LXVII.
Surdae ad fortia consilia Vitellio aures: (surdae ad fortia consilia Vitellio aures [erant]: Vitellio is dat. of possessor with implied erant and aures, the thing possessed, is subject: ‘Vitellius had ears deaf to manly advice.’ See also erat illi et fessa aetate parens below.) obruebatur animus miseratione curaque, (miseratione curaque: hendiadys, ‘by fond solicitude’) ne pertinacibus armis minus placabilem victorem relinqueret coniugi ac liberis. (ne pertinacibus armis minus placabilem victorem relinqueret coniugi ac liberis: negative purpose clause: ‘lest by his stubborn armed resistance he might leave the victor less forgiving to his wife and children’) erat illi et fessa aetate parens; (erat illi et fessa aetate parens: ‘he also had a mother worn out by age’; illi is dat. of possessor; et: when not connecting two terms, et has the sense of etiam.) quae tamen paucis ante diebus (paucis ante diebus: ante is here adverb, not prep., ‘a few days before’.) opportuna morte excidium domus praevenit, nihil principatu filii adsecuta nisi luctum et bonam famam. XV kalendas Ianuarias (XV kalendas Ianuarias: to find the corresponding date in English, add 2 to the number of days in the previous month and subtract the given number.) audita defectione legionis (defectione legionis: the legion is the one Vitellius had formed with troops taken from the fleet, as mentioned in ch. 55. It had gone to Bevania, then receded to Narnia and there surrendered.) cohortiumque, quae se Narniae dediderant, pullo amictu Palatio degreditur, maesta circum familia; ferebatur lecticula parvulus filius velut in funebrem pompam: (in funebrem pompam: in + acc. always implies movement in some way or other.) voces populi blandae et intempestivae, miles minaci silentio. (miles minaci silentio: ‘the soldiers [attended] in ominous silence.’)