XXXII.
Tunc Suetonius Paulinus dignum fama sua ratus, (dignum [esse] fama sua: fama is abl. of specification, ‘that it was worthy in respect to his reputation’) qua nemo illa tempestate militaris rei callidior habebatur, (qua nemo illa tempestate militaris rei callidior habebatur: ‘on account of which [fame] no man at that time was considered more knowledgeable of the science of war’. qua may be pronoun and refer to fama or may be conjunction meaning ‘inasmuch as’, ‘insofar as’, ‘since’. The genitive militaris rei is one of specification found after certain adjectives. Cf. A.G. 349, d.) de toto genere belli censere, (dignum [esse] …ratus … de toto genere belli censere: ‘deeming it was proper to set forth the general strategy of the war’. The deponent ratus has the sense of present participle; cf. A.G. 491.) festinationem hostibus, moram ipsis utilem disseruit: exercitum Vitellii universum advenisse, nec multum virium a tergo, (nec multum virium a tergo: ‘not much force was available at [Vitellius’] rear’; a tergo: ‘from behind’; virium is partitive genitive after the neuter multum.) quoniam Galliae tumeant et deserere Rheni ripam inrupturis tam infestis nationibus (deserere … inrupturis tam infestis nationibus: inrupturis tam infestis nationibus is indir. object of deserere, lit. ‘to abandon to such hostile nations ready to make irruptions’) non conducat; (quoniam Galliae tumeant et deserere Rheni ripam … non conducat: quoniam is regularly with indicative, except in indirect speech, as here: ‘because the Gallic provinces were swollen [with sedition] and it was not prudent to leave undefended the bank of the Rhine’; conducat is used impersonally,’it is fitting’. Both tumeant and conducat are examples of repraesentatio, for which see note for postquam in conspectu sit hostis in ch. 28 of this Book. Another example of repraesentatio is obumbrentur further down in the chapter.) Britannicum militem hoste et mari distineri: Hispanias armis non ita redundare; (non ita redundare: ‘were not so well provided’) provinciam Narbonensem incursu classis et adverso proelio contremuisse; clausam Alpibus et nullo maris subsidio transpadanam Italiam atque ipso transitu exercitus vastam; non frumentum usquam exercitui, nec exercitum sine copiis retineri posse: iam (iam: ‘soon’) Germanos, quod genus militum apud hostis atrocissimum sit, tracto in aestatem bello, (tracto in aestatem bello: abl. abs. of conditional sense, ‘if the war were extended into summer’) fluxis corporibus, (fluxis corporibus: ‘their bodies being drained of energy’) mutationem soli caelique haud toleraturos. multa bella impetu valida per taedia et moras evanuisse. (multa bella impetu valida per taedia et moras evanuisse: ‘many a war, decisive on a sudden onset, had petered out through time-consuming delays’; taedia et moras: hendiadys) contra ipsis omnia opulenta et fida, Pannoniam Moesiam Dalmatiam Orientem (Pannoniam Moesiam Dalmatiam Orientem: approx. Hungary, Bulgaria, Bosnia, and the Middle East of today.) cum integris exercitibus, Italiam et caput rerum urbem senatumque et populum, numquam obscura nomina, etiam si aliquando obumbrentur; (etiam si aliquando obumbrentur: subjunctive for general condition in indirect speech.) publicas privatasque opes et immensam pecuniam, inter civilis discordias ferro validiorem; corpora militum aut Italiae sueta aut aestibus; obiacere flumen Padum, (obiacere flumen Padum: ‘that the river Po was a barrier [in Vitellius’ way]’) tutas viris murisque urbis, (tutas viris murisque urbis: ‘that the towns [along the bank of the Po] were well protected with men and walls’; viris murisque is abl. of instrument, not of agent.) e quibus nullam hosti cessuram Placentiae defensione exploratum: (Placentiae defensione exploratum [esse] : ‘it had been demonstrated by the resistance of Placentia’) proinde duceret bellum. (proinde duceret bellum: ‘’thus he (= Otho) should prolong the war’; duceret is hortatory subjunctive in indirect discourse governed by a hist. verb of saying, explicit or implied. It corresponds to duc bellum of direct speech.) paucis diebus quartam decimam legionem, magna ipsam fama, (magna ipsam fama: ipsam relates to the preceding legionem, ‘the same of great fame’, i. e. ‘the famous one’; magna …fama is descriptive abl.; cf. A.G. 415. For the fame of the Fourteenth legion, cf. ch. 11 of this Book. The legion reached Aquileia, NW of modern Trieste, in the SE corner of northern Italy, at the time of the battle of Bedriacum, too far from and too late for the fighting.) cum Moesicis copiis adfore: tum rursus deliberaturum (deliberaturum [esse]: impersonal use of passive, ‘[he said] it was going to be considered’) et, si proelium placuisset, auctis viribus certaturos. (si proelium placuisset, auctis viribus certaturos [esse]: the conditional sentence, in indirect discourse, is of the ideal type (cf. G. 596), in that the supposition is yet untested and may be either true or false. The action of both protasis and apodosis is future, but that of the protasis, or dependent clause is prior, hence past, with respect to the action of the main clause. Thus, the protasis has pluperfect subjunctive, the apodosis future infinitive. Note that in this case the verb forms are not distinguishable from those of a conditional sentence of the unreal type in indir. discourse. Cf. G. 656, 3.)