XLVII.
Nec ceterae nationes silebant. subita per Pontum (per Pontum: Pontus was an ancient kingdom in NE Asia Minor, modern Turkey, bordering on the Black Sea; at the time it was part of the Roman province of Galathia to the west.) arma barbarum mancipium, regiae quondam classis praefectus, moverat. is fuit Anicetus Polemonis (Polemonis: Polemon II, king of Pontus, the son of the man in whose favor Marc Antony had established the kingdom. He left the kingdom to the Romans at his death in 63 A.D., six years before the events narrated here.) libertus, praepotens olim, et postquam regnum in formam provinciae verterat, mutationis impatiens. igitur Vitellii nomine adscitis gentibus, quae Pontum accolunt, corrupto in spem rapinarum egentissimo quoque, haud temnendae manus ductor, (haud temnendae manus doctor: ‘the captain of a hardly contemptible band’) Trapezuntem (Trapezuntem: Trebizond in NE Turkey on the Black Sea coast) vetusta fama civitatem, a Graecis in extremo Ponticae orae conditam, subitus inrupit. caesa ibi cohors, regium auxilium (regium auxilium: two possible meanings: either ‘protection for the king’ or ‘the contingent of auxiliary troops the king was required to contribute to the Roman army’) olim; mox donati civitate Romana (donati civitate Romana: the plural donati refers to the soldiers within the cohort.) signa armaque in nostrum modum, desidiam licentiamque Graecorum retinebant. classi quoque faces intulit, vacuo mari eludens, (classi quoque faces intulit, vacuo mari eludens: ‘he even set the torch to the fleet, escaping unhindered in the unguarded sea’; vacuo mari may be abl. of cause, ‘by reason of the undefended sea’.) quia lectissimas Liburnicarum omnemque militem Mucianus Byzantium (Byzantium: modern Istanbul) adegerat: (quia … adegerat: quia, like quod and quando, is regularly found with indicative.) quin et (quin et: ‘and what is more’) barbari contemptim vagabantur, fabricatis repente navibus. camaras vocant, artis lateribus latam alvum sine vinculo aeris aut ferri conexam; (camaras vocant, artis lateribus latam alvum sine vinculo aeris aut ferri conexam: ‘they call them camarae, a wide hull, held together without any ties of bronze or iron, with narrow sides’. latam alvum: apposition of camaras, therefore also accusative; alvum is fem.) et tumido mari, prout fluctus attollitur, summa navium tabulis augent, (tumido mari, prout fluctus attollitur, summa navium tabulis augent: ‘when the sea is swollen, to the degree the waves are raised, they extend the upper parts of the ships ([i.e. the bulwarks]) with planks.) donec in modum tecti claudantur. (donec in modum tecti claudantur: ‘until they become enclosed in the manner of a roof’. donec followed by indicative has the sense of ‘until the moment when’, whereas donec followed by subjunctive has the sense of ‘waiting for the moment when’. The first lays stress on the actual event ending the waiting, the second on the waiting itself, hence the implied notion of expectancy or design.) sic inter undas volvuntur, pari utrimque prora et mutabili remigio, quando hinc vel illinc adpellere indiscretum et innoxium est. (quando hinc vel illinc adpellere indiscretum et innoxium est: ‘since moving forward from here or from there is equally feasible and safe’. An alternate meaning of adpellere, beside ‘to move’ or ‘to row’, is ‘to land’, ‘to come to shore’, which may also apply here; quando …est: causal quando requires use of the indicative, like quod and quia.)