XXXVIII.
Vetus ac iam pridem insita (iam pridem insita: ‘engrafted for a long time past’) mortalibus potentiae cupido cum imperii magnitudine (cum imperii magnitudine: abl. of accompaniment, ‘together with the growth of the empire’) adolevit erupitque; nam rebus modicis aequalitas facile habebatur. sed ubi subacto orbe et aemulis urbibus regibusve excisis securas opes concupiscere vacuum fuit, (ubi …securas opes concupiscere vacuum fuit: ‘when there was leisure to lust after power in safety’; ubi is normally followed by perfect indicative.) prima inter patres plebemque certamina exarsere. modo turbulenti tribuni, modo (modo …modo: ‘now …now’, ‘at one time … at another’) consules praevalidi, et in urbe ac foro temptamenta civilium bellorum; mox e plebe infima C. Marius (e plebe infima C. Marius: ‘Gaius Marius, from the dregs of society’; e plebe infima: abl of origin; in fact, Marius was of equestrian origin. Seven times consul, he fought a bitter civil war with L. Sulla and was ultimately defeated.) et nobilium saevissimus L. Sulla (nobilium saevissimus L. Sulla: ‘Lucius Sulla, the most ruthless of the aristocrats’; he became dictator after Marius’ death in 86 B.C.) victam armis libertatem in dominationem verterunt. post quos Cn. Pompeius occultior non melior, et numquam postea nisi de principatu quaesitum. non discessere ab armis in Pharsalia ac Philippis (in Pharsalia ac Philippis: both abl. of place; Pharsalia is the district around Pharsalus in Thessaly in central-eastern Greece, where Caesar defeated Pompey in 48 B.C. Philippi is in Macedonia in northern Greece, where Antony and Octavian defeated Caesar’s assassins Brutus and Cassius in 42 B.C.) civium legiones, nedum (nedum: adv., ‘much less’) Othonis ac Vitellii exercitus sponte posituri bellum fuerint: (nedum Othonis ac Vitellii exercitus sponte posituri bellum fuerint: periphrases which combine the participle in –urus and subjunctive forms of esse are resorted to in order to express both future and potential sense together, a combination that would be lost if the future or the subjunctive were used alone. Thus: ‘much less the armies of Otho and Vitellius would have been about to abandon war voluntarily’.) eadem illos deum ira, eadem hominum rabies, eaedem scelerum causae in discordiam egere. quod singulis velut ictibus transacta sunt bella, ignavia principum factum est. sed me veterum novorumque morum reputatio longius tulit: nunc ad rerum ordinem venio.