XLIII
Retro Marsigni, Gothini, Osi, Burii, (Marsigni, Gothini, Osi, Burii: ‘the Marsigni were probably in northern Bohemia, the Gothini in upper Silesia along both banks of the Oder river between Poland and the Czech Republic, the Osi south of the Gothini, and the Burii in eastern Moravia at the juncture of the Sudeten and the Carpathian mountains.) terga Marcomannorum Quadorumque claudunt: e quibus Marsigni et Burii sermone cultuque Suevos referunt (sermone cultuque Suevos referent: ‘they resemble the Suevi in language and customs’; sermone cultuque are ablatives of specification or respect.) Gothinos Gallica, Osos Pannonica lingua coarguit non esse Germanos, et quod tributa patiuntur. Partem tributorum Sarmatae, (Sarmatae: the Iazyges, a nomad people living east of the river Vistula. See also note in ch. 1.) partem Quadi, ut alienigenis, imponunt. Gothini, quo magis pudeat, (quo magis pudeat: quo replaces ut when a comparative is present: ‘so that it be more shameful’; the sense is final, hence the subjunctive; pudeat is impersonal) et ferrum effodiunt. Omnesque hi populi pauca campestrium, (pauca campestrium: poetic language, lile elsewhere extrema Galliarum or secretiora Germaniae; lit. ‘few places of the flat lands’, where campestrium is partitive genitive after the neuter plural pauca.) ceterum (ceterum: ‘for the most part’) saltus et vertices montium jugumque insederunt. Dirimit enim scinditque Sueviam continuum montium jugum, (dirimit enim scinditque Sueviam continuum montium jugum: the Riesengebirge on the boundary of Silesia and Bohemia (part of the Sudeten mountain system and of the Moravian massif) that cuts an splits the Suevian tribes in the same territory.) ultra quod plurimae gentes agunt: ex quibus latissime patet Lygiorum nomen (Lygiorum nomen: Lugii or Lygii was un umbrella name for the southern peoples of east Germany) in plures civitates diffusum. Valentissimas nominasse sufficiet, (valentissimas nominasse sufficiet: ‘it will be sufficient to have mentioned the most powerful’.) Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, Elysios, Naharvalos. (Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, Elysios, Naharvalos: the Harii were probably between the Oder and the Vistula near modern Wroclaw, the Helvecones north of them east of Berlin, the Manimi south of the Burgundians (not mentioned by Tacitus) in the Oder-Vistula basin, the Elysii or Helisii between modern Wroclaw and Warsaw, and the Naharvali along the northeast stretch of the Oder.) Apud Naharvalos antiquae religionis lucus ostenditur. Praesidet sacerdos muliebri ornatu: sed (sed: in the same way et can occasionally have the meaning of ‘but’ (cf. L. 1655), so sed can be found without adversative force, especially when passing to a new line of argument, as is the case here.) deos, interpretatione Romana, (interpretatione Romana: ‘according to Roman interpretation’: simple abl. in place of secundum + acc.; it may also be abl. abs. or abl. of cause.) Castorem Pollucemque (Castorem Pollucemque: the twin sons of Leda and Zeus and brothers of Helen of Troy. They were venerated in both Greece and Rome. A constellation is named after them. The cult of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) appears in various forms in regions far removed from Rome, even among Scandinavian and Slavic peoples.) memorant: ea vis numini; nomen Alcis. (Alcis: probably nominative plural, meaning ‘gods’ or ‘idols’ in Gothic) Nulla simulacra, nullum peregrinae superstitionis vestigium: ut fratres tamen, ut juvenes, venerantur. Ceterum (ceterum: marks a return to the subject of the Harii above, interrupted by the digression about the Naharvali.) Arii super vires, quibus enumeratos paulo ante populos antecedunt, truces, insitae feritati arte ac tempore lenocinantur. (insitae feritati … lenocinantur: ‘they add to their natural ferocity’.) Nigra scuta, tincta corpora: (tincta corpora: may well mean ‘tattooed bodies’.) atras ad proelia (ad proelia: ad + acc., one way to express suitability or purpose) noctes legunt: ipsaque formidine atque umbra feralis exercitus terrorem inferant, (ipsaque formidine atque umbra feralis exercitus terrorem inferant: ‘they cause panic by the fear itself [they instil] and by the ghostly semblance of their funereal army’; inferant is sujunctive because the sense is final, with ut omitted. ) nullo hostium sustinente novum ac velut infernum aspectum: (nullo hostium sustinente novum ac velut infernum aspectum: abl abs.: ‘no enemy being capable of enduring their alien and in some way hellish aspect’.) nam primi in omnibus proeliis oculi vincuntur.