XXIV.
Potuisse tunc opprimi legiones et voluisse Germanos, sed dolo a se flexos imputavit Civilis; (potuisse tunc opprimi legiones et voluisse Germanos, sed dolo a se flexos imputavit Civilis: ‘Civilis made it a merit that at that moment he could have destroyed the legions and that the Germans had wanted [to do so}, but that they had been dissuaded by himself using craft’. The Germans are the Bructeri and the Chauci, the two tribes from east of the Rhine that had sent troops to Civilis.) neque abhorret vero, quando paucis post diebus deditio insecuta est. (neque abhorret vero, quando paucis post diebus deditio insecuta est: neque abhorret vero is an example of litotes or understatement, an affirmation expressed as the negative of its contrary: so ‘true’ is here expresses as ‘not at variance with the truth’. quando …insecuta est: causal quando normally takes indicative; paucis post diebus: abl. with ante or post is one way to denote length of time before or after something. Cf. A.G. 424, f. for other ways. ) Nam Cerialis per occultos nuntios Batavis pacem, Civili veniam ostentans, Veledam propinquosque monebat fortunam belli, tot cladibus adversam, opportuno erga populum Romanum merito mutare: (monebat … mutare: rather uncommon use of the infinitive after moneo in place of ut or ne + subjunctive.) caesos Treviros, receptos Vbios, ereptam Batavis patriam; (caesos Treviros, receptos Vbios, ereptam Batavis patriam: for the victory over the Treveri cf. Book 4, ch. 71-72; for the return of the Ubii to Roman rule cf. Book 4, ch. 79; for the devastation of the insula Batavorum see previous chapter.) neque aliud Civilis amicitia partum quam vulnera fugas luctus. Exulem eum et extorrem recipientibus oneri, (recipientibus oneri: double dative: recipientibus is dat. of interest, oneri is dat of purpose, ‘[he was] for a burden to those who sheltered him’.) et satis peccavisse quod totiens Rhenum transcenderint. (quod … transcenderint: quod, normally with indicative, is with subjunctive in indirect speech. transcenderint reflects the perf. indicative transcenderunt of direct speech.) Si quid ultra moliantur, inde iniuriam et culpam, hinc ultionem et deos (ultionem et deos: hendiadys, ‘divine vengeance’) fore. (si … moliantur, … fore: conditional sentence of Type II (condition future and potential) in indirect speech: the apodosis is with future infinitive, as required; the protasis is here with present subjunctive by repraesentatio (cf. A.G. 469, Note and 485, b., Note.) in place of the imperf. molirentur demanded by the sequence of tenses after a hist. verb of saying (monebat). Cf. A.G. 589, a. 3. Ex. 1.)