_Nihil_. Ellipsis of _agere_ (which is inserted without MS. authority in
the common editions). So Cic. Phil. 1, 2: Nihil per senatum, etc. Cf. G.
19: _adhuc_, note.
_Ascire_, al. accire. _To receive into regular service_. The reference is
to the transfer of soldiers from the raw recruits to the legions. So W.
followed by Dr. R. and W. The next clause implies, that he took care to
receive into the service none but the best men (_optimum quemque_), whom
he deemed _trustworthy_ (_fidissimum_) just in _proportion_ as they were
_good_. This use of two superlatives mutually related to each other, the
former with _quisque_, is frequent in Latin and resembles the English use
of two comparatives: the better, the more trustworthy. Cf. Z. 710, b.;
also note, 3: _promptissmus quisque_.
_Exsequi_==punire. A sense peculiar to the later Latin. Cic. and Caes.
use _persequi_. For a similar use of the word in the expression of a
similar sentiment, see Suet. Jul. 67: Delicta neque observabat omnia
neque pro modo exsequebatur. Compare our word _execute_. And mark the
sentiment, as a maxim in the science of government.
_Severitatem commodare_. W. with Dr. and R. make this an example of
zeugma. And in its ordinary acceptation (i.e. in the sense _to give_)
the word _commodare_ certainly applies only to _veniam_, and not to
_severitatem_. But _commodare_ in its primary signification means to
_adapt_; and in this sense, it suits both of its adjuncts: _He adapted_
(awarded) _pardon to small offences, severe punishment to great ones_. So
Wr. For the series of infinitives, cf. notes, 5: _nosci_, etc.; G. 30:
_praeponere_, etc.
_Nec poena--contentus esse. Nor was he always content with punishment,
but oftener with repentance_. Mere punishment without reformation did not
satisfy him; reformation without punishment satisfied him better. See
Död. in loc. Here too some have called in the aid of zeugma.
_Auctionem_. Al. exactionem. The former is the reading of the greater
part of the MSS. and the later German editions. _Auctionem tributorum_
refers to the increased tribute exacted by Vesp. cf. Sueton. Vesp. 16:
_auxisse_ tributa provinciis, nonnullis et _duplicasse_.
_Munerum_. _Duties, burdens.--Circumcisis_. Cf. note, 2: expulsis. etc.,
and 11: amissa virtute.
_Namque--cogebantur_. The best version we can give of this obscure
passage is as follows: _For they were compelled in mockery to sit by the
closed granaries and to buy corn needlessly_ (beyond what was necessary,
cf. note on _ultro_, G. 28, when they had enough of their own) _and to
sell it at a fixed price_ (prescribed by the purchasers). It has been
made a question, whether the granaries of the Britons, or those of the
Romans are here meant. Död., Dr. and R. advocate the former opinion;
Walch, Wr., Or., and Rit. the latter. According to the former view, the
Britons were often obliged to buy corn of the Romans, because they were
forbidden to use their own, to supply themselves and their families;
according to the latter, because they were required (as explained below)
to carry their contributions to a quarter so distant from their own
granaries, that they were fain to buy the corn rather at some nearer
warehouse of the Romans. The selling at a fixed price is equally
intelligible on either supposition. Or. following the best MSS. reads
_ludere pretio_, which Rit. has amended into _colludere pretio_. _Ultro_
may well enough be rendered _moreover_ or _even_, thus giving emphasis to
_emere_.
_Devortia itinerum_. _Bye roads_, explained by _avia_, as _longinquitas_
is by _remota_. The object of requiring the people to convey their
contributions to such distant and inconvenient points, was to compel them
to buy of the Romans, or to pay almost any sum of money to avoid
compliance. The reader of Cic. will remember in illustration of this
whole passage, the various arts to which Verres is said to have had
recourse to enrich himself, at the expense of the people of his province
(Cic. in Ver. 3, 72, and 82), such as refusing to accept the
contributions they brought, obliging them to buy of him at his own price,
requiring them to carry supplies to points most distant and difficult of
access, _ut vecturae difficultate ad quam vellent aestimationem
pervenirent_.
_Omnibus_, sc. et incolis et militibus; _paucis_, sc. praefectis aut
publicanis. Dr.
_Donec--fieret_. The subj. here denotes a purpose or object in view, and
theretore follows _donec_ according to the rule. H. 522, II.; Z. 575.
Tacitus however always expresses a repeated past action after _donec_ by
the imp. subj. Cf. note, 37: affectavere; H. 1, 13. 35.
XX. _Statim_. Emphatic, like [Greek: euthus]. Cf. Thucyd. 2, 47: [Greek:
tou therous euthus archomenou]: at the _very_ beginning of summer. So in
§ 3.
_Intolerantia_, al. tolerantia, but without MS. authority. _Incuria_ is
_negligence_. Intolerantia_ is _insufferable arrogance, severity_, in a
word _intolerance_. So Cic.: superbia atque intolerantia.
_Quae--timebatur_. And no wonder, since _ubi solitudinem_ faciunt, _pacem_
appellant, 30.
_Multus_, al. militum. _Multus_ in the recent editions.
_Multus_==frequens, cf. Sal. Jug. 84: multus ac ferox instare.--
_Modestiam--disiectos_. These words are antithetic, though one is
abstract and the other concrete. The whole clause may be literally
rendered thus: _ever present in the line of march, he commended
good order (discipline), the disorderly he restrained_.
_Popularetur_, sc. A. _Quominus_, that not==_but: but he ravaged their
country by unexpected invasions_.
_Irritamenta_. _Inducements.--Pacis_. Ang. _to_ or _for peace_.
_Ex aequo egerant_, lit. had acted (lived) on an equality, i.e. _had
maintained their independence_, cf. His. 4, 64: aut ex aequo agetis aut
aliis imperitabitis.
_Iram posuere_. Cf. Hor. Ars Poet.: et _iram_ colligit ac _ponit_ temere.
See also G. 27: ponunt dolorem, etc.
_Ut--transierit_. The clause is obscure. The best that can be made of it
is this: _they were encompassed by forts and garrisons with so much skill
and care that no part of Britain hitherto now went over_ (to the enemy)
_with impunity_ (literally unattacked). For the meaning of _nova_, cf.
22. For _transierit_, cf. _transitio_, H. 2, 99; 3, 61; and Freund, sub
v. This is Walther's interpretation. If, with Ernesti, Dr. and some
others, we might suppose a _sic_, _ita_ or _tam_ to be understood with
_illacessita_, we might obtain perhaps a better sense, viz. _came over_
(to the Romans) _with so little annoyance_ (from the enemy). In the last
edition a meaning was attached to _transierit_ (_remained_, sc.
unattacked), for which I now find no sufficient authority. Among the many
amendments, which have been suggested, the easiest and best is that of
Susius, followed by Wexius, Dübner, Or. and Rit, viz. placing
_Illacessita transiit_ at the beginning of the next chapter. But this
does violence not only to MS. authority, but to Latin usage in making the
adverb _ut, so as, as_, follow _tanta_. In such a connection, _ut_ must
be a conjunction==_so that, that_. See Freund sub v. For the _perf_.
subj. cf. note, 18: _crediderint_.
_Praesidiis castellisque_. Gordon, in his Itinerarium Septentrionale,
found more remains of Roman works in that part of Britain here referred
to, than in any other portion of the Island.
XXI. _Ut--assuescerent_. _In order that they might become habituated_,
etc.--_In bella faciles. Easily inclined to wars_. Cf. Ann. 14, 4:
_facili ad gaudia_. Al. _in bello, bello_, and _in bellum_.--_Otio_. See
note, 11: otio.--_Privatim. As a private individual; publice, by public
authority, and of course from the public treasury_, cf. note G. 39:
publice.--_Jam vero_. _Moreover_, cf. G. 14, note.
_Anteferre_. Wr. takes this word in its primary sense==bear before, i.e.
carry beyond: _he carried (advanced) the native talents of the Britons
beyond the learning of the Gauls_. But there is no authority for such a
use of the word, when followed by the acc. and dat. It is doubtless used
in its more ordinary sense; and the _preference_ which A. expressed for
the genius of the Britons over the learning of the Gauls, _stimulated_
them to greater exertions. It is somewhat curious to observe thus early
that mutual emulation and jealousy, which has marked the whole history of
Britain and France. The national vanity of La Bletterie is sorely wounded
by this remark of T. See his note in loco, also Murphy's.--_Toga_. Cf.
note on _togatos_, 9.
_Ut--concupiscerent_. _Ut==so that_, denoting a consequence. The verb
here denotes a continued or habitual state of mind. Hence the _imp_.
subj. Cf. note, 18: _crediderit_.
_Discessum_, sc. a patrum moribus ad vitia varia. Dr.
_Delenimenta_==illa, quibus animi _leniuntur_. Dr. _Charms,
blandishments_. Cf. H. 1, 77. The word is not found in Cic. or Caes.
_Humanitas. Civilisation, refinement_. Compare the professorships of
_humanity_ in European Universities.
_Pars servitutis_. For the sentiment, cf. His. 4, 64: voluptatibus,
quibus Romani plus adversus subjectos, quam armis valent. _Cum==while,
although_. Hence the subj.