VIII.
Quaesitum inde quae sedes bello legeretur. Verona potior visa, patentibus (patentibus … campis: abl. abs.; patens means both ‘open’, ‘spacious’ and ‘amenable to …’.) circum campis ad pugnam equestrem, qua praevalebant: simul coloniam copiis validam auferre Vitellio in rem famamque videbatur. (coloniam … auferre Vitellio in rem famamque videbatur: lit. ‘to rob Vitellius of the colony was seen [to be] for both gain and fame’; in + acc. here expresses purpose.) possessa ipso transitu Vicetia; (possessa ipso transitu Vicetia: ‘Vicetia was captured in the course of the advance itself’. Vicetia is Vicenza, about halfway between Verona and Padua; possessa is perf. participle of possideo, not of possido.) quod per se parvum (etenim modicae municipio vires) magni momenti locum obtinuit reputantibus (magni momenti locum obtinuit reputantibus …: ‘it acquired a place of great importance for those who consider that …’; magni momenti is gen. of quality.) illic Caecinam genitum et patriam hostium duci ereptam. in Veronensibus pretium fuit: (in Veronensibus pretium fuit: ‘in the people of Verona there was real gain’.) exemplo opibusque partis iuvere; et interiectus exercitus Raetiam Iuliasque Alpis, [ac] ne pervium illa Germanicis exercitibus foret, obsaepserat. (et interiectus exercitus Raetiam Iuliasque Alpis, [ac] ne pervium illa Germanicis exercitibus foret, obsaepserat: ‘furthermore, the [now] interposed army had formed a barrier fencing in Raetia and the Julian Alps, to avoid that there should be a passage that way (illa, adv.) for [new] armies from Germany’. The neuter of pervius, ‘passable’, is used as a noun, ‘passage’. The Julian Alps were the boundary between Pannonia and northeastern Italy. This part of Italy, Noricum, and Pannonia were under Flavian control (cf. ch. 5) and the only passage into Italy from the north, the Brenner pass in SE Raetia, was now also closed. ac, which appears in the original text, is considered spurious and is overlooked.) quae ignara Vespasiano aut vetita: quippe Aquileiae sisti bellum expectarique Mucianum iubebat, (sisti bellum expectarique Mucianum iubebat: the passive form of the infinitive is preferred after iubeo whenever the infinitive has its own subject.) adiciebatque imperio consilium, quando Aegyptus, claustra annonae, vectigalia opulentissimarum provinciarum obtinerentur, posse Vitellii exercitum egestate stipendii frumentique ad deditionem subigi. (adiciebatque imperio consilium, quando Aegyptus, claustra annonae, vectigalia opulentissimarum provinciarum obtinerentur, posse Vitellii exercitum egestate stipendii frumentique ad deditionem subigi: ‘and he added to his orders the reasoning that Vitellius’ army could be forced to surrender for lack of pay and provisions, since Egypt –the lock of the corn supply– and the revenues of the most opulent provinces were held [in their own power]’. Aegyptus, claustra annonae: the keys were Pelusium and Alexandria, as mentioned in Book 2, ch, 82. quando …obtinerentur: the indicative that follows causal quando in direct speech becomes subjunctive in indir. speech, here introduced by adiciebat consilium; opulentissimarum provinciarum: especially Asia, Syria, and Egypt, all in Vespasian’s hand) eadem Mucianus crebris epistulis monebat, incruentam et sine luctu victoriam et alia huiusce modi praetexendo, (et alia huiusce modi praetexendo: ‘alleging other things in the same vein’; the enclitic particle –ce is an emphatic pronominal suffix, especially frequent in common speech, like the English ‘this here’ and ‘that there’.) sed gloriae avidus atque omne belli decus sibi retinens. ceterum (ceterum: in any case) ex distantibus terrarum spatiis (ex …spatiis: here ex indicates cause, reason.) consilia post res adferebantur.