LXXI.
Hic belli status erat cum Petilius Cerialis Mogontiacum venit. eius adventu erectae spes; ipse pugnae avidus et contemnendis quam cavendis hostibus melior, (contemnendis quam cavendis hostibus melior: lit. ‘more fit by temperament for the enemy to be despised than to be feared’; dat. of gerundive after adjectives denoting fitness or function; this use of gerund and gerundive spread after Livy, in place of ad + acc. Cf. G. 429.) ferocia verborum militem incendebat, ubi primum congredi licuisset, nullam proelio moram facturus. (ubi primum congredi licuisset, nullam proelio moram facturus: ‘the moment it would have been possible to join battle, he was not going to hesitate to fight’. ubi primum is followed by subjunctive in that the sense is conditional (ubi = si); cf. G. 590, N. 3.; licuisset: plup. subjunctive for action preceding that implied by facturus: cf. G. 567, Rule II.) dilectus per Galliam habitos (dilectus per Galliam habitos: this is the levy mentioned in ch. 24.) in civitates remittit ac nuntiare iubet sufficere imperio (imperio: one commentator has noted that imperio does not refer to the Roman empire at large, rather to the forces under his (Cerialis’) command.) legiones: socii ad munia pacis redirent (socii … redirent: iussive subjunctive in indirect speech: redirent corresponds to present imperative redite of direct speech, if the order is imparted directly to the people concerned; if through intermediaries, then redeant, present subjunctive.) securi velut confecto bello quod Romanae manus excepissent. (securi velut confecto bello quod Romanae manus excepissent: lit. ‘untroubled in mind, a war, which Roman forces had undertaken, being as if finished’; velut confecto bello: abl. abs. of causal sense; the combination of velut and other conditional particles of comparison with the participle of an abl. abs. became progressively more common after Livy and culminated in Tacitus (cf. G. 609, N. 1, 666, and 667.) quod …excepissent: subjunctive in rel. clause in indir. speech after nuntiare iubet) auxit ea res Gallorum obsequium: nam recepta iuventute facilius tributa toleravere, proniores ad officia quod spernebantur. (proniores ad officia quod spernebantur: ‘more obedient because they were despised’: an extension of the reflexion expressed in ch. 57 that subject people are more rebellious when treated humanly.) at Civilis et Classicus ubi pulsum Tutorem, caesos Treviros, cuncta hostibus prospera accepere, (ubi … accepere: cf. note for ubi …rediere in previous chapter.) trepidi ac properantes, dum dispersas suorum copias conducunt, (dum …conducunt: cf. note for dum …nititur in previous chapter.) crebris interim nuntiis Valentinum monuere ne summae rei periculum faceret. (monuere ne summae rei periculum faceret: moneo is regularly followed by complementary final clause with ut or ne: ‘they warned him not to risk a decisive engagement’.) eo rapidius Cerialis, missis in Mediomatricos qui breviore itinere legiones in hostem verterent, contracto quod erat militum Mogontiaci quantumque secum transvexerat, (contracto quod erat militum Mogontiaci quantumque secum transvexerat: at Mogontiacum Cerialis found what was left of the Fourth and Twenty-second legion; as to the forces he had brought with him, they would be a portion of those listed in ch. 68, probably no more than two of the legions dispatched. transvexerat reflects the effort of moving troops across the Alps, almost as if he had to carry them.) tertiis castris Rigodulum venit, (eo rapidius Cerialis, missis … qui …, contracto quod …quantum …, tertiis castris Rigodulum venit: ‘for that reason all the more swiftly [reacted] Cerialis, …in three days’ march he reached Rigodulum’; missis …qui …, contracto quod …quantum …: multiple ablatives abs. followed by dependent clauses: the usage is meant to convey a sense of speed and decisive action, but is essentially post-classical. An even less conventional use of the abl. abs. is found a few lines ahead: spreto hoste, quem …ita …ut non …foret; cf G. 410, N. 4. and note below. Rigodulum is modern Riol 10 km. or 6 miles ENE of Trier in the Moselle valley. tertiis castris: the number of camps was the same as the days of march, soldiers being required to build a camp, complete with ditch and rampart, at the end of each day of march.) quem locum magna Trevirorum manu Valentinus insederat, montibus aut Mosella amne saeptum; et addiderat fossas obicesque saxorum. nec deterruere ea munimenta Romanum ducem quo minus peditem perrumpere iuberet, equitum aciem in collem erigeret, (nec deterruere ea munimenta Romanum ducem quo minus peditem perrumpere iuberet equitum aciem in collem erigeret: the construct with quominus occurs after verbs of preventing and refusing; the sense is partly final, partly consecutive: ‘those defenses did not stop the Roman general from ordering his infantry to launch their assault and the cavalry to charge up the slope’) spreto hoste, quem temere collectum haud ita loco iuvari ut non plus suis in virtute foret. (spreto hoste, quem temere collectum haud ita loco iuvari ut non plus suis in virtute foret: spreto hoste has the force of a verb of saying introducing an infinitive clause which in turn governs a comparative clause with ita …ut: lit. ‘the foe being regarded with contempt [by him thinking that] such a hastily collected [mob] was not so much advantaged by his position as his own men were by their valor’; ita … ut non plus suis in virtute foret: ‘in such a way that his men had not more [protection] in their valor’. suis is dat. of possessor with foret, on the pattern of aliquid alicui est, ‘one has something’. foret is subjunctive by modal attraction, because the comparative clause depends on the preceding infinitive. Cf. A.G. 593 and G. 508, 4. and 629.) paulum morae in adscensu, dum missilia hostium praevehuntur: (paulum morae in adscensu, dum missilia hostium praevehuntur: ‘[there was] some hesitation during the ascent while they rode through the enemy’s missiles’; praevehuntur is both deponent and transitive.) ut ventum in manus, (ut ventum [est] in manus: ‘as soon as it came to close fighting, …’; ventum [est]: impersonal use of passive of an intransitive verb; temporal ut commonly takes the historical perfect.) deturbati ruinae modo (ruinae modo: ‘like anything that falls heavily, noisily, and with rapid violent motion’; it is left to the reader to think of suitable examples of ruina from the physical world.) praecipitantur. et pars equitum aequioribus iugis circumvecta nobilissimos Belgarum, (Belgarum: umbrella term for the peoples of northern Gaul) in quis ducem Valentinum, cepit.