LXVIII.
Et [victas] quidem partis modeste (modeste: ‘peacefully’) distraxerat: apud victores orta seditio, ludicro initio ni numerus caesorum invidiam Vitellio auxisset. (ludicro initio ni numerus caesorum invidiam Vitellio auxisset: abl. abs. as the apodosis of a conditional sentence, followed by the dependent protasis introduced by ni (=nisi): ‘the start being playful, except that the number of those killed had added to the unpopularity of Vitellius’. ) discubuerat Vitellius Ticini (Ticini: modern Pavia south of Milan) adhibito ad epulas Verginio. legati tribunique ex moribus imperatorum severitatem aemulantur vel tempestivis conviviis (tempestivis conviviis: i. e., banquets that start early to increase their duration) gaudent; proinde (proinde: ‘accordingly’) miles intentus aut licenter agit. apud Vitellium omnia indisposita, temulenta, pervigiliis ac bacchanalibus quam disciplinae et castris propiora. igitur duobus militibus, altero legionis quintae, altero e Gallis auxiliaribus, per lasciviam ad certamen luctandi accensis, postquam legionarius prociderat, insultante Gallo et iis qui ad spectandum convenerant in studia diductis, erupere legionarii (igitur duobus militibus, altero legionis quintae, altero e Gallis auxiliaribus, per lasciviam ad certamen luctandi accensis, postquam legionarius prociderat, insultante Gallo et iis qui ad spectandum convenerant in studia diductis, erupere legionarii …: a long abl. abs. with dependent clause and more ablatives abs. moving the narrative down to erupere, the main verb in the sentence: ‘thus, two soldiers, one of the Fifth legion, the other from the Gallic auxiliaries, being fired up for a friendly contest (per lasciviam: ‘in sport’) of wrestling, the Gaul mocking the legionary, after he had gone down, and those who stood around becoming divided into factions, the men of the legions hurled themselves at …’. Tacitus makes abundant – some say excessive – use of a construction originally meant to have an adverbial function, as a modifier of the predicate, to indicate the circumstances of the action described by the main verb, such as place, time, condition, cause, concession, etc. Tacitus clearly exceeds these limits in a continuous quest for stylistic variety, contrast, immediacy, vigor, and special effects.) in perniciem auxiliorum ac duae cohortes interfectae. remedium tumultus fuit alius tumultus. pulvis procul et arma aspiciebantur: conclamatum repente quartam decimam legionem verso itinere ad proelium venire; sed erant agminis coactores: agniti dempsere sollicitudinem. (agniti dempsere sollicitudinem: ‘[the newcomers], being recognized, ended the riot’.) interim Verginii servus forte obvius (forte obvius: ‘who chanced to come up’) ut percussor Vitellii insimulatur: (ut percussor Vitellii insimulatur: ‘he is accused as being an assassin on his way to murder Vitellius’; note the sudden change to present indicative, bringing the action closer in time to the reader.) et ruebat ad convivium miles, mortem Verginii exposcens. ne Vitellius quidem, quamquam ad omnis suspiciones pavidus, de innocentia eius dubitavit: aegre tamen cohibiti qui exitium consularis et quondam ducis sui (exitium … quondam ducis sui: ‘the death of their own former general’; ducis suis and not ducis eorum, since the possessive adj. sui refers directly to qui, the subject of the clause and indirectly to its antecedent, miles.) flagitabant. nec quemquam saepius quam Verginium omnis seditio infestavit: manebat admiratio viri et fama, set oderant ut fastiditi. (set oderant ut fastiditi: ‘but they resented him as having been snubbed’; set is for sed; oderant: the pluperfect of odi has force of imperfect, just as the perfect has present sense.)