XLV
Trans Suionas aliud mare, pigrum ac prope immotum, quo cingi cludique terrarum orbem hinc fides, (quo cingi cludique terrarum orbem hinc fides: ‘from this it is believed that by this sea (quo [mare]) the world is surrounded and enclosed’: the sea in question is probably the Arctic Ocean or the Gulf of Bothnia.) quod extremus cadentis jam solis fulgor in ortus edurat (extremus cadentis jam solis fulgor in ortus edurat: lit. ‘the last radiance of the by now setting sun persists into its rises’; orsus is plural; iam is one of those particles that help to smooth the flow of the Latin narrative, but whose English equivalents, if at all available, sound clumsy and out of place and add nothing to sense. Translators regularly overlook them.) adeo clarus, ut sidera hebetet; sonum insuper audiri, formasque equorum (formasque equorum: the shapes of the horses pulling the chariot of the sun) et radios capitis aspici persuasio adjicit. (persuasio adjicit: ‘common belief adds that …’) Illuc usque, et fama vera, tantum natura. (illuc usque, et fama vera, tantum natura: ‘up to that point only [extends] the world, and this information is true’; Tacitus openly endorses the notion of the world ending in Scandinavia, whereas earlier he was skeptical about the sound made by the rising sun and the horses being visible. illuc usque …tantum: three adverbs, ‘up to that point only [and no further]’; tantum is adverbial use of the acc. of tantus, a pronoun and adj.) Ergo jam (ergo jam: lit. ‘well, then’ or similar: a way to resume after a digression) dextro Suevici maris littore Aestyorum gentes alluuntur: (dextro Suevici maris littore Aestyorum gentes alluuntur: lit, ‘to the right the people of the Aestii are touched by the coast of the Suebic sea’: the sea is the Baltic Sea. The Aestii were along the coast from the mouth of the Vistula to the Gulf of Finland; their name remains in modern Estonia; dextro: on the right-hand side, i.e. towards the east from the Romans’ point of view. ) quibus ritus habitusque Suevorum; lingua Britannicae propior. (quibus … lingua Britannicae propior: quibus is dative of possessor with understood est: ‘they have a language closer to that of the Britons’; some say there is some truth in the statement, others that it is totally unsupported.) Matrem deum (matrem deum: perhaps the Cybele of the Romans, perhaps Fricca, a divinity of Scythian origin) venerantur: insigne superstitionis, (insigne superstitionis: ‘an amulet of their superstition’) formas aprorum gestant; id pro armis omnique tutela: securum deae cultorem etiam inter hostes praestat. (id pro armis omnique tutela [est]: securum deae cultorem etiam inter hostes praestat: ‘this is in place of (pro + abl.) armor and all other protection: it keeps the votary of the goddess safe, even among enemies’) Rarus ferri, frequens fustium usus. Frumenta ceterosque fructus patientius, quam pro solita Germanorum inertia, laborant. Sed et mare scrutantur, ac soli omnium succinum, quod ipsi glesum (glesum: from which later, when it was discovered, glass took its name.) vocant inter vada atque in ipso littore legunt. Nec, quae natura quaeve ratio gignat, ut barbaris, quaesitum compertumve. (quae natura quaeve ratio gignat, ut barbaris, nec quaesitum compertumve: quae natura quaeve ratio introduces an indirect question with subjunctive: ‘what process of nature generates it, has not been investigated or discovered by them, as barbarians’; barbaris is dative of agent with quaesitum and compertum; cf. L. 1216. natura and ratio form hendiadys.) Diu quin etiam (quin etiam: ‘nay, even …’) inter cetera ejectamenta maris jacebat, donec luxuria nostra dedit nomen: (donec … dedit: donec is followed by perfect indicative when referring to a factual time limit in the past.) ipsis in nullo usu: rude legitur, informe perfertur, mirantes pretiumque accipiunt. (mirantes pretiumque accipiunt: ‘amazed, they pocket the price’.) Succum tamen arborum esse intelligas, quia terrena quaedam atque etiam volucria animalia plerumque interlucent, quae implicata humore, mox, durescente materia, cluduntur. (terrena quaedam atque etiam volucria animalia plerumque interlucent, quae implicata humore, mox, durescente materia, cluduntur: ‘certain wingless and flying creatures too are plainly visible within, which, having become entangled in the exuded substance, remained caught as it hardened.) Fecundiora igitur nemora lucosque, sicut Orientis secretis, ubi thura balsamaque sudantur, ita Occidentis insulis terrisque inesse, crediderim; quae vicini solis radiis expressa atque liquentia in proximum mare labuntur, (fecundiora igitur nemora lucosque, sicut Orientis secretis, ubi thura balsamaque sudantur ita Occidentis insulis terrisque inesse, crediderim; quae vicini solis radiis expressa atque liquentia in proximum mare labuntur: lit.: ‘in the same way that in the remote recesses of the Orient [there are] very lush forests and groves where incense and balsam are exuded, so I would be inclined to believe that in the islands and regions of the West there are exudates [from trees], which, closely exposed to the rays of the sun, ooze down into the underlying sea.’ fecundiora is a comparative absolute in that it lacks a second term of comparison; in such cases the positive of the English adjective is qualified by an adverb expressive of disproportion or excess, such as ‘rather’, ‘very’, ‘too’, ‘overly’, ‘quite’, etc. sudantur: ‘are exuded’; the source of course is the trees in the nemora lucosque of the previous line. crediderim is potential subjunctive found, in the present or perfect, with the first person singular to express cautious, attenuated affirmations. expressa atque liquentia: neuter plural adjectives used as nouns and forming hendiadys, ‘exuded fluids’ or simply ‘exudates.’ igitur: ‘therefore’; the particle has been ignored in translation for the resons given in the note for iam in extremus cadentis jam solis fulgor above.) ac vi tempestatum in adversa littora exundant. Si naturam succini admoto igne tentes, (si … tentes: subjunctive in protasis for action considered possible: ‘if you would test the quality of …’) in modum taedae accenditur, alitque flammam pinguem et olentem: mox ut in picem resinamve lentescit. (mox ut in picem resinamve lentescit: ‘soon it turns sticky, as if into pitch or resin’) Suionibus Sitonum gentes (Sitonum gentes: their location is uncertain, some think they were in Norway, others in Finland.) continuantur. Cetera similes, uno differunt, quod (uno differunt, quod …: ‘they differ in one aspect only, the fact that …’.) femina dominatur: in tantum (in tantum: ‘to such a degree’) non modo a libertate, sed etiam a servitute degenerant. Hic Sueviae finis.