LXXXIII.
Aderat pugnantibus spectator populus, utque in ludicro certamine, (aderat pugnantibus spectator populus utque in ludicro certamine: ‘the populace stood close to the combatants watching, as in a feigned combat.’) hos, rursus illos (hos, rursus illos: ‘now these, at another moment those’) clamore et plausu fovebat. quotiens pars altera inclinasset, (quotiens pars altera inclinasset: ‘each time one of the two sides gave (had given) way, …’ quotiens is here relative, not interrogative, adverb, with the iterative sense of ‘whenever.’ Like frequentative ut, cum, ubi, quando, it tends to be followed by subjunctive, especially in Tacitus.) abditos in tabernis aut si quam in domum perfugerant, (si quam in domum perfugerant: ‘if they had taken refuge in some house …’ si …perfugerant: indicative for logical, factual condition; in quam …domum quam is for aliquam after si.) erui iugularique expostulantes parte maiore praedae potiebantur: (erui iugularique expostulantes parte maiore praedae potiebantur: ‘while they demanded that they be dragged out and their throats be cut, they took possession of the larger part of the plunder.’ expostulo, here with acc. and infinitive, is also found with ut + subjunctive; potior governs abl.) nam milite ad sanguinem et caedis obverso spolia in vulgus cedebant. (nam milite ad sanguinem et caedis obverso spolia in vulgus cedebant: ‘the reason being that, the soldiers being absorbed in blood and butchery, the spoils passed into the hands of the crowd.’ milite …obverso: abl. abs. of causal sense, ‘the soldiers being turned away from them’) saeva ac deformis urbe tota facies: alibi proelia et vulnera, alibi (alibi … alibi: ‘here …there’, ‘in one place …in another’) balineae popinaeque; simul cruor et strues corporum, iuxta scorta et scortis similes; quantum in luxurioso otio libidinum, quidquid in acerbissima captivitate scelerum, prorsus ut eandem civitatem et furere crederes et lascivire. (quantum in luxurioso otio libidinum, quidquid in acerbissima captivitate scelerum, prorsus ut eandem civitatem et furere crederes et lascivire: ‘[there was] as much as there can be of debauchery in licentious peace, whatever atrocity [is done] in the most ruthless storming of a city, in short so that one would think that the same Rome was prey to both murderous frenzy and uncontrollable lust.’ quantum …libidinum, quidquid … scelerum: partitive genitives after the neuter quantum and quidquid; prorsus ut …crederes: prorsus often introduces a consecutive clause with ut.) conflixerant <et> ante (<et> ante: ‘even before’)armati exercitus in urbe, bis Lucio Sulla, semel Cinna victoribus, (bis Lucio Sulla, semel Cinna victoribus: abl. abs.: Sulla took Rome in 88 and 82 B.C., Cinna in 87 B.C.) nec tunc minus crudelitatis: nunc inhumana securitas et ne minimo quidem temporis voluptates intermissae: velut festis diebus id quoque gaudium accederet, exultabant, (velut [si] festis diebus id quoque gaudium accederet, exultabant: ‘they exulted as if this entertainment also were added to the [list of] festive days.’ It chanced also that at that moment the Saturnalia were not yet over. velut [si] …accederet: like other conditional particles of comparison, such as quasi, tamquam, ut si, etc., velut si introduces a conditional clause (with apodosis omitted), but follows the regular sequence of tenses. Cf. A.G. 524.) fruebantur, nulla partium cura, malis publicis laeti.