XXXIV.
Dux uterque pari culpa meritus adversa prosperis defuere. (dux uterque pari culpa meritus adversa prosperis defuere: ‘each of the two generals deserving defeat with equal blame; both were unequal to their good fortune’; uterque is inherently singular, but becomes plural if the sense is ‘both’, as in English. prosperis is dat. with desum.) nam Civilis si maioribus copiis instruxisset aciem, circumiri a tam paucis cohortibus nequisset castraque perrupta excidisset: (si … instruxisset …, … nequisset … excidisset: plup. subjunctive in both protasis and apodosis of conditional sentence contrary to fact in the past) Vocula nec adventum hostium exploravit, eoque simul egressus victusque; dein victoriae parum confisus, (victoriae parum confi sus: victoriae is dative with confido.) tritis frustra diebus castra in hostem movit, (tritis frustra diebus castra in hostem movit: ‘days having been frittered away in vain, he advanced agaist the enemy’. in hostem castra movere is idiom. ) quem si statim impellere (impellere: ‘to give a last push’) cursumque rerum sequi maturasset, solvere obsidium legionum eodem impetu potuit. (si … maturasset, … potuit: unlike the previous conditional sentence, this has indicative in the apodosis, most likely to signify confidence in the outcome if the condition had applied.) temptaverat interim Civilis obsessorum animos, tamquam perditae apud Romanos res et suis victoria provenisset: (tamquam perditae apud Romanos res et suis victoria provenisset: tamquam, ‘as if’, which in itself suggests unreality, requires subjunctive: ‘just as if the Roman cause had been lost and victory had been won by his troops’; suis: though Civilis is not the grammatical subject of the subordinate clause, suis is appropiate because Civilis is subject in the sentence. See also tamquam rursus obsidium immineret towards the end of the chapter. Cf. G. 309, N. 4 and 520. ) circumferebantur signa vexillaque, ostentati etiam captivi. ex quibus unus, egregium facinus ausus, clara voce gesta patefecit, confossus illico (illico: adv., ‘on the spot’) a Germanis: unde maior indici fides; (unde maior indici fides: ‘from that reaction, greater trust [was credited] to the informant’) simul vastatione incendiisque flagrantium villarum venire victorem exercitum intellegebatur. in conspectu castrorum constitui signa fossamque et vallum circumdari Vocula iubet: depositis impedimentis sarcinisque expediti certarent. (impedimentis sarcinisque expediti certarent: command in indir. discourse introduced by implied verb of saying: ‘[they were ordered] to fight without baggage and backpacks’. Cf. A.G. 588.) hinc in ducem clamor pugnam poscentium; et minari adsueverant. (et minari adsueverant: ‘they had become used to threaten also.’) ne tempore quidem ad ordinandam aciem capto (ne tempore quidem ad ordinandam aciem capto: abl. abs.: ‘time not even being taken to form a battle line’; acc gerundive with ad may have a direct object.) incompositi fessique proelium sumpsere; nam Civilis aderat, non minus vitiis hostium quam virtute suorum fretus. (non minus vitiis hostium quam virtute suorum fretus: ‘relying more on the mistakes of the enemy than on his men’s valor’) varia apud Romanos fortuna et seditiosissimus quisque ignavus: quidam recentis victoriae memores retinere locum, ferire hostem, seque et proximos hortari et redintegrata acie manus ad obsessos tendere ne tempori deessent. (manus ad obsessos tendere ne tempori deessent: ‘they stretched out their hands towards the besieged lest they should fail to exploit the opportunity’. ne …deessent: negative purpose clause) illi cuncta e muris cernentes omnibus portis prorumpunt. ac forte Civilis lapsu equi prostratus, credita per utrumque exercitum fama vulneratum aut interfectum, immane quantum suis pavoris et hostibus alacritatis indidit: (immane quantum suis pavoris et hostibus alacritatis indidit: ‘incredible how much terror the news instilled in his men and fresh vigor in his enemy.’ pavoris and alacritatis are partitive genitive after the neuter quantum. The phrase immane quantum was used once before in Book 3, ch. 62.) sed Vocula omissis fugientium tergis (omissis fugientium tergis: ‘the fleeing army being allowed to slip away’: tergis is an example of synecdoche, a part of something used to signify the whole, in this case the the hinder part of the body -–the part presented by men in flight—for a runaway army. ) vallum turrisque castrorum augebat, tamquam rursus obsidium immineret, corrupta totiens victoria (corrupta totiens Victoria: abl. abs., ‘victory having been spoiled so many times’ non falso suspectus bellum malle.