LXXV.
Tenebantur victore exercitu Treviri, (tenebantur victore exercitu Treviri: the absence of a or ab before victore exercitu indicates that the abl. is not one of agent but one of instrument; cf. A.G. 405. N. 2.) cum Civilis et Classicus misere ad Cerialem epistulas, (epistulas: the plural always refers to a single written communication or missive, perhaps on the analogy of litterae.) quarum haec sententia fuit: Vespasianum, quamquam nuntios occultarent, (quamquam …occultarent: quamquam is with subjunctive because the clause is in indir. discourse after sententia fuit. The subject of occultarent is indefinite, perhaps ‘the Flavians’.) excessisse vita, urbem atque Italiam interno bello consumptam, Muciani ac Domitiani vana et sine viribus nomina: si Cerialis imperium Galliarum velit, ipsos finibus civitatium suarum contentos; si proelium mallet, (si … velit …; si … mallet: two conditions in indir. discourse; velit and mallet present a change of tense in two identical constructs, something that Tacitus does from time to time. It has been said that velim, being closer to the reader by repraesentatio (cf. A.G. 585. B. and N.), points to the preferred alternative. For other examples of this variation of tenses see si nemo obsisteret, innoxium iter fore: sin arma occurrant, ferro viam inventuros in ch. 20 or Varus turbae suorum miscetur intulitque formidinem in Book 3, ch. 16.) ne id quidem abnuere. ad ea Cerialis Civili et Classico nihil: eum qui attulerat <et> ipsas epistulas ad Domitianum misit. (ad ea Cerialis Civili et Classico nihil: eum qui attulerat <et> ipsas epistulas ad Domitianum misit: the verb implied after nihil is left to the reader: Tacitus is very chary of writing out a verb that is clearly suggested by the context. <et> has been added to the original text to avoid asyndeton.) Hostes divisis copiis advenere undique. plerique culpabant Cerialem passum iungi quos discretos intercipere licuisset. (plerique culpabant Cerialem passum [esse] iungi quos discretos intercipere licuisset: ‘many disapproved that Cerialis had allowed those [forces] to be joined, which it would have been possible to intercept separately’. licuisset is subjunctive on more grounds than one: modal attraction (cf. G. 629.) is one reason.) Romanus exercitus castra fossa valloque circumdedit, quis temere antea intutis consederat.