LVII.
Sed classem Misenensem (tantum civilibus discordiis etiam singulorum audacia valet) Claudius Faventinus centurio per ignominiam a Galba dimissus ad defectionem traxit, fictis Vespasiani epistulis pretium proditionis ostentans. praeerat classi Claudius Apollinaris, neque fidei constans (fidei constans: ‘steadfast in loyalty’; constans is here with genitive.) neque strenuus in perfidia; et Apinius Tiro (praetura functus: ‘having finished with his praetorship’; fungor is one of a group of deponent verbs requiring abl. Cf. B. 218.) ac tum forte Minturnis (Minturnis: Minturnae, modern Minturno, at the mouth of the river Liri in the gulf of Gaeta in southern Latium, on the Appian way.) agens ducem se defectoribus obtulit. a quibus municipia coloniaeque impulsae, praecipuo Puteolanorum in Vespasianum studio, (praecipuo Puteolanorum in Vespasianum studio: ‘the support of the people of Puteoli for Vespasian being overwhelming’; Puteoli, today’s Pozzuoli, is just south of Naples.) contra Capua (Capua: north of Naples and NW of Caserta) Vitellio fida, municipalem aemulationem bellis civilibus miscebant. Vitellius Claudium Iulianum (is nuper classem Misenensem molli imperio rexerat) permulcendis militum animis (permulcendis militum animis: use of dative gerundive to express purpose in place of ad+ acc.: lit. ‘for the [ruffled] spirits of the soldiers to be soothed’. Cf. note for nec duces hostium augendae famae deerant in ch. 54.) delegit; data in auxilium urbana cohors et gladiatores, quibus Iulianus praeerat. ut conlata utrimque castra, haud magna cunctatione Iuliano in partis Vespasiani transgresso, Tarracinam occupavere, (ut conlata [sunt] utrimque castra, … Iuliano in partis Vespasiani transgresso, Tarracinam occupavere: ‘Julianus having crossed over to Vespasian when the camps on either side were set up in close proximity, [the two forces] proceeded to occupy Tarracina.’ ut conlata [sunt]: temporal ut is normally followed by perf. indicative; utrimque castra: i.e. the camp of the troops under Julianus and the camp of the Flavian force under Apinius Tiro mentioned earlier. Iuliano …transgresso: abl. abs. of causal force. The sense is: ‘since Julianus had joined the other side, then both forces together occupied Tarracina.’ Tarracina: modern Terracina on the Tyrrhenian coast, halfway between Latina and Gaeta.) moenibus situque magis quam ipsorum (ipsorum: refers to the occupying forces, ‘of their own’) ingenio tutam.