LXXVIII.
Dum haec in partibus Vitellii geruntur, digressus Narnia Vespasiani exercitus festos Saturni dies Ocriculi (exercitus festos Saturni dies Ocriculi per otium agitabat: modern Otricoli is less than 15 km. or 8 miles south of Narni (less than 40 miles from Rome). The festival of Saturn started on Dec. 18 and lasted several days; if the army had hurried on to Rome, the burning of the Capitol, which occurred on Dec. 19, might have been prevented. The phrase per otium may well denote sarcasm on Tacitus’ part. ) per otium agitabat. causa tam pravae morae ut Mucianum opperirentur. (causa …ut Mucianum opperirentur: causal ut, normally with indicative, is here followed by subjunctive in that the clause is in indir. discourse: ‘the cause, [they said], was that they were waiting for Mucianus’) nec defuere qui Antonium suspicionibus arguerent tamquam dolo cunctantem (nec defuere qui Antonium suspicionibus arguerent tamquam dolo cunctantem: ‘there were some who attacked Antonius with innuendoes that he was stalling for time with treasonable intent.’ nec defuere qui … arguerent is clause of characteristic. The use of tamquam in combination with a present participle is rare in classical Latin. Cf. G. 609, N. 1.) post secretas Vitellii epistulas, quibus consulatum et nubilem filiam et dotalis opes pretium proditionis offerebat. alii ficta haec et in gratiam Muciani composita; (alii ficta haec et in gratiam Muciani composita: ‘others [believed] all this was fiction made up to please Mucianus.’) quidam omnium id ducum consilium fuisse, ostentare potius urbi bellum quam inferre, (quidam omnium id ducum consilium fuisse, ostentare potius urbi bellum quam inferred: after quidam, as after alii above, a verb of saying or thinking is implied, after which indir. speech continues down to haud facile: ‘some again [maintained] that all this had been the plan of the Fabian generals, to present Rome with the prospect of war, rather than visit war on her.’) quando validissimae cohortes a Vitellio descivissent, et abscisis omnibus praesidiis cessurus imperio videbatur: (quando …[Vitellius] cessurus [esse] imperio videbatur: ‘since it was obvious that Vitellius was about to withdraw from power’; the use of indicative within indir. discourse implies that the clause is not part of the narrative, but expresses the opinion of the writer, a sort of comment inserted to clarify a point. The nominative cessurus within the infinitive clause with videor is personal construction: ‘he was seen to be about to step down.’ See last note in ch. 75. ) sed cuncta festinatione, deinde ignavia Sabini corrupta, qui sumptis temere armis munitissimam Capitolii arcem et ne magnis quidem exercitibus expugnabilem adversus tris cohortis tueri nequivisset. (qui … nequivisset: subjunctive for rel. clause in indirect discourse.) haud facile quis uni adsignaverit culpam quae omnium fuit. (haud facile quis uni adsignaverit culpam quae omnium fuit: ‘not easily might anyone assign to one person a fault that was everyone’s.’ adsignaverit is potential subjunctive; present and perfect are practically interchangeable. Cf. B. 280, 1.) nam et Mucianus ambiguis epistulis victores morabatur, et Antonius (et Mucianus … et Antonius: ‘both Mucianus and Antonius’) praepostero obsequio, vel dum regerit invidiam, crimen meruit; (Antonius praepostero obsequio, vel dum regerit invidiam, crimen meruit: vel (lit. ‘you may choose’) gives freedom to choose, unlike the exclusive aut: ‘Antonius deserved blame for his perverse compliance [with Mucianus’ dilatory instructions] or [if you prefer] for shifting the odium [onto Mucianus] [by obeying].’ dum regerit invidiam: dum, ‘while’, has often causal force (cf. G. 568, R. and 570, N. 2. Also, if followed by subjunctive, dum implies intent , design, or expectation: ‘inasmuch as he was trying to divert public condemnation [away from himself and towards Mucianus].’) ceterique duces dum peractum bellum putant, finem eius insignivere. (dum peractum bellum putant, finem eius insignivere: another case of dum having causal sense: ‘by assuming that the war was over, they made its end tragically notorious.’) ne Petilius quidem Cerialis, cum mille equitibus praemissus, ut transversis itineribus per agrum Sabinum Salaria via urbem introiret, satis maturaverat, (ne Petilius quidem Cerialis, cum mille equitibus praemissus, ut transversis itineribus per agrum Sabinum Salaria via urbem introiret, satis maturaverat: ‘not even Petilius Cerialis, sent ahead with a thousand mounted men and instructed to reach Rome by side-roads across the Sabine country, then to enter the city from the Via Salaria, was fast enough.’ Petilius Cerialis: cf. ch. 59. Salaria via: The Via Salaria extended from the Salarian gate in the north of Rome to Castrum Truentinum (Porto d’Ascoli), 250 km. (150 miles) away on the Adriatic coast.) donec obsessi Capitolii fama cunctos simul exciret. (donec …exciret: donec, like dum, is followed by subjunctive to express suspense or expectation, even though in Tacitus subjunctive may be found after donec where classical writers would have used indicative. A.G. 556, N.)