LVIII.
Quae ubi Vitellio cognita, parte copiarum Narniae (Narniae: Narnia, modern Narni, in southern Umbria, near the border between Umbria and Latium, 15 km. or 10 miles west of Terni) cum praefectis praetorii relicta L. Vitellium fratrem cum sex cohortibus et quingentis equitibus ingruenti per Campaniam bello opposuit. (L. Vitellium fratrem …ingruenti per Campaniam bello opposuit: lit. ‘he opposed his brother Lucius to the the war gaining strength in Campania.’ Campania is the region facing the Tyrrhenian sea in central-southern Italy between Latium and Calabria.) ipse aeger animi studiis militum et clamoribus populi arma poscentis refovebatur, dum vulgus ignavum et nihil ultra verba ausurum falsa specie exercitum et legiones appellat. (dum vulgus ignavum et nihil ultra verba ausurum falsa specie exercitum et legiones appellat: ‘while in addressing the populace he gives the mendacious name of ‘army’ and ‘legions’ to a cowardly mob that would never dare anyting beyond words.’ appellat: hist. present after dum) hortantibus libertis (nam amicorum eius quanto quis clarior, minus fidus) vocari tribus iubet, dantis nomina sacramento adigit. (vocari tribus iubet, dantis nomina sacramento adigit: tribus: citizens of Rome, excluding senators amd knights, were divided into 35 tribes. dantis nomina: dantis is acc. plural of dans, the present participle of dare, ‘he bound by oath those giving their names’. iubet, adigit, like partitur, indicit, and dilabi in the rest of the chapter are hist. infinitives.) superfluente multitudine (superfluente multitudine: abl. abs. of causal sense: ‘because the multitude of applicants superabounded, …’) curam dilectus in consules partitur; servorum numerum et pondus argenti senatoribus indicit. (pondus argenti senatoribus indicit: ‘he imposed on the senators a certain weight of silver.’) equites Romani obtulere operam pecuniasque, etiam libertinis idem munus ultro flagitantibus. (etiam libertinis idem munus ultro flagitantibus: abl. abs.: ‘even the freedmen soliciting of their own accord (ultro) the same duty.’ ) ea simulatio officii a metu profecta verterat in favorem; ac plerique haud proinde Vitellium quam casum locumque principatus miserabantur. (ac plerique haud proinde Vitellium quam casum locumque principatus miserabantur: haud proinde …quam: ‘not as much as’ = ‘less than’; ‘ they commiserated Vitellius less than they did the fallen state of the principate’; casum locumque is hendiadys.) nec deerat ipse vultu voce lacrimis misericordiam elicere, largus promissis, et quae natura trepidantium est, immodicus. quin (quin: almost expletive: ‘why, he even …’) et Caesarem se dici voluit, aspernatus antea, sed tunc superstitione nominis, (superstitione nominis: ‘because of the divine character of the name’: Vitellius, an interloper, needed the imperial name to feel assured of being the legitimate successor of Augustus.) et quia in metu consilia prudentium et vulgi rumor iuxta audiuntur. (et quia in metu consilia prudentium et vulgi rumor iuxta audiuntur: ‘also because in fear the counsel of the wise and the tattle of the crowds are equally heeded’) ceterum (ceterum: here with the adversative sense of ‘but’, ‘yet’, ‘for all that’) ut omnia inconsulti impetus coepta initiis valida spatio languescunt, dilabi paulatim senatores equitesque, (ut omnia inconsulti impetus coepta initiis valida spatio languescunt, [ita] dilabi paulatim senatores equitesque: comparative sentence with ut introducing the subordinate clause and an implied ita the main clause, both clauses being normally with indicative. Thus: ‘in the same way as all undertakings born of a rash impulse, no matter how vigorous at the start, lose momentum in the long run, [so] senators and knights fell gradually away’. Another example of comparative sentence wit ut …ita occurs at the outset of next chapter. inconsulti impetus is genitive of quality; valida refers to coepta.) primo cunctanter et ubi ipse non aderat, mox contemptim et sine discrimine donec Vitellius pudore inriti conatus quae non dabantur remisit. (donec … remisit: for donec + indicative see note for donec in modum tecti claudantur in ch. 47.)