XIV.
Imminere provinciae Narbonensi, in verba Vitellii adactae, classem Othonis trepidi nuntii Fabio Valenti attulere; aderant legati coloniarum auxilium orantes. duas Tungrorum (Tungrorum: the Tungri were a Germanic tribe settled between the Maas and the Scheldt in Belgium, where today is Tongres or Tongeren, west of Maastricht and north of Liege.) cohortis, quattuor equitum turmas, universam Trevirorum (Trevirorum: for the Treviri, cf. Book 1, ch. 53.) alam cum Iulio Classico (Iulio Classico: Julius Classicus will receive much mention later in Book 4.) praefecto misit, e quibus pars in colonia Foroiuliensi (in colonia Foroiuliensi: now Frejus between Toulon and Nice on the Cote d’Azur) retenta, ne omnibus copiis in terrestre iter versis vacuo mari classis adceleraret. (ne omnibus copiis in terrestre iter versis vacuo mari classis adceleraret: ‘so that the [Othonian] fleet would not speed up its operations in a sea left undefended, if all their own forces were directed inland’; ne …adceleraret: ne ushers in a negative purpose clause; omnibus copiis in terrestre iter versis is abl. abs; vacuo mari is abl. of place, but may also be read as abl. abs. of causal sense, ‘since the sea was empty of defenses’.) duodecim equitum turmae et lecti e cohortibus adversus hostem iere, (iere: for ierunt or iverunt) quibus adiuncta Ligurum (Ligurum: the Liguri inhabited the coastal region of NW Italy and part of SE France.) cohors, vetus loci auxilium, et quingenti Pannonii, nondum sub signis. (nondum sub signis: ‘not yet attached to a legion’.) nec mora proelio: (nec mora proelio: lit. ‘no delay for the battle’) sed acies ita instructa ut pars classicorum mixtis paganis in collis mari propinquos exurgeret, quantum inter collis ac litus aequi loci (quantum …aequi loci: aequi loci is partitive gen. after the neuter quantum.) praetorianus miles expleret, (ita …ut … exurgeret, …expleret: the correlative particles ita …ut introduce a consecutive sentence with imperfect subjunctive in the ut or dependent clause for continuous action in the past; ita instructa ut …exsurgeret … expleret: ‘[was] so positioned as to tower above [the enemy] .. so as to fill …’) in ipso mari ut adnexa classis et pugnae parata conversa et minaci fronte praetenderetur: (in ipso mari ut adnexa classis et pugnae parata conversa et minaci fronte praetenderetur: ‘in the sea itself, the fleet, prows turned toward the shore, [was] ready for battle, moored in a dense line, as if to stretch itself out with a menacing front’; ut = ‘as if’ is here the equivalent of quasi or tamquam. Less frequent than ut si or velut si, it is found mainly in Tacitus. For conditional clauses of comparison see G. 602, N. 4 & 5; praetenderetur: the passive and reflexive form of praetendo can have the active sense of ‘to extend across’, ‘to stretch out in front’.) Vitelliani, quibus minor peditum vis, in equite robur, Alpinos (Alpinos: the Ligurum cohors mentioned above) proximis iugis, cohortis densis ordinibus post equitem locant. (locant: switch to present for greater vividness) Trevirorum turmae obtulere se hosti incaute, cum exciperet contra veteranus miles, (cum exciperet contra veteranus miles: ‘when they sustained the force of veteran troops facing them’; temporal cum requires subjunctive whenever the tense is imperfect or pluperfect; cf. cum …interrogarent in previous chapter.) simul a latere saxis urgeret apta ad iaciendum etiam paganorum manus, (… simul a latere saxis urgeret apta ad iaciendum etiam paganorum manus: the selection is still part of the clause beginning with cum exciperet: ‘…and also at the same time, from the side, a bevy of peasants, who were skilful slingers, belabored them with stones ’.) qui sparsi inter milites, strenui ignavique, in victoria idem audebant. additus perculsis terror invecta in terga pugnantium classe: (additus [est] perculsis terror invecta in terga pugnantium classe: ‘the fleet being brought in to attack in the combatants’ rear, terror was increased for the embattled Vitellians’; invecta in terga pugnantium classe is abl. abs. of causal sense.) ita undique clausi, deletaeque omnes copiae forent ni victorem exercitum attinuisset obscurum noctis, obtentui fugientibus. (deletaeque omnes copiae forent ni victorem exercitum attinuisset obscurum noctis, obtentui fugientibus: ‘the entire force would have been wiped out, had darkness not held back the victor, providing concealment to the fugitives’; deletae …forent ni …attinuisset: pluperfect subjunctive in both apodosis and protasis of a conditional sentence contrary to fact in past time; cf. A.G. 517, B. 304. The particle ni is for nisi; obtentui fugientibus: double dative, lit. ‘for concealment in favor of the fugitives’; obtentui is dat. of purpose, fugientibus of interest.)