LVI.
Haec dicta pariter (pariter: = simul) probataque: de reliquiis Vitelliani exercitus dubitavere. plerique interficiendos censebant, turbidos, infidos, sanguine ducum pollutos: vicit ratio parcendi, ne sublata spe veniae pertinaciam accenderent: (vicit ratio parcendi, ne sublata spe veniae pertinaciam accenderent: ‘the policy of forgiving won over, to prevent aggravating the obstinacy [of the Vitellians] by the removal of hope’; parcendi is objective gen. gerund; sublata spe is abl. abs.) adliciendos potius in societatem. legatis tantum legionum interfectis, (legatis tantum legionum interfectis: abl. abs.) ceterum vulgus conscientia scelerum et spe impunitatis facile accessurum. (conscientia scelerum et spe impunitatis facile accessurum: ‘[the common soldier] would easily comply in view of the awareness of their own guilt and the hope of eluding ponishment’. scelerum and impunitatis are genitives after the nouns they help define.) ea primi concilii forma missique per Gallias concitores belli; (concitores belli: ‘instigators of war’) simulatum ipsis obsequium quo incautiorem Voculam opprimerent. (simulatum ipsis obsequium quo incautiorem Voculam opprimerent: lit. ‘obedience was feigned by them themselves, that thereby they might kill Vocula more unaware’; ipsis, as indicated by the absence of a or ab, is not abl. of agent, but dative of the persons in whose interest the action is performed (dat. of agent); cf. G. 215, 1. and 354.) nec defuere qui Voculae nuntiarent, (nec defuere qui Voculae nuntiarent: subjunctive in clause of characteristic; the sense is consecutive.) sed vires ad coercendum deerant, infrequentibus infidisque legionibus. (infrequentibus infidisque legionibus: abl. abs.: ‘the legions being below strength and not dependable’) inter ambiguos milites et occultos hostis optimum e praesentibus (e praesentibus: ‘under the present circumstances’) ratus mutua dissimulatione et isdem quibus petebatur grassari, (ratus mutua dissimulatione et isdem quibus petebatur grassari: ‘he decided on [using] dissimulation in his turn and to fight back with the same weapons with which hs was being attacked’; isdem or iisdem is neuter abl. plural.) in coloniam Agrippinensem descendit. (in coloniam Agrippinensem descendit: ‘he marched down to Cologne’; Tacitus had left Vocula in the neighborhood of Magontiacum, today’s Mainz, in ch. 37, about 100 miles or 160 km. south of Cologne. Vocula is going north, but because Cologne is downstream of Mainz, when following the Rhine, the proper verb to use, in Roman eyes, is descendere. ) illuc Claudius Labeo, (Claudius Labeo: cf. 18.) quem captum et [extra commentum] ([extra commentum]: to be ignored: probably a gloss left by a reader, which later was incorporated, by a careless copyst, in the text during a subsequent transcription. ) amendatum in Frisios diximus, corruptis custodibus perfugit; pollicitusque, si praesidium daretur, iturum in Batavos et potiorem civitatis partem ad societatem Romanam retracturum, (si praesidium daretur, iturum in Batavos et potiorem civitatis partem ad societatem Romanam retracturum: conditional sentence in indir. discourse: imperfect subjunctive for past condition in the protasis, future infinitive clause in the apodosis. In direct speech: ‘si [mihi] presidium detur, iturus sum …’) accepta peditum equitumque modica manu nihil apud Batavos ausus quosdam Nerviorum Baetasiorumque in arma traxit, et furtim magis quam bello Canninefatis Marsacosque (Nerviorum Baetasiorumque … Canninefatis Marsacosque: the Nervii were settled aound Cambrai in northern France; the Baetasii were between the Nervii and the Tungri in Brabant in central Belgium; for the Canninefates see note in ch. 15; the Marsaci lived near the mouth of the Scheldt, NW of modern Antwerp.) incursabat.