LXIV.
Igitur Tencteri, Rheno discreta gens, missis legatis mandata apud concilium Agrippinensium edi iubent, (Tencteri, Rheno discreta gens. … mandata apud concilium Agrippinensium edi iubent: ‘the Tencteri, a nation kept apart [from Cologne] by the Rhine, ordered that their demands be delivered to the council of the Agrippinenses’; iubeo in prose is regularly followed by infinitive, especially if the infinitive is passive and has its own acc. subject. For the Tencteri see also ch. 21.) quae ferocissimus e legatis in hunc modum protulit: ‘redisse vos in corpus nomenque Germaniae (in corpus nomenque Germaniae: the Agrippinenses now called themselves Ubii again.) communibus deis et praecipuo deorum Marti (praecipuo deorum Marti: either ‘to Mars, foremost of the gods’ or ‘to Mars, before all other gods’. Mars was the German Tiu, from which Tuesday id derived, as Wednesday is from Wotan (Mercury) and Thursday from Thor (Jupiter).) grates agimus, vobisque gratulamur quod tandem liberi inter liberos eritis; (quod … eritis: quod as a rule is found with any tense of the indicative.) nam ad hunc diem flumina ac terram et caelum quodam modo ipsum clauserant Romani ut conloquia congressusque nostros arcerent, vel, quod contumeliosius est viris ad arma natis, inermes ac prope nudi sub custode et pretio coiremus. (flumina ac terram et caelum quodam modo ipsum clauserant Romani ut conloquia congressusque nostros arcerent, vel … inermes ac prope nudi sub custode et pretio coiremus: ‘the Romans had made rivers, land, and in a sense even the sky itself out of bounds for us to keep us from meeting and communicating or to force us to come together unarmed and almost naked, under the eyes of guards and after paying a fee’. caelum ipsum clauserant: perhaps a reference to the high city walls. inermes …sub custode et pretio: Germans never parted from their arms, even while eating; to enter Cologne a German had to pay tribute and be escorted by a soldier.) sed ut amicitia societasque nostra in aeternum rata sint, postulamus a vobis muros coloniae, munimenta servitii, detrahatis (etiam fera animalia, si clausa teneas, virtutis obliviscuntur), Romanos omnis in finibus vestris trucidetis (haud facile libertas et domini miscentur): bona interfectorum in medium cedant, ne quis occulere quicquam aut segregare causam suam possit. (postulamus a vobis muros coloniae … detrahatis, … Romanos omnis in finibus vestris trucidetis, … bona interfectorum in medium cedant, ne quis occulere quicquam aut segregare causam suam possit: ‘we demand that you pull down the walls of Cologne, that you put to death all Romans in your territory, and that their property become common stock, lest anyone should conceal anything or be able to separate his private from the public cause’. The verb postulo is normally followed by a purpose clause with ut, but if the idea of demand is emphatic the simple subjunctive without ut is used (G. 546, 2. Remark 2.). liceat nobis vobisque utramque ripam colere, (liceat nobis vobisque utramque ripam colere: liceat is hortatory subjunctive: ‘let it be lawful for you and us to settle on either side of the Rhine’.) ut olim maioribus nostris: quo modo lucem diemque omnibus hominibus, ita (quo modo … ita …: quo modo introduces the dependent clause and ita the main clause of a comparative sentence; the mood is generally the indicative. ) omnis terras fortibus viris natura aperuit. instituta cultumque patrium resumite, abruptis voluptatibus, quibus Romani plus adversus subiectos quam armis valent. (instituta cultumque patrium resumite, abruptis voluptatibus, quibus Romani plus adversus subiectos quam armis valent: abruptis voluptatibus, quibus … valent is abl. abs. with dependent rel. clause: ‘the empty pleasures having been rejected by means of which the Romans secure more power than by the force of arms, resume the customs and culture of your fathers’.) sincerus et integer et servitutis oblitus populus aut ex aequo agetis aut aliis imperitabitis.’