XLII.
Digresso Valente trepidos, qui Ariminum tenebant, Cornelius Fuscus, admoto exercitu et missis per proxima litorum Liburnicis, (digresso Valente … admoto exercitu et missis … Liburnicis: three ablatives absolute in one sentence: Tacitus’ frequent reliance on the construction, often for rhetorical effects far removed from its original purpose, is a distinguishing mark of his style. Liburnicis: Liburnica is a swift, maneuverable galley of the type used by seamen of Liburnia, a district of Illyricum north of Dalmatia on the northeastern Adriatic coast.) terra marique circumvenit: (trepidos, qui Ariminum tenebant, Cornelius Fuscus … terra marique circumvenit: ‘Cornelius Fuscus surrounded by land and sea the [already] demoralized force (trepidos) defending Ariminum’.) occupantur plana Vmbriae et qua Picenus ager Hadria adluitur, (qua Picenus ager Hadria adluitur: ‘where the territory of Picenum is washed by the Adriatic sea’. Picenum is the region of Italy on the Adriatic coast from above Ancona down south below the town of Ascoli Piceno.) omnisque Italia inter Vespasianum ac Vitellium Appennini iugis dividebatur. Fabius Valens e sinu Pisano (e sinu Pisano: ‘from the Bay of Pisa’; although the town of Pisa is today well inland, it was once a thriving seaport situated on a convenient indentation of the coastline, later filled by the Arno river.) segnitia maris (segnitia maris: ‘laziness of the sea’, ‘dead calm’; scholars have often commented on Tcitus’ strict avoidance of technical terms, neologisms, commonplaces, homely or vulgar expressions, in fact of any word not validated by time and good usage. Though an exact equivalent of ‘dead calm’ exists in Latin (malacia), he passes it up and has recourse to a poetic circumlocution. Similarly, when recounting the last night of Otho’s life, he spurns the Latin word for cushion and uses a nobler metonym (Book 2, 49). His deliberate archaism appeals strongly to his aristocratic taste and is an aspect of his nostalgia for Rome’s irretrievable republican past.) aut adversante vento portum Herculis Monoeci (portum Herculis Monoeci: modern Monaco in the SE corner of France) depellitur. haud procul inde agebat Marius Maturus Alpium maritimarum procurator, (Alpium maritimarum procurator: Alpes maritimae was the southernmost of the thee tiny Roman provinces astride the Alps beteen France and Italy, the other two being Alpes cottiae and Alpes poeninae; procurator, in the sense used here, was the governor of a minor ptovince. ) fidus Vitellio, cuius sacramentum cunctis circa hostilibus (cunctis circa hostilibus: abl. abs. of concessive sense) nondum exuerat. is Valentem comiter exceptum, ne Galliam Narbonensem temere ingrederetur, (ne Galliam Narbonensem temere ingrederetur: neg. purpose clause: ‘not to risk going into Provence’; for Gallia Narbonensis cf. note at the end of previous chapter. ) monendo terruit; (monendo terruit: ‘discouraged by warning’) simul ceterorum fides metu infracta.