XVIII.
Certum erat Spurinnae (Spurinnae: for Vestricius Spurinna cf. ch. 11.) (is enim Placentiam optinebat) necdum venisse Caecinam et, si propinquaret, coercere intra munimenta militem nec tris praetorias cohortis et mille vexillarios (vexillarios: units temporarily detached from a legion and sent on assignment elsewhere) cum paucis equitibus veterano exercitui obicere: (certum erat Spurinnae … coercere intra munimenta militem nec … veterano exercitui obicere: ‘it was an obvious thing to Spurinna to keep his soldiers within the walls and not to throw them to a veteran army.) sed indomitus miles et belli ignarus correptis signis vexillisque (signis vexillisque: strictly speaking, a signum was the ensign of a cohors, a vexillum that of a maniple, but the terms, especially vexillum, applied to other units, such as cavalry, auxiliary troops, and detachments from larger units.) ruere et retinenti duci tela intentare, spretis centurionibus tribunisque: (spretis centurionibus tribunisque: abl. abs., ‘centurions and tribunes being spurned’) quin prodi Othonem et accitum Caecinam clamitabant. (quin prodi Othonem et accitum Caecinam clamitabant: quin is adverb of emphatic force: ‘what is more, they kept shouting that Otho was being betrayed and Caecina sent for.’) fit temeritatis alienae comes Spurinna, (fit temeritatis alienae comes Spurinna: ‘Spurinna becomes a partner of the folly of others’; fit: sudden switch to present for greater immediacy.) primo coactus, mox velle simulans, quo plus auctoritatis inesset consiliis si seditio mitesceret. (quo plus auctoritatis inesset consiliis si seditio mitesceret: quo + subjunctive, where quo is equivalent to ut eo, ‘that thereby’, is one way to express purpose in Latin, especially when the clause contains a comparative or a comparative idea; plus auctoritatis: partitive gen. after the neuter plus; si seditio mitesceret: use of imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive for ideal condition — i. e. future condition not yet proven true or false — when referring to events or situations in the past. For more on this point cf. G. 596, 2 and A.G. 516, f.)