V.
Ceterum (ceterum: an adverb that recurs with a certain regularity in Tacitus’ works; its role is to to mark a new turn in the narrative, Latin being more particular in this respect than English. Translators tend to ignore it as it adds little or nothing to the overall meaning.) ut transmittere in Italiam impune et usui foret, (ut transmittere in Italiam impune et usui foret: the infinitive transmittere is verbal noun subject of foret: ‘so that the transfer [of the army] to Italy might be to their advantage’; usui is dat. of purpose) scriptum Aponio Saturnino, cum exercitu Moesico celeraret. (scriptum [est] Aponio Saturnino … celeraret: ‘it was written to Aponius Saturninus to hurry’; A. Saturninus was governor of Moesia. The subjunctive celeraret is indirect command; it corresponds to the imperative celera of direct command.) ac ne inermes provinciae barbaris nationibus exponerentur, principes Sarmatarum Iazugum, penes quos civitatis regimen, (principes Sarmatarum Iazugum, penes quos civitatis regimen: ‘the chief men of the Sarmatian Iazuges in whose charge was the government of the nation …’; Sarmatia was the vast territory approx.. corresponding to today’s Ukraine; The nomadic Iazuges eventually settled in the area of southern Hungary between the Danube and the river Tisza, north of the Danube. The prep. penes requires acc.) in commilitium (in commilitium: lit. ‘for fellowship in war; in + acc. may on occasion express purpose. The real intent was to hold them hostage and keep their people in line.) adsciti. plebem quoque et vim equitum, qua sola valent, offerebant: remissum id munus, ne inter discordias externa (externa: substantivized plur. neuter adjective, direct object of molirentur, ‘alien’ or ‘hostile activities’.) molirentur aut maiore ex diverso mercede ius fasque exuerent. (ne …molirentur …exuerent: negative purpose clause) trahuntur in partis Sido atque Italicus reges Sueborum, (Sueborum: in 19 AD Tiberius’ son, Drusus Caesar, established the Suebi, a Germanic tribe, in Moravia, north of the Danube, a region now part of the Czech Republic, with Brno its major center.) quis vetus obsequium erga Romanos et gens fidei …commissior…patientior. (quis vetus obsequium erga Romanos et gens fidei…commissior …patientior: quis is for quibus, dative of possessor with an implied erat: ‘who had a long-standing allegiance to the Romans’. gens fidei …commissior…patientior: the text of the oldest manuscript in existence (of which all others are copies) is corrupt at this point; some see commissior as commissae, others as commilitio. The reading in the first case would be: ‘the people were particularly observant of their sworn loyalty’; in the second: ‘the people were especially tolerant of their obligations on account of their association with the Roman army’. An emendation that has gained acceptance –one followed in the present translation- is that the text be read as gens fidei quam iussorum patientior, ‘people were more respectful of their own word than of impositions from above’.) posita in latus auxilia, infesta Raetia, (infesta Raetia: abl. abs. of causal force. The imperial province of Raetia, which approx. occupied the territory of modern Switzerland, parts of southern Germany and of western Austria, shared its eastern border with Noricum, a province in Flavian hands corresponding to Slovenia and eastern Austria. Vespasian’s army, as it passed from Noricum into northern Italy at Aquileia, was exposed on its right flank to attacks by Porcius Septimius, the governor of Raetia.) cui Porcius Septiminus procurator erat, incorruptae erga Vitellium fidei. igitur Sextilius Felix cum ala Auriana (Sextilius Felix cum ala Auriana: Sextilius Felix is mentione again in Book 4, ch. 70, otherwise unknown; ala Auriana: cavalry units usually took their name from their creators, here a certain Aurius.) et octo cohortibus ac Noricorum iuventute ad occupandam ripam Aeni fluminis, (Aeni fluminis: the Inn river flows through Innsbruck, south of the Bavarian Alps, and continues NE to the Danube.) quod Raetos Noricosque interfluit, missus. nec his aut illis proelium temptantibus, fortuna partium alibi transacta.