XLII
Juxta Hermunduros Narisci, ac deinde Marcomanni et Quadi (Narisci, … Marcomanni et Quadi: the Narisci or Naristi were between the Bohemian forest and the Danube in east Bavaria (Oberpfalz or Upper Palatinate), southeast of the Hermunduri. The Marcomanni were northeast of the Hermunduri, between the valley of the Main river in Franconia and the Danube. The Quadi were settled in Moravia southeast of the Marcomanni.) agunt. Praecipua Marcomannorum gloria viresque, atque ipsa etiam sedes, pulsis olim Boiis, virtute parta. (ipsa etiam sedes, pulsis olim Boiis, virtute parta: ‘the country itself they inhabit (sedes) was procured by their valor, the Boii having been drive out’; pulsis olim Boiis is abl. abs. of causal force.) Nec Narisci Quadive degenerant. (nec …degenerant: ‘they have not lost their bravery’. The pluperfect indicative often indicates an unchanging state established in the past, therefore similar in this sense to the perfect. See L. 1615 and 1608.) Eaque Germaniae velut frons est, quatenus Danubio peragitur. (eaque Germaniae velut frons est, quatenus Danubio peragitur: the demonstrative ea (fem. of is, pronoun) is used here for emphasis: ‘that is, so to speak, the forefront of Germany, the space where [the country] is bordered by the Danube’. ea agrees with frons, but its antecedent would be the three aforementioned tribes.) Marcomannis Quadisque usque ad nostram memoriam reges manserunt (Marcomannis Quadisque … reges manserunt: Marcomannis Quadisque is dative of possessor with manserunt: lit. ‘kings have continued to be for the …’, or ‘the Marcomanni and the Quadi have continued to have kings’.) ex gente ipsorum, nobile Marobodui et Tudri genus: (nobile Marobodui et Tudri genus: Maroboduus (Marbod) was king of the Marcomanni: defeated in a war with Arminius, leader of the Bructeri (see ch. 37), he retired to Italy where he died. According to the Roman Historian Paterculus, Arminius had previously sent him the head of Quintilius Varus, the Roman general he had crushed in 9 A.D., but he in turn sent it to Augustus in Rome. Aside from being king of the Quadi, nothing else is known about Tudrus.) jam et externos patiuntur. Sed vis et potentia regibus ex auctoritate Romana: (ex auctoritate Romana: abl. of origin or of source) raro armis nostris, saepius pecunia juvantur, nec minus valent. (nec minus valent: the subject of valent is reges: ‘nor are these kings less powerful [for all that]’.)