LXXXIII.
Mucianus cum expedita manu, socium magis imperii quam ministrum agens, non lento itinere, ne cunctari videretur, neque tamen properans, gliscere famam ipso spatio sinebat, gnarus modicas viris sibi et maiora credi de absentibus; (gliscere famam ipso spatio sinebat, gnarus modicas viris sibi et maiora credi de absentibus: ‘conscious that the forces he had were modest and that, in regard of things not present, they are imagined larger, he let rumor swell with distance itself’. Similar concepts are expressed also in ch. 25 and 38 of Agricola. spatio may also mean ‘time’; sibi is dat. of possessor with implied esse.) sed legio sexta et tredecim vexillariorum milia ingenti agmine sequebantur. classem e Ponto Byzantium (Byzantium: present day Instanbul) adigi iusserat, ambiguus consilii num omissa Moesia Dyrrachium pedite atque equite, simul longis navibus versum in Italiam mare clauderet, (ambiguus consilii num omissa Moesia Dyrrachium pedite atque equite, simul longis navibus versum in Italiam mare clauderet: lit. ‘not certain of his plan whether, by avoiding Moesia, he should blockade Dyrrachium with his infantry and cavalry and with his warships at the same time close the Adriatic Sea’. Moesia: approx. present-day Bulgaria; Dyrrachium: modern Durres on the coast of Albania, west of the capital Tirane; versum in Italiam mare: ‘the sea turned towards Italy’. i.e. the Adriatic Sea. The particle num opens an indir. question with subjunctive; in such cases num no longer invites a negative answer, as in direct questions, but simply means ‘whether’.) tuta pone tergum Achaia Asiaque, (tuta pone tergum Achaia Asiaque: abl. abs., ‘Achaia and Asia being [thus] safe behind his back’. Achaia and Asia were Roman provinces, the first in southern Greece, the other in western Turkey.) quas inermis exponi Vitellio, ni praesidiis firmarentur; (quas inermis exponi Vitellio, ni praesidiis firmarentur: conditional sentence in indirect discourse after ambiguous consilii: ‘which [Achaia and Asia] would be exposed to Vitellius unless they were strengthened by garrisons’.The main clause or apodosis, albeit in the form of a relative clause, is infinitive, as required by the rules governing indir. discourse, and the protasis with imperf. subjunctive for condition contrary to fact.) atque ipsum Vitellium in incerto fore quam partem Italiae protegeret, si sibi Brundisium Tarentumque et Calabriae Lucaniaeque litora infestis classibus peterentur. (ipsum Vitellium in incerto fore quam partem Italiae protegeret, si sibi Brundisium Tarentumque et Calabriae Lucaniaeque litora infestis classibus peterentur: yet another conditional sentence in indir. discourse: the apodosis ipsum Vitellium in incerto fore, again infinitive, governs the indir. question quam partem Italiae protegeret. In the protasis the condition is now ideal or potential, that is, undecided and untested, but the imperf. subjunctive is retained, this being a case identical in form with the unreal condition. Cf. G. 596, 2. Brundisium and Tarentum, today Brindisi and Taranto, are towns in southern Apulia in the heel of Italy. Calabriae Lucaniaeque: in ancient times Calabria referred not to the toe of Italy, as is the case today, but to the heel, more precisely to the Adriatic coast of the Salento peninsula in modern Apulia. Lucania is a region of southern Italy west of Apulia. si sibi litora …classibus peterentur: sibi is dat. of agent with peterentur, ‘if the coasts were attacked by himself (Mucianus) with his fleets’. The dative of agent is common with perfect passive forms of a verb, but rare with other forms, except in poetry.)