LXXXIX.
Sed vulgus et magnitudine nimia communium curarum expers populus (vulgus et magnitudine nimia communium curarum expers populus: ‘the rabble and the people having no share of public affairs on account of their excessive numbers’) sentire (sentire: hist. infinitive, ‘began to feel’) paulatim belli mala, conversa in militum usum omni pecunia, intentis alimentorum pretiis, (intentis alimentorum pretiis: ‘the price of provisions being exaggerated’) quae motu Vindicis haud perinde (haud perinde: ‘hardly in the same way’, ‘not nearly as much’) plebem attriverant, secura tum urbe et provinciali bello, quod inter legiones Galliasque (bello … inter legiones Galliasque: Vindex’ revolt in Gaul, cf. ch. 6.) velut externum fuit. nam ex quo (ex quo: ex quo [tempore]) divus Augustus res Caesarum composuit, (res Caesarum composuit: ‘founded the power of the Caesars’; the perfect composuit may be viewed as a ‘shorthand’ for the pluperfect; cf. G.239 N.) procul et in unius sollicitudinem aut decus populus Romanus bellaverat; sub Tiberio et Gaio tantum pacis adversa [ad] rem publicam pertinuere; Scriboniani contra Claudium incepta (Scriboniani contra Claudium incepta: the governor of Dalmatia, Furius Camillus Scribonianus, had risen up against Claudius in 42 AD, but his attempt was crushed in less than a week.) simul audita et coercita; Nero nuntiis magis et rumoribus quam armis depulsus: tum legiones classesque et, quod raro alias, (quod raro alias: the verb implied may be fuerat, visum erat, etc.: ‘what had rarely been the case on other occasions’; one exception is, for instance, Caligula’s farcical campaign in Germany in which units of the Praetorian Guard participated. For use of raro as adverb, cf. note for auspicato in ch 84.) praetorianus urbanusque miles in aciem deducti, Oriens Occidensque et quicquid utrimque virium est a tergo, si ducibus aliis bellatum foret, (si ducibus aliis bellatum foret: ‘if it had been fought under different leaders’; bellatum foret or esset is impers. use of the passive of an intrans. verb; the pluperfect subjunctive is for condition contrary to fact in the past.) longo bello materia. fuere qui proficiscenti Othoni moras religionemque nondum conditorum ancilium adferrent: (fuere qui proficiscenti Othoni moras religionemque nondum conditorum ancilium adferrent: subjunctive in rel. clause of characteristic, for which see note for erant quos …accenderet in ch. 25; lit. ‘there were people that adduced the religious delays of the not yet restored shields’; moras religionemque is hendiadys. The ancilia were twelve small shields kept in the temple of Mars. From the first to the twenty-fourth of March, the month devoted to Mars, the Salii priests took the shields daily on a procession through the city and placed them back in the temple at the end of the period, during which all public and private undertakings were discouraged. Otho left for war on the 14th of March, clearly in contravention of the ban.) aspernatus est omnem cunctationem ut Neroni quoque exitiosam; et Caecina iam Alpes transgressus extimulabat.