LXXII.
Non ultra paucos dies (non ultra paucos dies: acc. of time duration: ‘no more than a few days’) quamquam acribus initiis coeptum mendacium valuit. extiterat quidam Scribonianum se Camerinum (Scribonianum …Camerinum: the son of a former consul and a descendant of Crassus, the triumvir. He was executed under Nero in 67 A.D.) ferens, Neronianorum temporum metu in Histria (Histria: ‘a peninsula forming the eastern boundary of the gulf of Venice in the Adriatic) occultatum, quod illic clientelae et agri veterum Crassorum ac nominis favor (nominis favor: ‘prestige’) manebat. (quod …manebat: manebat and not maneret, as expected for a rel. clause in indir. discourse after ferens, in that the clause is parenthetic or incidental, inserted for the benefit of the reader, thus outside the rules governing the text it appears in.) igitur deterrimo quoque in argumentum fabulae adsumpto (igitur deterrimo quoque in argumentum fabulae adsumpto: abl. abs.: ‘consequently, all the most despicable individuals having been engaged in support of his ludicrous tale, …’. deterrimo quoque: idiomatic use of quisque with superlative, ‘all the worst rascals’) vulgus credulum et quidam militum, errore veri seu turbarum studio, certatim adgregabantur, (vulgus credulum et quidam militum, errore veri seu turbarum studio, certatim adgregabantur: ‘a gullible multitude and some soldiers crowded about him emulously’.) cum pertractus ad Vitellium interrogatusque quisnam mortalium esset. (quisnam mortalium esset: quisnam is emphatic interrogative pronoun, mainly found in indir. questions: ‘who of all mortal creatures he was’.) postquam nulla dictis fides (postquam nulla dictis fides: dictis is dat. of possessor: lit. ‘after no trust [was] to his words …’) et a domino noscebatur condicione fugitivus, (a domino noscebatur condicione fugitivus: ‘he was identified as a fugitive slave by his master’. condicione: ‘as to his legal status’) nomine Geta, sumptum de eo supplicium in servilem modum. (sumptum de eo supplicium in servilem modum: supplicium sumere de aliquo: ‘to put someone to death’; the prep. can be ab, ex, or de. in servilem modum: i.e., torture first, then crucifixion)