LXXVII.
Media acies Vbiis Lingonibusque data; (media acies Vbiis Lingonibusque data: ‘the center of the line was assigned to the Ubii and the Lingones’. The inhabitants of Cologne had joined the rebel side in ch. 64 – 66. The colony of the Lingones was now under Roman control, but their armed forces were still with Civilis and Tutor.) dextro cornu (cornu: neuter nouns of the fourth declension have dative in –u; in fact all cases end in –u except the genitive.) cohortes Batavorum, sinistro Bructeri Tencterique. (Bructeri Tencterique: first mentioned in ch. 21. Both were German tribes east of the Rhine, the Tencteri being separated by the river from the Ubii of Cologne, the Bructeri being settled further north, above the Sugambri and the Marsi.) pars montibus, alii viam inter Mosellamque flumen tam improvisi adsiluere ut in cubiculo ac lectulo Cerialis (neque enim noctem in castris egerat) pugnari simul vincique suos audierit, (tam … adsiluere ut … audierit: tam in the main clause anticipates ut in the dependent clause of a consecutive sentence. For audierit see note below for ut omnes legati vestri aut militum manibus aut hostium ceciderint.) increpans pavorem nuntiantium, donec universa clades in oculis fuit: (donec … fuit: donec followed by indicative has the meaning of ‘until the moment when…’; if followed by subjunctive the meaning of donec is ‘waiting for the moment when…’.) perrupta legionum castra, fusi equites, medius Mosellae pons, qui ulteriora coloniae adnectit, (medius Mosellae pons, qui ulteriora coloniae adnectit: lit. ‘the bridge situated in the middle of the Moselle, which connects the outlying sections of the colony. …’. Augusta Treverorum, Trier or Treves, was on the right bank of the Moselle and the bridge in question joined it to suburbs on the left bank, where the Roman camp also was. Cerialis, having passed the night in town, is now cut off from his troops as the bridge is in enemy hands.) ab hostibus insessus. Cerialis turbidis rebus intrepidus et fugientis manu retrahens, intecto corpore promptus inter tela, (turbidis rebus intrepidus … promptus inter tela: ‘undaunted by his predicament …resolute under a hail of missiles’) felici temeritate et fortissimi cuiusque adcursu reciperatum pontem electa manu firmavit. mox in castra reversus palantis captarum apud Novaesium Bonnamque legionum manipulos et rarum apud signa militem ac prope circumventas aquilas videt. (palantis captarum apud Novaesium Bonnamque legionum manipulos … videt: ‘he finds the units of the legions captured at Novaesium and Bonna in a disorganized state’. In point of fact, both legions had surrendered at Novaesium, the station of the Sixteenth legion. The First was stationed at Bonna. manipuli are the basic units in the Roman army — like companies in modern armies– three per cohort, each composed of two centuries. videt: hist. present) incensus ira ‘non Flaccum’ inquit, ‘non Voculam deseritis: (‘non Flaccum’ inquit, ‘non Voculam deseritis’: both Hordeonius Flaccus and Dillius Vocula were suspected of foul play by the troops.) nulla hic proditio; neque aliud excusandum habeo quam quod vos Gallici foederis oblitos redisse in memoriam Romani sacramenti temere credidi. (neque aliud excusandum habeo quam quod vos Gallici foederis oblitos redisse in memoriam Romani sacramenti temere credidi: ‘I have nothing to be forgiven other than the fact that (quam quod) I foolishly thought you had become mindful again of your Roman oath, having forgotten the Gallic alliance’. excusandum is an example of the use of gerundive in simple agreement with a noun or pronoun (here aliud), like any ordinary adjective, a practice that became more common in later Latin. Gallici foederis oblitos: genitive with obliviscor; oblitos, being deponent, has active meaning like the English perf. participle.) adnumerabor Numisiis et Herenniis, (adnumerabor Numisiis et Herenniis: adnumero is here with dative; more often with cum or in + abl. For Numisius and Herennius cf. ch. 70.) ut omnes legati vestri aut militum manibus aut hostium ceciderint. (ut omnes legati vestri aut militum manibus aut hostium ceciderint: the ut clause is consecutive: ‘so that all your commanders have fallen at the hands of either their soldiers or the enemy’. In clauses of result the sequence of tenses does not apply and the verb of the ut clause is independent of that of the main clause: tense depends on sense. One useful rule is to think of the indicative tense that would be appropriate if the clause were not subordinate (here ceciderunt) and change that to subjunctive.) ite, nuntiate Vespasiano vel, quod propius est, Civili et Classico, relictum a vobis in acie ducem: venient legiones quae neque me inultum neque vos impunitos patiantur.’