LXXXIV.
“Vos quidem istud pro me: (vos quidem istud pro me [fecistis]: ‘it is true that you did this for me’; istud is the neuter form of iste.) sed in discursu ac tenebris et rerum omnium confusione patefieri occasio etiam adversus me potest. si Vitellio et satellitibus eius (eius: eius, not suis, because Vitellius is not the subject of the clause.) eligendi facultas detur, (si … facultas detur, quem … animum … imprecentur, quid aliud … optabunt?: subjunctive for supposition yet untested; the protasis is in the present subjunctive for continued action; the apodosis, in the form of a direct question, is in the future.) quem nobis animum, quas mentis imprecentur, quid aliud quam seditionem et discordiam optabunt? ne miles centurioni, ne centurio tribuno obsequatur, ut confusi pedites equitesque in exitium ruamus. ([optabunt] ne miles centurioni, ne centurio tribuno obsequatur, ut confusi pedites equitesque in exitium ruamus: ‘[they will wish] that the soldier would not obey the centurion and the centurion the tribune, and that we all, infantry and cavalry in confusion, would pitch headlong to our death’; ne …ne …ut: ne introduces two negative, ut a positive final clause.) parendo potius, commilitones, quam imperia ducum sciscitando ( parendo … imperia … sciscitando: the abl. gerund without preposition admits a direct object if the verb is transitive: thus, the transitive sciscitando takes imperia as dir. object, while parendo, being intransitive, does not .) res militares continentur, et fortissimus in ipso discrimine exercitus est qui ante discrimen quietissimus. vobis arma et animus sit: (sit: jussive or hortatory subjunctive, as is nec …audiat further ahead; cf. A.G. 439–440.) mihi consilium et virtutis vestrae regimen relinquite. paucorum culpa fuit, duorum poena erit: ceteri abolete memoriam foedissimae noctis. nec illas adversus senatum voces (illas … voces: illas denotes disapproval or disparagement, as does illi below.) ullus usquam exercitus audiat. caput imperii et decora omnium provinciarum (decora omnium provinciarum: the most distinguished men of the provinces were admitted to the Roman senate.) ad poenam vocare non hercule (hercule: or hercle, interjection, ‘by Hercules!’) illi, quos cum maxime Vitellius in nos ciet, (quos cum maxime Vitellius in nos ciet: ‘whom Vitellius is now rousing against us’; cum maxime: ‘at this very moment’, ‘especially now’) Germani audeant. (caput imperii … ad poenam vocare non … illi … Germani audeant: lit. ‘not even those Germans would dare to call the head of the empire for punishment’; audeant is potential subjunctive.) ulline Italiae alumni (ulline Italiae alumni: in questions the enclitic –ne adds emphasis to the word to which it attaches, ‘any sons of Italy’. Otho is addressing the Praetorian Guard to which men born in Italy, better still in Rome or inside Latium, were preferably admitted.) et Romana vere iuventus ad sanguinem et caedem (ad sanguinem et caedem: hendiadys) depoposcerit (depoposcerit: either potential perf.subjunctive or future perfect; both tenses fit the sense well. Note that depoposcerit agrees with the nearer subject, iuventus.) ordinem, cuius splendore et gloria sordis et obscuritatem Vitellianarum partium praestringimus? nationes aliquas occupavit Vitellius, (nationes aliquas occupavit Vitellius: ‘has gained the support of some nations’) imaginem quandam exercitus habet, senatus nobiscum est: sic fit ut hinc res publica, inde hostes rei publicae constiterint. (sic fit ut hinc res publica, inde hostes rei pubicae constiterint: ‘thus it follows that the republic has taken its stand on this side, the enemies of the republic on the other’; the ut clause is consecutive: for use of the perf. subjunctive constiterint see note for fuit ut … acciperetur in ch. 62.) quid? vos pulcherrimam hanc urbem domibus et tectis et congestu lapidum stare (domibus et tectis et congestu lapidum stare: ‘that it endures because of the houses, buildings, and piles of stones?’) creditis? muta ista et inanima intercidere ac reparari promisca sunt: (intercidere ac reparari promisca sunt: ‘to destroy and to rebuild them are a common occurrence’; promisca is adj., not past participle, ‘ordinary things’.) aeternitas rerum et pax gentium et mea cum vestra salus incolumitate senatus firmatur. hunc auspicato (auspicato: example of a participle or adjective used alone in the abl. abs. as adverb: ‘after taking the auspices’, ‘under the auspices of the gods’; cf. A.G. 419, c.) a parente et conditore urbis nostrae institutum et a regibus usque ad principes continuum et immortalem, sicut a maioribus accepimus, sic posteris tradamus; (tradamus: hortatory subjunctive) nam ut ex vobis senatores, ita ex senatoribus principes nascuntur.”