LXXXIII.
Otho, quamquam turbidis rebus et diversis militum animis, (quamquam turbidis rebus et diversis militum animis: abl. abs.: ‘the state of things being undeniably in turmoil and the soldiers’ sentiments at variance’ or ‘however unsettled the stare of affairs …’; quamquam is here rel. adverb modifying turbidis and diversis, not concessive conjunction; its sense is close to that of ‘admittedly’ which implies concession.) cum optimus quisque remedium praesentis licentiae posceret, vulgus et plures seditionibus et ambitioso imperio laeti (vulgus et plures seditionibus et ambitioso imperio laeti: vulgus et plures: ‘the average soldier, [that is] most of them’; seditionibus et ambitioso imperio laeti: ‘happy with mutinies and emperors anxious to win their favor’) per turbas et raptus facilius (per turbas et raptus: ‘by meand of riots and rapine’) ad civile bellum impellerentur, (cum … posceret … impellerentur: causal cum + subjunctive) simul reputans non posse principatum scelere quaesitum subita modestia et prisca gravitate retineri, sed discrimine urbis et periculo senatus anxius, postremo ita disseruit: (Otho … postremo ita disseruit: a literal translation of this involved opening period is roughly as follows: ‘the situation in Rome being critical and the soldiers’ sentiments divided, since the best of them demanded a stop to the disorders and the majority were drawn into civil war by their preference for emperors under their control and for mob violence and looting, Otho, realizing that an empire obtained by crime could not be retained through a return to ancient severity, being also anxious about the safety of the city and of the senate, in the end addressed the troops thus.’) “neque ut adfectus vestros in amorem mei accenderem, commilitones, neque ut animum ad virtutem cohortarer (utraque enim egregie supersunt), sed veni postulaturus (postulaturus: the free use of the future participle as a simple adjective is typical of later Latin; cf. G. 283.) a vobis temperamentum vestrae fortitudinis et erga me modum caritatis. (erga me modum caritatis: ‘a measured amount of your love for me’) tumultus proximi initium non cupiditate vel odio, quae multos exercitus in discordiam egere, (quae multos exercitus in discordiam egere: ‘which drove many armies to discord’) ac ne detrectatione quidem aut formidine periculorum: (ne detrectatione quidem aut formidine periculorum: ‘not even because of refusal of obedience or fear of danger’; detrectatione and formidine periculorum may well be hendiadys; ne …quidem: ‘not even’) nimia pietas vestra acrius quam considerate excitavit; nam saepe honestas rerum causas, ni iudicium adhibeas, perniciosi exitus consequuntur. (ni iudicium adhibeas perniciosi exitus consequuntur: an example of logical conditional sentence (cf. G. 595); ni, introducing a negative condition, is usually followed by indicative for open condition; the use of the subjunctive may suggest doubt of the condition being fulfilled; the second person sing. in adhibeas is used in a generalized sense.) imus ad bellum. num omnis nuntios palam audiri, omnia consilia cunctis praesentibus tractari ratio rerum aut occasionum velocitas patitur? (num … ratio rerum aut occasionum velocitas patitur?: ‘do the demands of warfare and the rapid passage of opportunities allow that …?’; the interrogative num implies a negative answer.) tam nescire quaedam milites quam scire oportet: ita se ducum auctoritas, sic rigor disciplinae habet, (ita se ducum auctoritas …habet: ‘such is the inherent quality of command that …’; ita se habere is idiom, ‘to be a certain way’) ut multa etiam centuriones tribunosque tantum iuberi expediat. (ita … sic … ut multa etiam centuriones tribunosque tantum iuberi expediat: the ut clause is consecutive, as the presence of the correlatives ita and sic demonstrates: subjunctive is obligatory: ‘so that it makes things easier to have even centurions and tribunes merely receive orders’; lit. ‘that even centurions and tribunes are only given orders’.) si cur iubeantur quaerere singulis liceat, (si cur iubeantur quaerere singulis liceat: construe: si singulis liceat quaerere cur iubeantur; si … liceat: pres. subjunctive for supposition more or less fanciful in the present; cf. G. 596; cur iubeantur: subjunctive in indirect question introduced by quaerere; singulis is dat. with impersonal licet.) pereunte obsequio etiam imperium intercidit. (pereunte obsequio etiam imperium intercidit: pereunte obsequio is abl. abs. of causal sense: ‘with obedience dying authority also ceases’; pereunte is the abl. of periens, the present participle of pereo.) an et illic (illic: i.e. ‘in the coming war’) nocte intempesta (nocte intempesta: ‘in the dead of night’) rapientur arma? (an et … rapientur arma?: ‘also, will weapons not be seized?’; an is found introducing a simple question, in place of –ne, nonne, num, especially when the question is rhetorical, i.e. does not expect an answer, or denotes surprise, indignation, irony.) unus alterve (unus alterve: ‘one or another’, that is ‘one or two’) perditus ac temulentus (neque enim pluris consternatione proxima (consternatione proxima: ‘in the recent madness’) insanisse crediderim) (neque enim … crediderim: ‘I would not in fact believe …’; potential subjunctive for attenuated, polite assertions in the first person sing.; present and perfect are used interchangeably.) centurionis ac tribuni sanguine manus imbuet, imperatoris sui tentorium inrumpet?”