XII.
Isdem diebus crebrescentem cladis Germanicae famam nequaquam maesta civitas excipiebat; caesos exercitus, capta legionum hiberna, descivisse Gallias non ut mala loquebantur. (caesos exercitus, capta legionum hiberna, descivisse Gallias non ut mala loquebantur: loquor may be transitive and have direct objects: ‘they spoke of destroyed armies, captured army camps, [they said that] the Gallic provinces had revolted, as if these were not calamities.’) id bellum quibus causis ortum, quanto externarum sociarumque gentium motu flagraverit, (quanto externarum sociarumque gentium motu flagraverit: indirect question after quanto: ‘how violent [the war] was during this uprising of foreign and allied nations’ flagraverit: perf subjunctive for events in the past when the verb of saying (expediam) is not historical.) altius expediam. (altius expediam: either ‘I will explain at greater depth’ or ‘I will explain from further back in time.’) Batavi, donec trans Rhenum agebant, pars Chattorum, (Batavi, donec trans Rhenum agebant pars Chattorum: ‘the Batavi, so long as they lived across the Rhine, were a part of the Chatti.’ donec, with the sense of quamdiu (‘so long as’), takes the indicative. The Chatti, one of the most bellicose of the German tribes, inhabited the region known today as Hessen-Nassau around Wiesbaden and Frankfurt am Main) seditione domestica pulsi extrema Gallicae orae vacua cultoribus simulque insulam iuxta sitam occupavere, (extrema Gallicae orae vacua cultoribus simulque insulam iuxta sitam occupavere: lit. ‘they occupied the northernmost areas of the coast of Gaul, free from inhabitants, and also an island situated nearby.’ The district they occupied was located south of the Waal and Maas rivers, near the mouth of the Rhine. The island, the Insula Batavorum, mentioned also by Julius Caesar, was between the Rhine and the Waal, but its exact location is not readily distinguishable today because of the canals built over the centuries and the extensive water management work done to create dry land.) quam mare Oceanus a fronte, Rhenus amnis tergum ac latera circumluit. nec opibus (rarum in societate validiorum) attritis (nec opibus … attritis: abl. abs.: ‘their wealth not being eaten away [by the tribute]’; attritis is from attero.) viros tantum armaque imperio ministrant, diu Germanicis bellis exerciti, (diu Germanicis bellis exerciti: ’having been trained for a long time in the German wars’, i.e. in the succession of campaigns conducted by Drusus, Tiberius, and Germanicus against the Germans.) mox aucta per Britanniam gloria, transmissis illuc cohortibus, (transmissis illuc cohortibus: eight Batavian cohorts were sent to Britain (illuc) in Nero`s time under Suetonius Paulinus to fight against the Boudiccan revolt of 60 A.D.) quas vetere instituto nobilissimi popularium regebant. erat et domi delectus eques, praecipuo nandi studio, arma equosque retinens integris turmis Rhenum perrumpere . . . (erat et domi delectus eques, praecipuo nandi studio, arma equosque retinens integris turmis Rhenum perrumpere . . .: ‘there was also at home an elite force of cavalry, their skills in swimming being remarkable; retaining control of their weapons and horses they would force a way through the Rhine with intact formation …;` retinens refers back to eques. Part of the text has gone lost at this point, presumably only a few words. )