LXX.
Luce prima Sabinus, antequam in vicem hostilia coeptarent, Cornelium Martialem e primipilaribus (primipilaribus: the term primipilaris applied to one who had served as primipilus, the top-ranking centurion in a legion, i.e. the leading centurion of the first cohort of a legion.) ad Vitellium misit cum mandatis et questu quod pacta turbarentur: (cum mandatis et questu quod pacta turbarentur: ‘with instructions to complain that their accord was violated.’ misit cum mandatis et questu introduces at this point indir. discourse, which continues down to cetera secundum eventum proelii cessura. mandatis et questu is a form of hendiadys; quod pacta turbarentur is object clause in indir. discourse, ‘the fact that their accord was violated’; cf. A.G. 572 and G. 524.) simulationem prorsus et imaginem deponendi imperii fuisse ad decipiendos tot inlustris viros. (simulationem prorsus et imaginem deponendi imperii fuisse ad decipiendos tot inlustris viros: lit. ‘that his pretence and show of relinquishing power had obviously been for the purpose of so many respectable men to be deceived.’) cur enim e rostris (e rostris: rostra were a raised platform in the Forum, adorned with the beaks of captured enemy ships, from which public speeches were made.) fratris domum, imminentem foro et inritandis hominum oculis, (inritandis hominum oculis: use of dative gerundive, in place of ad + acc., to express purpose: lit. ‘for the eyes of men to be stimulated’) quam (quam: in Tacitus short for potius quam) Aventinum (Aventinum: the hill of Rome south of the Palatine hill, SW of the Circus Maximus. ) et penatis uxoris petisset? (cur … petisset?: subjunctive in indir. question; corresponds to cur petivistis of direct question.) ita privato et omnem principatus speciem vitanti convenisse. (ita privato et omnem principatus speciem vitanti convenisse: ‘doing so would have been appropriate for a private citizen intent on avoiding any semblance of supreme power’) contra Vitellium in Palatium, in ipsam imperii arcem regressum; inde armatum agmen emissum, stratam innocentium caedibus celeberrimam urbis partem, (stratam innocentium caedibus celeberrimam urbis partem: ‘that the most frequented part of the city was strewn with the bodies of innocent people’) ne Capitolio quidem abstineri. (ne Capitolio quidem abstineri: abstineri is impersonal use of the passive of abstinere in its intransitive sense and in indir. speech: ‘that it was not even stayed away from the Capitol’; for the Capitol see note in previous chapter.) togatum nempe se et unum e senatoribus: (togatum nempe se et unum e senatoribus: ‘that of course he was a civilian and only one among the senators’; togatum: i.e. not wearing a uniform.) dum inter Vespasianum ac Vitellium proeliis legionum, captivitatibus urbium, deditionibus cohortium iudicatur, (dum … iudicatur: dum may retain use of present indicative even in indir. discourse; iudicatur is impersonal use of the passive, ‘while it is being decided’) iam Hispaniis Germaniisque et Britannia desciscentibus, fratrem Vespasiani mansisse in fide, donec ultro ad condiciones vocaretur. (donec ultro ad condiciones vocaretur: donec may be followed by indicative or subjunctive, depending on point of view and on the writer; here the distinction is blurred, the clause being in indir. discourse. ultro in this context may mean: (1) without Sabinus asking Vitellius, (2) back and forth (in negotiating conditions of surrender).) pacem et concordiam victis utilia, victoribus tantum pulchra esse. (pacem et concordiam victis utilia victoribus tantum pulchra esse: utilia, the neuter plural of utilius, the comparative of utile, is predicate of pacem and concordiam, two feminine nouns, the sense being that ’peace and concord are more useful ‘things’ to the vanquished.’ The same applies to pulchra, except that pulchra is positive and relates to the victors.) si conventionis paeniteat, non se, quem perfidia deceperit, ferro peteret, (si conventionis paeniteat, non se, quem perfidia deceperit, ferro peteret: ‘if Vitellius regretted their agreement, it was not him (Sabinus), whom he had so perfidly deceived, he should go after with weapons.’ paeniteat … deceperit, in place of paeniteret and decepisset after an historical verb of saying, is an example of repraesentatio, a literary device that represents action as happening at the time of the speaker rather than that of the narrator, thus closer to the reader. Here, in place of imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive, the tenses of historical narration, the present and perfect are used. The impersonal paeniteat, ‘it makes one ashamed of …’, requires acc. of the person feeling shame, here implied, and gen. of the person or thing causing shame.) non filium Vespasiani vix puberem–quantum occisis uno sene et uno iuvene profici?–: (quantum occisis uno sene et uno iuvene profici?: rhetorical question in indir. speech, equivalent to an emphatic statement, hence the infinitive profici: ‘what was to be gained by the murder of one old man and of a boy?’ occisis uno sene et uno iuvene is abl. abs.: ‘one old man and one boy having been murdered, how much was gained?’ Sabinus was then about 61 years old, Domitian 18.) iret obviam legionibus et de summa rerum illic certaret: (iret … certaret: subjunctive for commands or exhortations in indir. discourse, ‘let him go’, let him fight’; direct: i, certa) cetera secundum eventum proelii cessura. (cetera secundum eventum proelii cessura: ‘that all the rest would fall out in accordance with the outcome of the war; secundum is prep. governing acc. ) trepidus ad haec Vitellius pauca purgandi sui causa (purgandi sui causa: genitive gerund after causa to express purpose, ‘for the sake of the excusing of himself’) respondit, culpam in militem conferens, cuius nimio ardori imparem esse modestiam suam; (cuius nimio ardori imparem esse modestiam suam: the clause is not relative and dependent, thus with infinitive construction in indir. speech. The relative cuius is in place of the demonstrative eius: ‘[saying] that his (Vitellius’) moderation [in restraining the soldiers] was unequal to their (eius, the soldier’s) excessive zeal.’ Cf. A.G. 583, b. nimio ardori: dative with imparem, ‘unequal to …’) et monuit Martialem ut per secretam aedium partem occulte abiret, (monuit …ut … abiret: moneo is mostly found followed by ut + subjunctive.) ne a militibus internuntius invisae pacis interficeretur: (ne … interficeretur: negative purpose clause, ‘lest he be killed’) ipse neque iubendi neque vetandi potens (neque iubendi neque vetandi potens: lit. ‘powerless of commanding or of prohibiting’; potens is used here as adj., not participle; as such it requires an objective genitive (in this case the gerunds iubendi and vetandi) to complete its meaning. Cf. A.G. 349, b.) non iam imperator sed tantum belli causa erat.