XXV.
Sed (sed: cf. note for sed at the outset of ch. 14.) tum e libertis Onomastum futuro sceleri praefecit, a quo Barbium Proculum tesserarium speculatorum (Barbium Proculum tesserarium speculatorum: ‘Barbius Proculus, the tesserarius of the bodyguard’; tesserarius was the soldier appointed to circulate the tessera, a tablet bearing the password received from his commander.) et Veturium optionem eorundem (Veturium optionem eorundem: ‘the adjutant Veturius, also of the bodyguard’; an optio was a soldier chosen by the centurion to assist him; eorundem is gen. plur. of idem.) perductos, postquam vario sermone callidos audacisque cognovit, pretio et promissis onerat, (a quo Barbium Proculum …et Veturium optionem eorundem perductos, postquam vario sermone callidos audacisque cognovit, pretio et promissis onerat: the main verb of the period is onerat with Otho as subject and Proculum … Veturium …perductos as direct object: ‘he loaded the two men, brought to him by Onomastus, with gifts and promises, after he came to know them through divers talk as being both astute and daring’; a quo, ‘by whom’, goes with perductos, the antecedent of quo being Onomastus; onerat is dramatic switch to present indicative.) data pecunia ad pertemptandos plurium animos. (ad pertemptandos plurium animos: ad + gerundive, one way to express purpose in Latin) suscepere duo manipulares imperium populi Romani transferendum (suscepere duo manipulares imperium populi Romani transferendum: ‘two common soldiers took it upon themselves to transfer the empire’, lit. ‘the empire to be transferred’; manipulares: members of a maniple; two centuries made a maniple, tree maniples a cohort, ten cohorts a legion.) et transtulerunt. (et transtulerunt: ‘and even succeeded’, brevity expressing the incredible) in conscientiam facinoris pauci adsciti: suspensos ceterorum animos diversis artibus stimulant, primores militum per beneficia Nymphidii ut suspectos, (primores militum per beneficia Nymphidii ut suspectos: ‘inasmuch as suspects on account of the promotions received from Nymphidius’; for Nymphidius cf. ch. 5; primores militum is direct object of stimulant as is suspensos …animos before and vulgus et ceteros next.) vulgus et ceteros ira et desperatione dilati totiens donativi. (ira et desperatione dilati totiens donativi: ‘through the anger and despair of the donative so often postponed’) erant quos memoria Neronis ac desiderium prioris licentiae accenderet: (erant quos … accenderet: erant quos introduces a relative clause of characteristic that requires subjunctive, in that the sense it conveys is potential or consecutive; cf. A.G. 534, 535.) in commune omnes metu mutandae militiae terrebantur. (in commune omnes metu mutandae militiae terrebantur: ‘in the general anxiety of being assigned to another corps, they were all in a panic’; mutandae militiae: use of gerundive, actually a passive future participle, as a verbal adjective denoting imminence, obligation, necessity, ‘of the service liable to be changed’)