X.
Adventu deinde duarum legionum, e quibus tertiam Dillius Aponianus, octavam Numisius Lupus ducebant, ostentare viris et militari vallo Veronam circumdare placuit. forte Galbianae legioni in adversa fronte valli opus cesserat, et visi procul sociorum equites vanam formidinem ut hostes fecere. (vanam formidinem ut hostes fecere: ‘they took for enemies their own vain fears’.) rapiuntur arma metu proditionis. ira militum in Tampium Flavianum incubuit, (in Tampium Flavianum incubuit: ‘descended on’ or ‘came to rest on Tampius Flavianus’, the governor of Pannonia (ch. 3 and Book 2, 86) nullo criminis argumento, sed iam pridem invisus turbine quodam (turbine quodam: ‘in some sort of frenzy’) ad exitium poscebatur: propinquum Vitellii, proditorem Othonis, interceptorem donativi clamitabant. nec defensioni locus, quamquam supplicis manus tenderet, humi plerumque stratus, lacera veste, (humi plerumque stratus, lacera veste: stratus has reflexive sense, ‘having thrown himself down’; humi is locative, ‘on the ground’; lacera veste is abl. of attendant circumstance, ‘with his clothes torn’.) pectus atque ora singultu quatiens. id ipsum apud infensos incitamentum erat, tamquam nimius pavor conscientiam argueret. (tamquam nimius pavor conscientiam argueret: ‘inasmuch as his excessive fear revealed a guilty conscience’; in Tacitus, more often than not, the conditional tamquam is found used almost like causal quod or quia. ) obturbabatur militum vocibus Aponius, cum loqui coeptaret; fremitu et clamore ceteros aspernantur. uni Antonio apertae militum aures; (uni Antonio apertae militum aures: ‘the soldiers’ ears were open for Antonius alone’; unus is here with the force of solus.) namque et facundia aderat mulcendique vulgum artes et auctoritas. ubi crudescere seditio (ubi crudescere seditio: crudescere is historical infinitive, often found in Tacitus after ubi and cum; cf. G. 647.) et a conviciis ac probris ad tela et manus transibant, inici catenas Flaviano iubet. (inici catenas Flaviano iubet: lit. ‘he orders fetters to be clapped on Flavianus’. iubet is switch to historical present for greater immediacy; inici catenas: the infinitive following iubeo is made passive when there is no mention of the person(s) receiving the order; the thing ordered becomes the acc. subject of the infinitive. Compare with iubet milites Flaviano inicere catenas.) sensit ludibrium miles, (ludibrium: ‘charade’, ‘farce’) disiectisque qui (disiectisque qui …: abl. abs. with dependent rel. clause) tribunal tuebantur extrema vis parabatur. opposuit sinum Antonius stricto ferro, (opposuit sinum Antonius stricto ferro: ‘Antonius exposed his breast to his drawn sword’.) aut militum se manibus aut suis moriturum obtestans, ut quemque notum et aliquo militari decore insignem aspexerat, ad ferendam opem nomine ciens. (ut quemque notum et aliquo militari decore insignem aspexerat, ad ferendam opem nomine ciens: ‘ …and, whenever he saw someone known to him and conspicuous for any medals, calling for help to be brought’; for iterative action, temporal ut may be found with plup. indicative when the main verb (here opposuit) is historical. Cf. B. 287, 2.) mox conversus ad signa et bellorum deos, (ad signa et bellorum deos: the poles of the standards bore images of Mars, Minerva, and Bellona, the three divinities associated with warfare.) hostium potius exercitibus illum furorem, illam (illum … illam …: emphatic use of the demonstrative, expressive of dismay) discordiam inicerent orabat, donec fatisceret seditio et extremo iam die (extremo iam die: abl. abs. of causal sense, ‘because of the very late hour’) sua quisque in tentoria dilaberentur. (orabat, donec fatisceret seditio et …sua quisque in tentoria dilaberentur: ‘he kept praying until the mutiny gave signs of abating and all slipped away to their tents, each to his own’. In Tacitus donec is found with subjunctive when its sense (as one commentator has remarked) is that of until finally, i.e. when attention is directed to the anticipation or expectation before an event that ends the action of the main verb. The imperfect orabat, in place of the perfect, denotes extended action while waiting for the intended result.) profectus eadem nocte Flavianus obviis Vespasiani litteris (obviis … litteris: abl. of instrument, ‘by letters coming the opposite way’; Vespasian’s message either summoned Flavianus or exonerated him from blame.) discrimini exemptus est. (discrimini exemptus est: the verb eximere is either followed by ex + abl. or, as here, by dative.)