LXII.
Isdem diebus Fabius Valens Vrbini (Vrbini: Urbino, about 25 miles or 40 km. WSW of Fano on the Adriatic coast.) in custodia interficitur. caput eius Vitellianis cohortibus ostentatum ne quam ultra spem foverent; (ne quam ultra spem foverent: negative purpose clause: ‘that they might not nurture any further hopes; quam is short for aliquam, as required after si, nisi, ne, num, cum. ) nam pervasisse in Germanias Valentem et veteres illic novosque exercitus ciere credebant: visa caede in desperationem versi. et Flavianus exercitus immane quantum <aucto> animo exitium Valentis ut finem belli accepit. (et Flavianus exercitus immane quantum <aucto> animo exitium Valentis ut finem belli accepit: et here introduces contrast: ‘on the other hand, the Flavian army greeted Valens’ death with boundless elation – impossible to tell how much – as the end of the war.’ Expressions with quantum like immane quantum, mirum quantum, mirabile quantum, incredibile quantum, immensum quantum, etc. function as adverbial units modifying verbs, adjectives and adverbs. In fact <aucto>, missing from the Latin text, was added to provide immane quantum with an adj. to modify.) natus erat Valens Anagniae equestri familia. (natus erat Valens Anagniae equestri familia: Anagniae is Anagni, about 60 km. or 38 miles ESE of Rome; equestri familia is abl of source after natus. Cf. A.G. 403, 2.) procax moribus neque absurdus ingenio ni famam urbanitatis per lasciviam petere. (ni famam urbanitatis per lasciviam peteret: ‘except’ or ‘were it not that he coveted celebrity by reckless extravagance’; ni …peteret: ni (for nisi) was common in early Latin, lost currency during the classical period, then regained ground with later writers. Usually followed by indicative, is here with subjunctive, perhaps to allow some room for doubting the veracity of the assertion.) ludicro Iuvenalium (ludicro Iuvenalium: games established by Nero in 59 A.D. to celebrate his coming of age.) sub Nerone velut ex necessitate, mox sponte mimos actitavit, (mimos actitavit: ‘he performed mimes’, i.e. caricatures of known characters dependent on their effect on indecent gestures and actions.) scite magis quam probe. legatus legionis et fovit Verginium (Verginium: Verginius Rufus, cf. Book 1, ch. 8.) et (et …et: ‘both …and’) infamavit; Fonteium Capitonem corruptum, seu quia corrumpere nequiverat, interfecit: (Fonteium Capitonem [seu] corruptum, seu quia corrumpere nequiverat, interfecit: lit. ‘ he murdered Fronteius Capito, either corrupted [by him] or because he had not been able to corrupt him’; [seu] … seu: Tacitus often omits the first member of the pair of disjunctive particles. For Fronteius Capito see Book 1 ch. 7.) Galbae proditor, Vitellio fidus et aliorum perfidia inlustratus. (aliorum perfidia inlustratus: ‘given lustre by the perfidy of others’)