XVIII.
Ad quartum a Cremona lapidem (ad quartum a Cremona lapidem: lapis = miliarium; cf. note for ad octavum [milirium] in ch. 15) fulsere legionum signa Rapacis atque Italicae, (legionum …Rapacis atque Italicae: the two legions had been sent to Cremona by Caecina; cf. ch. 14 and Book 2, ch. 100.) laeto inter initia equitum suorum proelio illuc usque provecta. (laeto inter initia equitum suorum proelio illuc usque provecta: ‘advanced that far (illuc usque) during the initial successful engagement of their cavalry’; see ch. 16. The neuter plural provecta applies to the preceding signa.) sed ubi fortuna contra fuit, (ubi …fuit: temporal ubi, like ut and quando, usually takes perf. indicative.) non laxare ordines, non recipere turbatos, (non laxare ordines, non recipere turbatos: ‘did not open their ranks, did not receive back their comrades in trouble’. It was a standard maneuver of the Roman armies to create an empty space in the center of their line to allow the cavalry, if worsted in an engagement, to find safety with their own forces. laxare, recipere are hist. infinitives, as are ire and adgredi in the next line. ) non obviam ire ultroque adgredi hostem tantum per spatium cursu et pugnando fessum. (ultroque adgredi hostem tantum per spatium cursu et pugnando fessum: ‘much less did they attack an enemy exhausted by their advance over such great distance (cursu per tantum spatium) and all the fighting’.) [forte victi] ([forte victi]: ‘defeated by chance’: the Latin text is doubtful at this point and could be forte ducti, ‘led by chance’, a reading that seems to be more accepted than others, like forte acti, forte recti, forte victuri.) haud perinde (haud perinde: ‘not particularly’) rebus prosperis ducem desideraverant atque in adversis deesse intellegebant. (ducem … deesse intellegebant: the loss of Caecina was a serious blow to the Vitellian party; the need of good ledership in battle having just been proven by Antonius in ch. 17.) nutantem aciem victor equitatus incursat; et Vipstanus Messala tribunus (Vipstanus Messala tribunus: see ch. 9; although he commanded the Seventh Galbiana legion, he was not yet legatus, tribunus being one of the six senior officers in a legion.) cum Moesicis auxiliaribus adsequitur, quos multi e legionariis quamquam raptim ductos aequabant: ita mixtus pedes equesque rupere legionum agmen. et (et: adds an afterthought to explain the easy victory.) propinqua Cremonensium moenia quanto plus spei ad effugium minorem ad resistendum animum dabant. (quanto plus spei ad effugium minorem ad resistendum animum dabant: comparative sentence with quanto plus and minorem (‘the more… the less …’) opening the dependent and main clause respectively; ad resistendum: use of acc. gerund to express purpose; plus spei: partitive gen. after the neuter plus.) nec Antonius ultra institit, memor laboris ac vulnerum, quibus tam anceps proelii fortuna, quamvis prospero fine, (quamvis prospero fine: abl. abs. of concessive force, ‘however prosperous being the outcome’) equites equosque adflictaverat. (quibus tam anceps proelii fortuna …equites equosque adflictaverat: quibus is abl. of instrument: ‘with which (labor and suffering) the capricious fortune of battle had tried both men and horses’.)