VII.
Forte congruerat ut (congruerat ut: when used impersonally, congruere is followed by a ut clause of consecutive force.) Clodii Macri et Fontei Capitonis (Clodii Macri et Frontei Capitonis: Clodius Macer was the governor of the province of Africa, Fonteius Capito of Lower Germany) caedes nuntiarentur. Macrum in Africa (Africa: Africa was the name of a Roman province comprising most of today’s Tunisia and the coastal areas of Lybia, exclusive of Cyrenaica.) haud dubie turbantem Trebonius Garutianus procurator (procurator: an imperial agent who officially managed fiscal matters in a province, but also kept an eye on the governor) iussu Galbae, Capitonem in Germania, (Germania: here the term refers to Germania superior and Germania inferior , the two Roman provinces inhabited by German tribes. Most of their territory was west of the Rhine, for the river was the frontier of the empire from its confluence with the Moselle near Koblenz to its mouth in the North Sea. The Romans never occupied any areas of Germany east of the Rhine along this stretch of the river. Upper Germany or Germania superior –so called because it lay upstream of Germania inferior –included the western part of today’s Switzerland, French Jura and Alsace, and SW Germany. Lower Germany or Germania inferior extended along the west bank of the Rhine from its mouth to its confluence with the Moselle and included Luxenbourg, southern Holland, part of Belgium, and part of North-Rhine Westphalia west of the Rhine.) cum similia coeptaret, Cornelius Aquinus et Fabius Valens legati legionum interfecerant antequam iuberentur. (antequam iuberentur: unlike postquam, antequam requires subjunctive to denote anticipation or design ahead of an event as yet in the future.) fuere qui crederent Capitonem ut avaritia et libidine foedum ac maculosum ita cogitatione rerum novarum abstinuisse, (Capitonem ut … foedum ac maculosum ita cogitatione rerum novarum abstinuisse: example of comparative sentence in indir. speech, here introduced by crederent and ending with comprobasse; the correlatives ut … ita are often found with the adversative force of ‘although … yet’: ‘that though Capito was a foul, disgusting character, yet he had abstained from thoughts of revolution’; cf. G. 482, 4 and 642, R. 3.) sed a legatis bellum suadentibus, postquam impellere nequiverint, crimen ac dolum ultro compositum, (a legatis …crimen ac dolum ultro compositum [esse]: ‘that the criminal charge were willfully fabricated by the [two] officers’; a legatis is abl. of agent with a passive verb; ultro: ‘deliberately’, ‘on purpose’; crimen ac dolum: hendiadys) et Galbam mobilitate ingenii, an ne altius scrutaretur, (mobilitate ingenii, an ne altius scrutaretur: indirect alternative question without utrum or –ne standing for the first part and with an introducing the second part,; cf. A.G. 335.) quoquo modo acta, quia mutari non poterant, (quia …non poterant: the indicative is used in that the clause is parenthetical, sort of an author’s aside to the reader, thus not part of the indirect discourse it finds itself in.) comprobasse. (Galbam …ne altius scrutaretur, quoquo modo acta …comprobasse: ‘that Galba, to avoid probing too deeply, had approved the deed in whatever way performed’) ceterum (ceterum: cf. note at the outset of ch. 4.) utraque caedes sinistre accepta, et inviso semel principi seu bene seu male facta (bene …male facta: lit. ‘things done well [or] badly’) parem invidiam adferebant. (inviso …principi …adferebant: inviso principi is dative with adferebant.) venalia cuncta, praepotentes liberti, servorum manus subitis avidae et tamquamm apud senem festinantes, (servorum manus subitis avidae et tamquam apud senem festinantes: ‘ the hands of his slaves avid for the unexpected opportunities, suddenly available, and working fast, as the need is with a prince not long for this world’; subitis is dat. plur. of subita, from the adj. subitus used as a neuter noun, ‘things that suddenly offer’, ‘an unexpected bounty’.) eademque novae aulae mala, aeque gravia, non aeque excusata. ipsa aetas Galbae inrisui ac fastidio erat adsuetis iuventae Neronis et imperatores forma ac decore corporis, ut est mos vulgi, comparantibus. (aetas … inrisui ac fastidio erat adsuetis iuventae Neronis et imperatores … comparantibus: five datives: inrisui and fastidio are datives of destination (purpose), adsuetis and comparantibus are datives of reference, and iuventae is dat. governed by adsuetis.)