutones began towards the south into Gaul. About 105 B.C. it reached Italy, where it came up against the Roman republic. The battles that destroyed first the Teutones, then the Cimbri occurred in 102 and 101 B.C. respectively.) Sexcentesimum et quadragesimum annum urbs nostra agebat,: cum primum Cimbrorum audita sunt arma, (sexcentesimum et quadragesimum annum urbs nostra agebat, cum primum Cimbrorum audita sunt arma: ‘Rome was in her 640th year when rumors of the Cimbric invasion were first heard’: according to myth, Rome was founded in 753 B.C., thus news of the Cimbri first reached Italy in 113 B.C. cum, introducing an unexpected event, is regularly followed by perfect indicative.) Caecilio Metello et Papirio Carbone consulibus. Ex quo si ad alterum Imperatoris Trajani consulatum computemus, ducenti ferme et decem anni colliguntur; (ex quo [tempore] si ad alterum Imperatoris Trajani consulatum computemus, ducenti ferme et decem anni colliguntur: ‘from that time, if we would count the years up to Trajan’s second consulate, about two hundred and ten years have accumulated’: conditional sentence of type II (potential or ideal) with present subjunctive in the protasis and present indicative in the apodosis. Cf. B. 302. Trajan’s second consulate was in 98 A.D., so the exact span of time between the first Roman encounter with German tribes in 113 B.C. and Trajan’s second term in office is 211 years.) tamdiu Germania vincitur. (tamdiu Germania vincitur: ‘so long Germania is being won’: vincitur is oviously sarcastic, in fact, the Romans never occupied Germany.) Medio tam longi aevi spatio, multa invicem damna: non Samnis, non Poeni, non Hispaniae Galliaeve, ne Parthi (Samnis … Poeni … Hispaniae Galliaeve … Parthi: Samnis is singular, Poeni is plural, then a change from peoples to countries and back again: Tacitus never allows his prose to become stale or repetitive. The Samnites, a people of central-south Italy, fought three long wars with Rome, at times with great success, but were in the end vanquished and assimilated by the Romans. The Poeni or Carthaginians also fought three wars, the second, under Hannibal, more bitter than the others; ultimately, Carthage, once a great power, was literally wiped off the map by the Romans. Spain rebelled against Rome under Sertorius in 77 B.C., but order was soon reestabished. The Gauls sacked Rome in 390 B.C. and Julius Caesar returned the favor by conquering Gaul in 59-51 B.C. The Parthians (in modern Iran) inflicted several defeats on the Romans and were never subdued.) quidem saepius admonuere: (saepius admonuere: admonuere: ‘served us strict warning’, ‘taught us severe lessons’, caused us great alarms’, ‘bade us beware’, etc.; the comparative saepius, lacking a second term of comparison, has the force of ‘too often’.) quippe regno Arsacis acrior est Germanorum libertas. (quippe regno Arsacis acrior est Germanorum libertas: quippe is here causal conjunction: ‘the reason being that the independence of the Germans is harder to crush than the kingdom of Arsaces; regno is abl. of comparison after the comparative acrior. Arsaces was the founder of a dynasty that lasted five hundred years; regno Arsacis is metonymy for the Parthians in general) Quid enim aliud nobis, quam caedem Crassi, amisso et ipse Pacoro, infra Ventidium dejectus Oriens objecerit? (quid enim aliud nobis, quam caedem Crassi, amisso et ipse Pacoro, infra Ventidium dejectus Oriens objecerit?: Licinius Crassus and his army perished in the disastrous battle of Carrhae in Mesopotamia, fighting the Parthians in 53 B.C.: ‘what else could the Orient throw in our teeth but the slaying of Crassus – [the Orient], itself humiliated by a Ventidius and even losing Pacorus?’ amisso et ipse Pacoro: ipse refers to Oriens, a masculine noun; lit. ‘itself, Pacorus having been lost’; ipse, nominative, inside the abl. abs. amisso et …Pacoro, is a new high in Tacitus’ handling of language. Pacorus, the son of the Parthian king Orodes, was killed by Ventidius in Syria in 38 B.C. infra Ventidium dejectus Oriens: ‘the Orient, thrown down lower than a Ventidius’: infra is here prep. governing the accusative, not adverb. Ventidius was a man of very humble origins from the Picenum region of Italy (some say he was a muleteer) who rose through the ranks to become a successful general and even a consul. obiecerit is potential subjunctive: present and perfect can be used interchangeably.) At Germani, Carbone et Cassio et Scauro Aurelio et Servilio Caepione, M. quoque Manlio fusis vel captis, (Carbone et Cassio et Scauro Aurelio et Servilio Caepione, M. quoque Manlio fusis vel captis: of these five people only four had armies under their command: Aurelius Scaurus was only deputy to M. Manlius or Mallius. The chronology of Roman defeats at the hand of the Cimbri is as follows: P. Carbo at Noreia in 113 B.C.; Cassius Longinus in the valley of the Garonne in 107 B.C.; S. Caepio and M. Mallius at Arausio (Orange) in 105 B.C. in separate battles. Tacitus does not mention the defeat of Iunius Silanus in the Rhone valley in 109 B.C.) quinque simul consulares exercitus Populo Romano, Varum, tresque cum eo legiones, etiam Caesari abstulerunt: (Varum, tresque cum eo legiones, etiam Caesari abstulerunt: Quintilius Varus was ambushed by the Bructeri led by Arminius in 9 A.D. at the Teutoburg Forest near Bielefeld, east of Munster. He lost three entire legions and committed suicide. Caesar here is emperor Augustus.) nec impune (nec impune: ‘not without paying a high price’) C. Marius in Italia, divus Julius in Gallia, Drusus ac Nero et Germanicus in suis eos sedibus (C. Marius in Italia, divus Julius in Gallia, Drusus ac Nero et Germanicus in suis … sedibus: C. Marius destroyed first the Teutones in 102 B.C., then the Cimbri in 101 B.C. at Vercellae in northern Italy; Julius Caesar subdued Gaul between 58 and 50 B.C.; Drusus, the son of Augustus’ wife Livia by a previous marriage, and his brother Nero (known as Tiberius after his adoption by Augustus) waged successful campaigns between 12 and 9 B.C. as far as the river Elbe in northern Germany. Drusus’ son Germanicus was active in Germany between 14 and 17 A.D., defeating Arminius among other exploits; Book 1 and 2 of the Annals has a detailed history of his successes and failures.) perculerunt. Mox ingentes C. Caesaris minae in ludibrium versae. (mox ingentes C. Caesaris minae in ludibrium versae: Caligula (C. Caesar) apparently had his own German guard act as the enemy in a sham battle, then he celebrated a triumph in Rome, using the same men dressed up as prisoners of war.) Inde otium, donec occasione discordiae nostrae et civilium armorum, expugnatis legionum hibernis, (inde otium, donec occasione discordiae nostrae et civilium armorum, expugnatis legionum hibernis etiam Gallias affectavere: ‘from that point on there was a quiet period, until [the Germans] even tried to gain control of the Gallic provinces, using the opportunity of discord and civil conflict among us to storm the winter quarters of the legions’. donec …affectavere: a fairly rare case in Tacitus of donec with indicative; expugnatis legionum hibernis: abl. abs. and a reference to Civilis’ rebellion and plans of a German empire (including a subordinate Gaul) during and soon after the civil broils of 69 A.D. A thorough account of both the civil war and the German uprising is given in Tacitus’ Historiae.) etiam Gallias affectavere: ac rursus pulsi, inde proximis temporibus triumphati magis quam victi sunt. (proximis temporibus triumphati magis quam victi sunt: an ironic allusion to Domitian’s expedition against the Chatti in 83 A.D., one that, according to Tacitus (Agricola, ch. 39), ended in dismal failure, but which Domitian celebrated by a false triumph.)