XXXVIII.
“Ac ne qua saltem in successore Galbae spes esset (ne qua saltem …spes esset: ne …saltem: ‘not even’, with ne introducing a negative purpose clause, ‘lest there should be even hope’) accersit ab exilio quem (quem: ‘him who …’) tristitia et avaritia sui simillimum (sui simillimum: ‘most similar to himself’; similis is found mostly with gen. of the noun or pronoun; sui is gen. of the reflexive pronoun se; cf. A.G. 144 and 385, 2.) iudicabat. vidistis, commilitones, notabili tempestate etiam deos infaustam adoptionem aversantis. idem senatus, idem populi Romani animus est: vestra virtus expectatur, apud quos omne honestis consiliis robur et sine quibus quamvis egregia invalida sunt. non ad bellum vos nec ad periculum voco: omnium militum arma nobiscum sunt. nec una cohors togata (cohors togata: the praetorian cohort on guard at the Palace wore the toga in place of the regular military garb and retained only their swords and spears, without shields and helmets. Otho may also imply that the cohort had lost the habit of fighting.) defendit nunc Galbam sed detinet: cum vos aspexerit, cum signum meum accceperit, (cum vos aspexerit, cum signum meum accceperit: aspexerit and acceperit are fut. perf., not perf. subjunctives; temporal cum is followed by the indicative when the tense is present, future, or perfect, by the subjunctive when the tense is imperf. or pluperf.) hoc solum erit certamen, quis mihi plurimum imputet. nullus cunctationis locus est (nullus cunctationis locus est: lit. ‘there is no space of hesitation’; for locus with gen. gerund see locus eundi in ch. 36.) in eo consilio quod non potest laudari nisi peractum.” aperire deinde armamentarium iussit. rapta statim arma, sine more et ordine militiae, ut praetorianus aut legionarius insignibus suis distingueretur: miscentur auxiliaribus galeis scutisque, (miscentur auxiliaribus galeis scutisque: ‘they are no longer identifiable on account of the helmets and shields of the auxiliary troops’; miscentur: this abrupt change to hist. present, meant to bring past events closer in time to the reader, is called repraesentatio) nullo tribunorum centurionumve adhortante, sibi quisque dux et instigator; (sibi quisque dux et instigator: ‘each men was guide and instigator to himself’; sibi is dat. of interest.) et praecipuum pessimorum incitamentum quod boni maerebant. (praecipuum pessimorum incitamentum quod boni maerebant: ‘the main inducement of the worst soldiers [to create confusion was] the fact that the good soldiers were appalled’.)