LXXXVII.
Otho lustrata urbe et expensis bello consiliis, (lustrata urbe et expensis bello consiliis: ’the city having been purified and plans for the war given careful consideration’) quando (quando: causal conj. that requires the indicative) Poeninae Cottiaeque Alpes (Poeninae Cottiaeque Alpes: cf. ch. 61.) et ceteri Galliarum aditus Vitellianis exercitibus claudebantur, Narbonensem Galliam (Narbonensem Galliam: cf. ch. 48.) adgredi statuit classe valida et partibus fida, quod reliquos caesorum ad pontem Mulvium (ad pontem Mulvium: the Milvian or Mulvian bridge over the Tiber in the north of Rome, where Galba had several thousands marine soldiers massacred; cf. ch. 6 and 37.) et saevitia Galbae in custodia habitos (saevitia Galbae in custodia habitos: ‘held prisoners by Galba’s cruelty’) in numeros legionis composuerat, facta et ceteris spe honoratae in posterum militiae. (facta et ceteris spe honoratae in posterum militia: ‘hope having also been given to the rest of the marine soldiers of honorable service in the future’: service in the legions was both better paid and more respected than service in the fleet, whose crews were mostly foreigners and freedmen.) addidit classi urbanas cohortis et plerosque e praetorianis, viris et robur exercitus atque ipsis ducibus consilium et custodes. summa expeditionis Antonio Novello, Suedio Clementi primipilaribus, Aemilio Pacensi, (Aemilio Pacensi: Aemilius Pacensis is mentioned in ch. 20.) cui ademptum a Galba tribunatum reddiderat, permissa. curam navium Moschus libertus retinebat ad observandam honestiorum fidem immutatus. (Moschus libertus … immutatus: Moschus had held the office under Nero and Galba.) peditum equitumque copiis Suetonius Paulinus, (Suetonius Paulinus: Tacitus has high praise for him in Agricola, ch. 5, 14, 16.) Marius Celsus, (Marius Celsus: the man Otho had rescued from the angry soldiery in ch. 45) Annius Gallus rectores destinati, sed plurima fides Licinio Proculo (Licinio Proculo: Licinius Proculus is mentioned in ch. 46 as being a close friend of Otho.) praetorii praefecto. is urbanae militiae impiger, bellorum insolens, (bellorum insolens: lit. ‘unfamiliar of wars’) auctoritatem Paulini, vigorem Celsi, maturitatem Galli, ut cuique erat, criminando, (auctoritatem … vigorem … maturitatem, ut cuique erat, criminando: example of abl. gerund without prep. accepting direcy objects: ‘abusing each quality in proportion as it was to each man’ or ‘the greater each man’s ability the more he abused it.’) quod facillimum factu (facillimum factu: factu is abl. supine, a verbal 4th conjugation noun used only in the acc. and abl.: ‘very easy in the doing.’) est, pravus et callidus bonos et modestos anteibat. (pravus et callidus bonos et modestos anteibat: ‘malicious and shrewd, he lorded it over good and unassuming men.’)