LIX.
Varie excepta oratio inter spem metumque ac pudorem. digressum Voculam et de supremis agitantem liberti servique prohibuere foedissimam mortem sponte praevenire. (digressum Voculam et de supremis agitantem liberti servique prohibuere foedissimam mortem sponte praevenire: lit. ‘Vocula’s freedmen and slaves prevented him, leaving the assembly and making preparations about ending his life, from being ahead of a hideous death by taking his own life’. sponte: ‘voluntarily’.) et (et: here with the sense of ‘then’, ‘therefore’, to supply the reasom murder was resorted to.) Classicus misso Aemilio Longino, desertore primae legionis, caedem eius maturavit; Herennium et Numisium legatos (Herennium et Numisium legatos: for Herennius Gallus, the legate of the First legion, cf. ch. 19; for Numisius Rufus, probably the legate of the Sixteenth legion, cf. ch. 22.) vinciri satis visum. dein sumptis Romani imperii insignibus (Romani imperii insignibus: such as the paludamentum, the purple military cloak) in castra venit. nec illi, quamquam ad omne facinus durato, verba ultra suppeditavere quam ut sacramentum recitaret: (nec illi, quamquam ad omne facinus durato, verba ultra suppeditavere quam ut sacramentum recitaret: ‘however hardened to all kinds of crimes, no other words came to his support beside those required to recite the oath’. The use of quamquam as adverb to modify a participle is rare in classical writers; cf. G. 609, Note 1. illi and durato refer to Classicus, datives with suppeditavere; nec …ultra …quam ut …recitaret: lit. ‘not more than [what is necessary] to recite …’; quam ut +subjunctive expresses disproportion; the ut clause has consecutive force. Cf. A.G. 535, c. and G. 298.) iuravere qui aderant (iuravere qui aderant: that is, what remained of Vocula’s two legions, the First and the Sixteenth) pro imperio Galliarum. interfectorem Voculae altis ordinibus, ceteros, ut quisque flagitium navaverat, praemiis attollit. (interfectorem Voculae altis ordinibus … attollit: ‘he elevated Vocula’s assassin to the first ranks’, that is to primi ordinis centurio. ) Divisae inde inter Tutorem et Classicum curae. Tutor valida manu circumdatos Agrippinensis quantumque militum apud superiorem Rheni ripam (quantumque militum apud superiorem Rheni ripam: these are the troops of the Fourth and Twenty-second legions, left by Vocula to defend the Roman camp at Mogontiacum; quantum militum: partitive genitive after the neuter quantum. The same applies to spei in nihil spei below.) in eadem verba adigit, occisis Mogontiaci tribunis, pulso castrorum praefecto, qui detractaverant: Classicus corruptissimum quemque e deditis pergere ad obsessos iubet, veniam ostentantis, si praesentia sequerentur: (veniam ostentantis, si praesentia sequerentur: ‘holding out the prospect of a pardon, if they acted in accordance with the new situation’; si …sequerentur: imperfect subjunctive for future (potential) condition when the point of view is in the past.) aliter nihil spei, famem ferrumque et extrema passuros. (aliter …extrema passuros: ‘else, they would suffer the extreme penalty’.) adiecere qui missi erant exemplum suum.