LXIV.
At (at: introduces a change of subject.) primores civitatis Flavium Sabinum praefectum urbis secretis sermonibus incitabant, victoriae famaeque partem capesseret: (victoriae famaeque partem capesseret: hortatory subjunctive in indir. speech after incitabant: ‘that he should secure a part of the victory and the glory’; in dir. speech: ‘cape victoriae famaeque partem’) esse illi proprium militem cohortium urbanarum, nec defuturas vigilum cohortis, (cohortium urbanarum … vigilum cohortis: there were four urban cohorts of one thousand men each (cf. Book 2, 93 and seven cohorts of the watch.) servitia ipsorum, (servitia ipsorum: ‘their own slaves’; ipsorum refers to primores civitatis, the men addressing Sabinus..) fortunam partium, et omnia prona victoribus: ne Antonio Varoque de gloria concederet. (ne Antonio Varoque de gloria concederet: negative command in indirect discourse: ‘he should not defer to Antonius and Varus in regard to glory.’ In dir. discourse: either noli concedere or ne concedas) paucas Vitellio cohortis et maestis undique nuntiis trepidas; populi mobilem animum et, si ducem se praebuisset, easdem illas adulationes pro Vespasiano fore; (si ducem se praebuisset, easdem illas adulationes pro Vespasiano fore: conditional sentence in indir. discourse with the verb of the apodosis in the infinitive, that of the protasis in the subjunctive: ‘[they said that] if he (Sabinus) had offered himself as leader, the same adulation would all be for Vespasian’. ipsum Vitellium ne prosperis quidem parem, adeo ruentibus debilitatum. (adeo ruentibus debilitatum: ‘so completely incapacitated by reversals swooping down on him’; ruentibus is the plur. abl. of the present participle ruens, ruentis used as a neuter noun.) gratiam patrati belli penes eum qui urbem occupasset: (gratiam patrati belli penes eum qui urbem occupasset: ‘that credit for ending the war (lit. ‘of the war having been ended’) [would be] in the hands of the man who had taken possession of Rome’) id Sabino convenire ut imperium fratri reservaret, id Vespasiano ut ceteri post Sabinum haberentur. (id Sabino convenire ut imperium fratri reservaret, id Vespasiano [convenire] ut ceteri post Sabinum haberentur: ‘that this was the right thing for Sabinus to do, to preserve the imperial power for his brother; this was right for Vespasian, to hold all others inferior to Sabinus’; ut ceteri post Sabinum haberentur: ‘in order that all others be valued after Sabinus’)