XXVII.
Forte navem haud procul castris, frumento gravem, cum per vada haesisset, Germani in suam ripam trahebant. (navem …, cum per vada haesisset, Germani in suam ripam trahebant: ‘the Germans were pulling towards their bank a ship, because it had become stuck as a result of shallow waters.’ One notable advantage of Latin over English is freedom of word order, which allows the placement of the essential information –the main subject and verb—at the end of a sentence, however long, creating a gradual buildup of tension. In English word order is narrowly fixed: the subject is at or very near the outset of a clause or sentence, as the above translation shows. One way to achieve an effect somewhat similar to that of the Latin text is to assign a separate sentence to the main subject and action and have all the rest precede in a sentence apart under a different subject. This has been the approach to the free translation on this and like occasions.) non tulit (non tulit: ‘found it intolerable’) Gallus misitque subsidio (subsidio: dat. of destination) cohortem: auctus et Germanorum numerus, paulatimque adgregantibus se auxiliis (adgregantibus se auxiliis: abl. abs.: ‘reinforcements adding themselves, i.e. ‘joining in’.) acie certatum. Germani multa cum strage (multa cum strage: abl. of manner: cum is often used placed between the limiting adj. (if present) and the noun.) nostrorum navem abripiunt. victi, quod tum in morem verterat, non suam ignaviam, sed perfidiam legati culpabant. protractum e tentorio, scissa veste, verberato corpore, quo pretio, quibus consciis (quibus consciis: ‘with which accomplices’ ) prodidisset exercitum, dicere iubent. redit in Hordeonium invidia: illum auctorem sceleris, hunc (illum … hunc: emphatic and derogatory) ministrum vocant, donec exitium minitantibus exterritus proditionem et ipse Hordeonio obiecit; vinctusque adventu demum (demum: ‘at last’, ‘only’) Voculae exolvitur. is postera die auctores seditionis morte adfecit: (morte adfecit: lit. ‘visited with death’) tanta illi exercitui diversitas inerat licentiae patientiaeque. haud dubie gregarius miles Vitellio fidus, splendidissimus quisque in Vespasianum proni: (splendidissimus quisque … proni: though splendidissimus quisque is inherently singular, proni is here plural in view of the collective sense.) inde scelerum ac suppliciorum vices et mixtus obsequio furor, ut contineri non possent qui puniri poterant.