LXXIX.
Conversis ad civile bellum animis externa sine cura habebantur. (sine cura habebantur: ‘were viewed with disinterest’, ‘received no attention’) eo audentius Rhoxolani, (eo audentius Rhoxolani, Sarmatica gens …: ‘for that reason all the more boldly did the Rhoxolani, a Sarmatian people …’; the Rhoxolani were possibly a people of Iranian origin residing in the territory between the Dnieper river, flowing into the Black sea near Odessa, and the Don river flowing into the Caspian sea; Sarmatia was the vast territory extending eastwards to the Volga river from the Vistula river in Poland and the Dniester river in the Ukraine.) Sarmatica gens, priore hieme caesis duabus cohortibus, magna spe Moesiam (Moesiam: cf. ch. 76.) inruperant, ad novem milia equitum, ex ferocia et successu praedae magis quam pugnae intenta. (ex ferocia et successu praedae magis quam pugnae intenta: intenta refers to gens: ‘attentive to plunder more than to fighting because of their savagery and [recent] successes’; ex ferocia et successu is abl. of cause, often found with a preposition; cf. G. 408, Note 3.) igitur vagos et incuriosos tertia legio adiunctis auxiliis repente invasit. apud Romanos omnia proelio apta: Sarmatae dispersi aut cupidine praedae graves onere sarcinarum et lubrico itinerum (onere sarcinarum et lubrico itinerum: ‘owing to the weight of their baggage and the slipperiness of the roads’) adempta equorum pernicitate velut vincti caedebantur. namque mirum dictu ut sit omnis Sarmatarum virtus velut extra ipsos. (mirum dictu ut sit omnis Sarmatarum virtus velut extra ipsos: lit. ‘it is a very strange thing in the telling how all the valor of tha Sarmatians is, so to speak, exterior to themselves’; ut sit virtus extra ipsos: subjunctive in exclamatory clause; cf. A.G. 462, a. and also note for auditisne ut poena mea et supplicium vestrum simul postulentur? in ch. 37. Grammatically, exclamatory clauses are identical to indirect questions.) nihil ad pedestrem pugnam tam ignavum: ubi per turmas advenere (ubi … advenere: for repeated action before the action of the main verb, temporal ubi may be followed by perfect, pluperfect or future perfect. The tense of the main verb may be present, imperfect or, as shown in the next note, future; cf. G. 567.) vix ulla acies obstiterit. (vix ulla acies obstiterit: obstiterit is future perfect, not perf. subjunctive; see previous note.) sed tum umido die et soluto gelu neque conti neque gladii, quos praelongos utraque manu regunt, usui, (usui: dat. of purpose) lapsantibus equis et catafractarum pondere. id principibus et nobilissimo cuique tegimen, (principibus et nobilissimo cuique tegimen: ‘protection for their leaders and all the nobles’; cf. rapacissimo cuique ac perditissimo in ch. 20. ) ferreis lamminis aut praeduro corio consertum, (consertum: refers to tegimen, ‘put together with …’.) ut adversus ictus impenetrabile ita impetu hostium provolutis inhabile ad resurgendum; (ut … impenetrabile ita … inhabile: comparative sentence with ut, ita ushering in the subordinate and the main clause respectivey: ‘to the extent [it is] impenetrable, to the same extent [it is] ill-adapted for …’) simul altitudine et mollitia nivis hauriebantur. Romanus miles facilis lorica et missili pilo aut lanceis adsultans, (missili pilo aut lanceis adsultans: ‘attacking with his light javelin and short spears’; missilis lit. means ‘throwable’ or ‘easily thrown’.) ubi res posceret, (ubi res posceret: ‘when the situation demanded it’; ubi, in its frequentative sense of ‘whenever’, is often found with subjunctive, especially in Tacitus.) levi gladio inermem Sarmatam (Sarmatam: Sarmata is masc. first conjugation noun, like nauta or agricola.) (neque enim scuto defendi mos est) comminus fodiebat, donec pauci qui proelio superfuerant paludibus abderentur. (donec … abderentur: for use of subjunctive after donec, cf. donec …amoliretur in ch. 13.) ibi saevitia hiemis aut vulnerum absumpti. postquam id Romae compertum, M. Aponius Moesiam obtinens (Moesiam obtinens: ‘governing Moesia’) triumphali statua, Fulvus Aurelius et Iulianus Tettius ac Numisius Lupus, legati legionum, consularibus ornamentis donantur, laeto Othone et gloriam in se trahente, (laeto Othone et gloriam in se trahente: abl. abs., ‘Otho being overjoyed and claiming for himself all the glory’) tamquam et ipse (et ipse: ‘even he himself’) felix bello et suis ducibus suisque exercitibus rem publicam auxisset. (tamquam … felix bello et suis ducibus suisque exercitibus rem publicam auxisset: ‘as if he himself, being fortunate in war, had made the state greater through his generals and his armies’; for use of tamquam cf. tamquam … adstruerent in previous ch.)