II.
Opus adgredior opimum casibus, atrox proeliis, discors seditionibus, (discors seditionibus: ‘discordant with’ or ‘because of mutinies’) ipsa etiam pace saevum. quattuor principes ferro interempti: (quattuor principes ferro interempti: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Domitian; Nero is not included here as he was killed in 68 A.D., just before the series of events narrated in the Histories; he is dealt with in a separate work, the Annals.) trina bella civilia, plura externa ac plerumque permixta: prosperae in Oriente, adversae in Occidente res: turbatum Illyricum, (Illyricum: in the wider sense used here, Illyricum is the region known today as the Balkans; in a more restricted sense, the name applies to the area known collectively as Yugoslavia before that federation broke up; its territory is currently divided among six countries, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Serbia.) Galliae nutantes, perdomita Britannia et statim omissa: (perdomita Britannia et statim omissa: actually the Romans never entirely subdued or abandoned Britain; Tacitus’ father-in-law, Agricola, managed to occupy most of the island in 78-84 A.D., but later there was a retrenchment along the Solway-Tyne line.) coortae in nos Sarmatarum ac Sueborum gentes, (Sarmatarum ac Sueborum gentes: Sarmatia was the name of the vast area of eastern Europe between the Vistula and the Volga; the Suebi or Suevi were a powerful Germanic people living east of the Elbe river.) nobilitatus cladibus mutuis Dacus, (Dacus: the singular noun stands for the inhabitants of Dacia, today’s Rumenia.) mota prope etiam Parthorum arma falsi Neronis ludibrio. (mota prope etiam Parthorum arma falsi Neronis ludibrio: lit. ‘even the arms of the Parthians being almost set in motion [against us] because of the trickery of a false Nero’; for this event cf. Book 2, ch. 8-9; Parthia was the area of west Asia SE of the Caspian sea, today part of NE Iran; ludibrio is abl. of instrument, ‘by the farce of a false Nero’.) iam vero (iam vero: ‘besides’, ‘in addition’) Italia novis cladibus vel post longam saeculorum seriem repetitis adflicta. haustae aut obrutae urbes, (haustae aut obrutae urbes: a reference to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D., which obliterated towns like Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae.) fecundissima Campaniae ora; et urbs incendiis vastata, (urbs incendiis vastata: Rome was partly destroyed by a fire during Titus’ reign in 80 A.D.) consumptis antiquissimis delubris, ipso Capitolio civium manibus incenso. (Capitolio … incenso: Capitolium here refers to the temple of Jupiter on the homonymous hill; it was destroyed by fire in Dec. 69 A.D.; cf. Book 3, ch. 71.) pollutae caerimoniae, magna adulteria: plenum exiliimare, infecti caedibus scopuli. atrocius in urbe saevitum: (atrocius in urbe saevitum [est]: impersonal use of passive of intransitive verb, lit. ‘it was raged more atrociously in Rome’) nobilitas, opes, omissi gestique honores pro crimine et ob virtutes certissimum exitium. nec minus praemia delatorum invisa quam scelera, cum alii sacerdotia et consulatus ut spolia adepti, procurationes alii et interiorem potentiam, agerent verterent cuncta odio et terrore. (praemia delatorum invisa [erant] …, cum alii sacerdotia et consulatus ut spolia adepti, procurationes alii et interiorem potentiam agerent verterent cuncta odio et terrore: the cum clause is causal: ‘the rewards of informers were odious, since they [the informers] upset and ruined everything amid hatred and fear, some seizing on priestly offices and consulships as spoils, others [grasping] appointments and backstage power as procurators’; the deponent participle adepti, from adipiscor, has transitive sense, sacerdotia, consulatus, procuratores, and potentiam being its direct objects; procurationes: procurators were imperial officials having fiscal powers in the provinces, a very lucrative appointment.) corrupti in dominos servi, in patronos liberti; et quibus deerat inimicus per amicos oppressi.