LXXVII.
Interim ad L. Vitellium servus Vergilii Capitonis (Vergilii Capitonis: Vergilius or Virginius Capito had been governor of Egypt in earlier years.) perfugit pollicitusque, si praesidium acciperet, vacuam arcem traditurum, (si praesidium acciperet, vacuam arcem traditurum [esse]: potential or ideal conditional sentence, in indir. speech after pollicitus [est], a historical tense: ‘if he received a small force, he would deliver [to him] the undefended citadel.’ (the direct si accipiam … tradam, ‘if I receive …I will deliver’, becomes the indirect si acciperet … traditurum esse). Note that in indir. discourse the apodosis of a conditional sentence is always in some form of the future infinitive.) multa nocte (multa nocte: ‘in the dead of night’; cf. multa pace in ch. 71.) cohortis expeditas (cohortis expeditas: i.e. ‘unencumbered by baggage’, ‘in fighting trim’) summis montium iugis super caput hostium (summis montium iugis super caput hostium: ‘on the ridge of the hills over the head of the enemy’; the hills are Monte San Angelo, 225 meters or 740 ft. high on the NE side of town.) sistit: inde miles ad caedem magis quam ad pugnam decurrit. sternunt inermos aut arma capientis et quosdam somno excitos, cum tenebris, pavore, sonitu tubarum, clamore hostili turbarentur. pauci gladiatorum resistentes neque inulti cecidere: ceteri ad navis ruebant, ubi cuncta pari formidine implicabantur, permixtis paganis, quos nullo discrimine Vitelliani trucidabant. sex Liburnicae (Liburnicae: for Liburnian galleys cf. note in ch. 42.) inter primum tumultum evasere, in quis praefectus classis Apollinaris; reliquae in litore captae, aut nimio ruentium onere pressas mare hausit. (nimio ruentium onere pressas mare hausit: ‘the sea swallowed [the ships] weighed down by the excessive weight of those rushing uncontrollably on board .’ ruentium connects with the earlier ad navis ruebant above.) Iulianus ad L. Vitellium perductus et verberibus foedatus in ore eius (in ore eius: eius and not suo, since Vitellius is not the subject of the clause.) iugulatur. fuere qui uxorem L. Vitellii Triariam incesserent, tamquam gladio militari cincta inter luctum cladisque expugnatae Tarracinae superbe saeveque egisset. (fuere qui uxorem L. Vitellii Triariam incesserent, tamquam … superbe saeveque egisset: fuere qui ushers in a clause of characteristic with subjunctive. Cf. G. 631, B.283. tamquam, as often in Tacitus, has causal force and is with subjunctive to denote an assumed reason, ‘inasmuch as she behaved in an insolent and cruel manner’; Cf. G. 602, N. 4. Triaria has already appeared in Book 2, ch. 63-64, in connection with the murder of Dolabella. ) ipse (ipse: i.e. L. Vitellius) lauream gestae prospere rei (lauream [epistulam] gestae prospere rei: a dispatch adorned with a laurel branch to announce the conclusion of a successful campaign. ) ad fratrem misit, percontatus statim regredi se an perdomandae Campaniae insistere iuberet. (percontatus statim regredi se an perdomandae Campaniae insistere iuberet: ‘asking whether he wanted (iuberet) him (se) to return immediately or to remain in order to subdue Campania’: alternate question in indir. discourse with an introducing the second part of the question, Tacitus not being fond of the use of utrum or –ne for the first part. perdomandae Campaniae: use of dative gerundive to express purpose, in place of the more classical ad+gerundive) quod salutare (salutare: neuter adj., ‘a providential thing’) non modo partibus Vespasiani, sed rei publicae fuit. nam si recens victoria miles et super insitam pervicaciam secundis ferox (recens victoria miles et super insitam pervicaciam secundis ferox …: ‘the soldiery, newly come from a victory and fierce-spirited on account of their success adding itself to their natural intractability, …’) Romam contendisset, haud parva mole certatum nec sine exitio urbis foret. (si …miles … Romam contendisset, haud parva mole certatum … foret: ‘if the troops had made for Rome, the fighting would hardly have been on a small scale.’: conditional sentence of the unreal type with plup. subjunctive in both protasis and apodosis for unreality in the past; certatum …foret: impersonal use of passive of an intransitive verb, ‘it would have been fought’) quippe L. Vitellio quamvis infami (quamvis infami: the use of quamvis in combination with an adjective is more common than that of other subordinating conjunctions. ) inerat industria, nec virtutibus, ut boni, sed quo modo pessimus quisque, (quo modo pessimus quisque: ‘in the way the worst of men [would]’; quo modo or quomodo is rel. adverb.) vitiis valebat. (quippe … valebat: quippe is here conjuction of causal sense (‘for’, ‘since’, ‘the reason being’), followed by indicative.)