LXXX.
Dum quaeritur (dum quaeritur: dum, ‘while’, + present indicative) tempus locus quodque in re tali difficillimum est, prima vox, dum animo spes timor, ratio casus obversantur, egressum cubiculo Vespasianum pauci milites, solito adsistentes ordine (solito adsistentes ordine: ‘drawn up in the prescribed order’) ut legatum salutaturi, (ut legatum salutaturi [essent]: ‘in order to be ready to salute the legate’. ut salutaturi [essent] is in place of ut salutarent; cf. note for adoptaturus essem, si ipse imperarem in ch. 87.) imperatorem salutavere: tum ceteri adcurrere, Caesarem et Augustum et omnia principatus vocabula cumulare. mens a metu ad fortunam transierat: in ipso nihil tumidum, adrogans aut in rebus novis novum fuit. ut primum tantae altitudinis obfusam oculis caliginem disiecit, (ut primum tantae altitudinis obfusam oculis caliginem disiecit: ‘as soon as he dispelled the dazzlement, spread over his eyes, of such an elevation’; oculis is dative with obfusam, ‘to his eyes’. The temporal conjunctive phrase ut primum takes perf. indicative for past action.) militariter locutus laeta omnia et affluentia excepit; namque id ipsum opperiens Mucianus alacrem militem in verba Vespasiani adegit. tum Antiochensium theatrum ingressus, ubi illis consultare mos est, (ubi illis consultare mos est: illis, dative with mos est, refers to the people of Antioch, ‘it is a custom for them’.) concurrentis et in adulationem effusos adloquitur, satis decorus etiam Graeca facundia, (satis decorus etiam Graeca facundia: ‘he was quite elegant, even in his command of the Greek language.) omniumque quae diceret atque ageret arte quadam ostentator. (omniumque quae diceret atque ageret arte quadam ostentator: ‘of all the things he would say or do he was an exhibiter with a special kind of art’; quae diceret atque ageret: subjunctive in rel. clause of potential sense.) (nihil …accendit quam quod adseverabat Mucianus statuisse Vitellium ut …: ‘nothing caused so much outrage as Mucianus’ affirmation that Vitellius had decided to …’. quam quod adseverabat Mucianus statuisset Vitellium ut …: lit. ‘as much as the fact that Mucianus asserted (i. e. Mucianus’ assertion) that Vitellius had decided to …’: an example showing Latin reliance on subordinate clauses where English often uses a noun. Latin is a language of verbs; English is rich in nouns expressive of verbal ideas. The verb statuere, ‘to decide’, is found followed by infinitive or by ut + subjunctive.) Germanicas legiones in Syriam ad militiam opulentam quietamque transferret, contra (contra: ‘in exchange’) Syriacis legionibus Germanica hiberna caelo ac laboribus dura mutarentur; (Syriacis legionibus Germanica hiberna caelo ac laboribus dura mutarentur: ‘that the German encampments, harsh on account of the climate and the hard labor, would be passed to the Syrian legions’; mutarentur, like transferret before, is governed by statuisse ut.) quippe et provinciales sueto militum contubernio gaudebant, plerique necessitudinibus et propinquitatibus mixti, et (quippe et …et …: ‘for, on the one hand …on the other …’.) militibus vetustate stipendiorum nota et familiaria castra in modum penatium diligebantur. (militibus vetustate stipendiorum nota et familiaria castra in modum penatium diligebantur: lit. ‘the camp, well known and family-like to the soldiers because of the lemgth of service, was cherished in the manner of one’s hearth and home’; penates, the household gods, are here metonymy for the home itself.)