Page 93 94 32. Interpretari. Discuss-Mallet. For the subj. cf. H. 501 I.; Z. 558. 33. Adeo imperite. There is an obvious ellipsis of quod factum est, or the like: which was done with so little skill. Cf. Plut. Oth 11, of which Lipsius says: totum hunc locum verbatim Plutarchus expressit, ut pleraque alia, etsi haud multum aetate Nostro inferior. 38. Perinde, followed by quam, is peculiar to post-Augustan writors. Cf. Freund and Boetticher, Lex. Tac. CH. XL.-3. Non...bellandum. Not as if to battle, but as if to a (protracted) war, i. e. encumbered with baggage (gravem sarcinis) and in marching, not fighting, order. On the contrary, the Vitellians are said (45) to have been expediti et tantum ad proelium egressi See proelium and bellum contrasted in like manner, G. 30. 4. Inde refers to the encampment ad quartum a Bedriaco. 7. Admissuro. Al. amissuro, omissuro. Literally, who would not allow but that he would attack, i. e. would not fail to attack. Non admitto is equivalent to a verb of hindering. Z. 543. 10. Ad jus.... transibant. They had recourse to their authority as commanders-in-chief. Strictly, they were having recourse, sc. at the very time when Otho's courier arrived. 11. Numida. People of wealth and fashion at this time were habitually attended by a train of Numidians, mounted on the swift horses of their country, to ride before them and announce their approach. Cf. Sen. Epist. 88 and 124; Suet. Ner. 30; Beck. Gall. Sc. 4. 13. Aeger. impatiens. 66 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." .... CH. XLI.-14. Operi .... intentum. Cf. 34. 16. Conditiones. Proposals. 18. Insidias. To lay a snare for the Vitellians: proditionem, to betray their own party. 23. A. Othonianis belongs with impingerentur, being placed before quo minus for emphasis. Or. and Död. trace the form of expression here to Virg. Aen. 5, 805: Cum Troia Achilles. impinge ret agmina muris. 29. Mixta, sc. with the soldiers.-Lixae. Cf. note, 1, 49: ante tumulum.-30. Fossis. Cf. note, 25. ... 34. Aut relabebantur. Al. vel revehebantur. But vel suits not the place. Wr. Aut is found in the best MS. together with relabebantur, fell back, literally, glided back, flowed back, like a wave. Cf. Virg. Aen. 10, 307: unda relabens. CH. XLII.-38. Dispersus = utrum dispersus sit. The author leaves it uncertain whether the report was spread abroad by spies of Vitellius, or originated in the party of Otho, and, in the latter case, whether it was by accident or by treachery. Suetonius (Oth. 9) de. clares that Otho was defeated by a stratagem: his soldiers were called out to be present at a general pacification, and were suddenly attacked m the very act of saluting the Vitellian army. Page 2. Salutavere. Armies were wont to salute each other and join 95 hands at a friendly meeting. Cf. 3, 25; 4, 72. 8. Cominus eminus. Notice the asyndeton and its effect. Cf. note, 1, 36.-Catervis et cuneis. In the form of a wedge (cf. note, G. 6), and in less regular masses (cf. Rams. 624). Rup. takes cuneis here as a general term = divisions, as in Ann. 1, 51. But non una... facies requires here the more distinctive sense. 9. Collato gradu. Foot to foot, as we say. It is a technic for a close engagement.-Niti, sc. hostibus, which is the object. Corporibus and umbonibus are the instrument. 11. Noscentes inter se. Being mutually acquainted, sc. the soldiers on opposite sides. They are called fratres et propinqui, 45 Cf. yvwpíšovтes ådλýλous. Xiph. 65, 12.—Ceteris conspicui, i. e. those, who fought on the highway, were conspicuous in the view of their comrades. CH. XLIII.-16. Prima Adjutrix. Cf. note, on prima legione, chap. 11. 18. Principiis. Intellige poμáxovs, primam aciem. The word is used in the same sense by Livy (e. g. 2, 65; 3, 22). Cf. also Plutarch ad rem eandem: πάντας τοὺς προμάχους αποκτείναντες. 20. Signa vexillaque. Cf. notes, 1, 31. 36.—A parte alia. In another part of the field. CH. XLIV.-29. Immensum spatium, i. e. for a flying army. The distance was sixteen miles. 30. Strage corporum. According to Xiph. (64, 10), forty thousand men fell on both sides in this battle. Cf. also Plutarch's account of the carnage, Oth. 13.-Neque . . vertuntur. Hence no quarter was given. Cf. 3, 34. 32. Castra vitavere. Nimirum poßouμevol roùs σтpariwτas. Plut. Oth. 13. Wr. 34. Multo adhuc die. While much of the day still remained. Non noctu et furtim, ut Titianus et Celsus. Rup. 1. Excubiis. Cf. Manual, P. 3, 298; Smith's Dict. of Antiq., 96 under Army.—9. Militum, quod. Cf. frugum, quod, G. 15, note. 13. Truces refers to the praetoriani; pavidi to ceteri above. His cogitationibus limits truces only, not pavidi. CH. XLV.-17. Sed expeditis victoria. They neglected the usual precaution of fortifying their camp, because they had not the requisite implements. But their arms and their recent victory were a sufficient defence. 21. Missa legatio, sc. by the army of Otho, asking peace of the Vitellian officers, who had no hesitation about granting it, though they Page 96 retained the ambassadors a little while, and thus occasioned an anxious suspense to the Othonians. 24. Vallum, sc. of the Othonians; patuit, sc. to receive the Vitellians. 31. Ceterum vulgus ceteri, sc. vulgus, by attraction: the rest, namely the common soldiers. Cf. Essay, p. 17. The concluding portion of this section presents a very lively and touching picture of the evils of civil war. CH. XLVI.-33. Nequaquam trepidus = fearless; hence the propriety of et after it, where Rhenanus proposed sed. 34. Consilii certus. Firm of purpose, sc. to meet any result with composure. Tacitus resembles the poets in a more frequent use of the gen. after such adjectives as certus. Cf. Z. 437. 36. Haberet. Observe the omission of ut. Cf. Essay, p. 14. Al. habere. 97 1. Excitare. Literally, to rouse it up, as it were out of sleep, quasi jacentem ac dormientem genium. Död.-Furore... instinctu. By hendiadys for furore quodam instincti. Ernesti. Cf. instincti, A. 16. 35; instinctu, 1, 73. T. has a marked fondness for such pairs of kindred words, e. g. in this section: fortes et strenuos, timidos et ignavos. Cf. also note on domibus, etc., 1, 84. 2. Tendere manus. Cf. notes on protendens munus, 1, 36; and tendebantur, 1, 63. 3. Prensare genua. Cf. 1, 66, note.-Plotio Firmo. Cf. 1, 46. 8. Flexerat. Antithetic to induraverat; hence = softened, indicative of compliance.-Ut for prout. Cf. Essay, p. 10. 9. Clamor, sc. ubi flexerat; gemitus, ubi induraverat. 11. Aquileiam. A large city of the Veneti, and formerly a Roman colony. 12. Ut dubitet potuisse. Observe the tenses: so that no one can (now) doubt, that the war could (then) have been renewed. CH. XLVII.-14. Ipse .... inquit. Compare this speech with Suet. Oth. 10; Plut. 15. Inquam is used only between the words of a quotation, while ait, aiunt, are found most frequently in the oratio obliqua. Z. 219. 18. Experti .... sumus. Have made trial of each other, found each other out. Otho had found out all there was in good fortune by his elevation to the highest seat of power; and good fortune had tried him and found him moderate in the exercise and enjoyment of it.-Fortuna felicitas.-Nec.... computaveritis. And you may not have estimated aright, the short time of my reign; the shorter the time, the greater the temptation to abuse power, and therefore the severer the trial. 23. Fruetur.... liberis. Cf. note on domus utraque, 1, 75; ulso 1, 88. Page 30. Extremis. My last hours, my ueath. Lipsius compares97 the sentiments of this speech with those of Ajax when about to torminate his life. Soph. Aj. 852, seq. CII. XLVIII.-35. Irent. Cf. note, 1, 41: agerent. 36. Asperarent for exasperarent, sin ple for compound. Scarcely found in this sense in any other prose writer. 38. Naves. Otho was at Brixellum, i. e. at the confluence of the Po and the Nicia. 2. Nec ut periturus. Nor yet with the profusion of a man 98 quitting the world. Murphy. 3. Fratris filium, sc. of Salvius Titianus, who had fled to the camp, according to T. (44); Suetonius makes him to have been present on this occasion (Oth. 10), and his son to have been slain (Dom. 10). Plutarch agrees with T. (Oth. 10). 11. Julios, sc. Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula.-Claudios, sc. Nero and Claudius.-Servios, sc. Galba. lated by Plut. Oth. 16. Cf. note on adeo imperite above, 39. CH. XLIX.-15. Dimotis, i. e. jussis abire. 17. Avertit, sc. ab his curis. 19. Verginium. Cf. 1, 8. 9. Brotier suggests, that the example of Verginius in declining the imperial dignity, may have been regarded by the soldiers as a cause of Otho's undervaluing and resigning it. 22. Allatis pugionibus. After the example of Nero. Cf. Suet. Ner. 49. Some MSS. and most editions add duobus. But it is not in the best MSS. and is quite superfluous. Cf. Or. in loc. 23. Cum ... pertentasset. When he had carefully (per) tried the points of both-for some time, adds Plutarch (Oth. 17): πολὺν χρόνον. 27. Unum vulnus. Indicative of intrepidity in the act of suicide. 28. Ambitiosis. Earnest, like those of the candidate scliciting popular favor. Nero had made the same request (Suet. Ner. 49). Alike in their manner of life, in death they were not dissimilar, though Otho died with the greater dignity. 31. Exosculantes. Ex gives emphasis: kissing fondly, repeatedly. This compound is not found earlier than the age of T. 32. Non noxa neque ob metum. Hendiadys according to Wr. But Oberlin and Rup. refer noxa to Otho, and metum to Vitellius as its object: not through remorse for any unfaithfulness to Otho, nor through fear of punishment from Vitellius. And so it is expressly rendered by Plutarch (Oth. 17). 34. Celebratum. Saepe et a multis peractum. Rep. Cf. note, 1.81: celebre. Page 98 99 35. Sepulcrum .... mansurum, sc. ob modestiam: and therefore likely to last. So Murphy translates, and adds the following note: Plutarch tells us (Oth. 18) that he himself visited Otho's tomb at Brixellum. Those perishable monuments have long since mouldered away; but the epitaph written by Martial will never die. The poet admits that Otho led a dissolute life, but adds that in his end, he was no way inferior to Cato. Cf. Mart. 6, 31. CH. L.-36. Hunc finem. Cf. note on hunc exitum, 1, 49.— Septimo et tricesimo. The 38th according to Suet. (Oth. 11), who always includes in such computations both the year of birth and of Zoath. Wr. Cf. note on sextus dies, 1, 28. 37. Origo, i. e. of his family, not his own birthplace.-Ferentio. A town of Etruria, different from the Ferentinum so often mentioned by Livy, though confounded with it by many commentators. Suet. Oth. 1. Cf. 38. Maternum . . . impar, etc., viz. Equestrian. Cf. Suet. Oth. 1. 1. Qualem monstravimus. Cf. 1, 13. 2. Altero flagitiosissimo, sc. the dethronement of Galba, with its accompanying crimes.-Altero egregio, sc. his voluntary death, with a view to terminate the civil war. It scarcely need be said that the Christian, while he approves the motive (if this were the motive), will condemn the means. 4. Fabulosa. T. relates few prodigies in comparison with Suetonius. 5. Crediderim.... ausim. Cf. note on crediderim, 1, 83. 7. Invisitata = antea non visa. Al. inusitata.—Regium Lepidum. A town of Gallia Cispadana, not far from Brixellum; called Lepidum from Aemilius Lepidus (Strab. 5); now Reggio.-Celebri luco. Al. loco. But the MSS. all have luco. Celebri may be either frequented or celebrated. Cf. note, 1, 81. 12. Competisse, in the sense of agreement, is not found prior to the age of Tacitus, and the word is very rarely used by the earlier Latin authors. Grief and pain. Grief for CH. LI.-13. Luctu ac dolore. 14. Modo.... nunc. Correlatives = modo... modo. A. 25. .... .... tulit, sc. to Cæcina and Valens. 19. Concedentibus is abl., denoting not the cause, but the concomitant of venia impetrata. Cf. note on expulsis... professoribus. A. 2. 20. Flavium Sabinum. Prefect of the city and brother of Vespasian. Cf. 1, 46, 77; 2, 36, and notes ibid. CH. LII.-23. Mutinae. Cf. 1, 50. The fact that the senators were left at Mutina, was not mentioned in its place, though we are told (1, 88) that they left Rome with Otho, comitum specie. |