LIV.
Miserat civitas Lingonum vetere instituto dona legionibus dextras, hospitii insigne. (dextras, hospitii insigne: ‘the clasped right hands, emblem of hospitality’; dextrae were a model, usually in bronze, of two right hands held in a clasp.) legati eorum in squalorem maestitiamque compositi per principia per contubernia modo suas iniurias, modo vicinarum civitatium praemia, et ubi pronis militum auribus accipiebantur, (ubi pronis militum auribus accipiebantur: ‘whenever they were well received by the well-disposed ears of the soldiers, …’; ubi is followed by imperfect indicative because the action of the ubi clause and that of the main clause are repeated and simultaneous; in such cases the tense of the verb of each clause, here accipiebantur and accendebant respectively, is one of continuance; cf. G. 566.) ipsius exercitus pericula et contumelias conquerentes accendebant animos. (legati … accendebant animos: although Latin, as a language, is not without its limitations, it offers some advantages unknown to English: in this complex period, most of what is essential, including the main verb, is held off by the writer until the very end; the rest is a gradual and adroitly woven buildup before the final revelation, the whole done with astounding economy of words.) nec procul seditione aberant cum Hordeonius Flaccus abire legatos, utque occultior digressus esset, nocte castris excedere iubet. inde atrox rumor, adfirmantibus plerisque interfectos, ac ni sibi ipsi consulerent, fore ut acerrimi militum et praesentia conquesti per tenebras et inscitiam ceterorum occiderentur. (adfirmantibus plerisque [legatos] interfectos [esse], ac ni sibi ipsi consulerent, fore ut acerrimi militum et praesentia conquesti … occiderentur: a case of an abl. abs. governing, in indirect discourse, a conditional sentence of the ideal or potential type (cf. G. 596) . Such uses (or abuses) of the abl. abs., begun with Cicero, became common in post-classical literature. The protasis, which in direct discourse would be ni nobis consulamus for supposition in the present, becomes ni sibi ipsi consulerent , ‘unless they looked after themselves’, in indirect discourse for supposition in the past. In the apodosis, fore ut … occiderentur, the main verb fore or futurum esse is infinitive in indirect discourse, as required; the periphrasis fore ut + subjunctive, beside being used when the verb lacks the supine, is found with passive verbs in preference to the passive supine with iri, to convey the future sense which, in the active voice, is supplied by the future participle of the verb; thus, fore ut occiderentur is in Latin eyes better than occisum iri; cf. G. 248 and A.G. 192, N. acerrimi militum et presentia conquesti: ‘the most litigious of the soldiers and those lamenting present conditions; conquesti, from dep. conqueror, has active meaning. ni is for nisi; sibi is dat. of advantage.) obstringuntur inter se tacito foedere legiones, adsciscitur auxiliorum miles, primo suspectus tamquam circumdatis cohortibus alisque impetus in legiones pararetur, (suspectus … tamquam circumdatis cohortibus alisque impetus in legiones pararetur: ‘[the auxiliaries were] suspect as if an attack on the legions was being prepared by their infantry cohorts and cavalry units positioned in a ring [around the legions]’; alae: an ala had 300 – 330 cavalrymen distributed among 10 turmae, a turma having 3 decuries each with 10 men.) mox eadem acrius volvens, (eadem acrius volvens: ‘pursuing quite eagerly the same goals’) faciliore inter malos consensu ad bellum quam in pace ad concordiam.