27

[27.1] Cuius cōnscientiā ac fāmā ferōx exercitus nihil virtūtī suae invium et penetrandam Calēdoniam inveniendumque tandem Britanniae terminum continuō proeliōrum cursū fremēbant. Atque illī modo cautī ac sapientēs prōmptī post ēventum ac magniloquī erant. Inīquissima haec bellōrum condiciō est: prōspera omnēs sibi vindicant, adversa ūnī imputantur. [27.2] At Britannī nōn virtūte sē victōs, sed occāsiōne et arte dūcis ratī, nihil ex adrogantiā remittere, quō minus iuventūtem armārent, coniugēs ac līberōs in loca tūta trānsferrent, coetibus et sacrificiīs cōnspīrātiōnem cīvitātum sancīrent. Atque ita inrītātīs utrimque animīs discessum.

    Overview: Emboldened by this success, the army clamors for more fields to conquer; the Britons, undaunted, retain their belligerent attitude. (Stuart); this chapter begins on f. 59v of the codex Aesinas.

    27.1

    cuius: sc. victoriae. (Pearce)

    fāmā: i.e. the prestige consequent on the victory. (Stuart); with reference to that part of the army which had not engaged in this battle. (Gudeman)

    invium: sc. esse. (Damon)

    penetrandam: penetrare is intransitive in classical Latin. (Pearce)

    fremēbant: the subject is the collective noun exercitus. (Pearce); "they kept vociferously asserting." (Stuart); the plural, because of the twofold aspect under which the army is viewed, as indicated by conscientia and fama, for, although Tacitus frequently has a plural predicate with a number of collective nouns, such as plebs, multitudo, pars, and the like, exercitus seems not to be so used by him, although the term occasionally includes several legions. (Gudeman)

    prōmptī post ēventum: became belligerent (aggressive) after the successful turn of affairs. (Gudeman)

    condiciō: “terms.” (Stuart)

    prospera ... imputantur: a commonplace. (Gudeman)

    27.2

    nōn virtūte sē: i.e. they thought that defective strategy might more easily be improved than defective valour. (Pearce)

    victos: sc. esse. (Damon)

    occāsiōne et arte: "by a tricky surprise or coup." (Gudeman); occāsiōne, the unforeseen contingency, almost = “luck”; arte, the strategy by which Agricola turned it to his advantage. (Pearce)  

    remittere: historical infinitive. (Damon) [A&G 463]

    quo minus: a conjunction used after a main clause expressing (and negating) prevention, here rather elliptically: no abatement of effort (prevented them from) arming the men of fighting age, etc. (Damon) [A&G 558b]

    coetibus ... sancīrent: observe the alliteration with “c” and “s” throughout. Sacrificiis is added to define coetibus more closely, the offerings to the gods characterizing the solemnity and seriousness of these meetings. (Gudeman)

    cōnspīrātiōnem: “covenant.” (Stuart); "conspiracy," from the Roman point of view, not "union" or "compact," for the word is not used by Tacitus in this colorless and indefinite sense, though it is common enough elsewhere. (Gudeman)

    discessum: sc. est. (Damon)

    cōnscientia cōnscientiae f.: consciousness, knowledge

    ferōx ferōcis: bold, emboldened, headstrong

    invius –a –um: impassable, inaccessible

    penetrō penetrāre penetrāvī penetrātus: to traverse, go right through

    Calēdonia –ae f.: Caledonia, Scotland

    Britannia –ae f.: Britain

    terminus –ī m.: limit, endpoint

    continuus –a –um: uninterrupted, unbroken

    fremō fremere fremuī: to clamor

    cautus –a –um: cautious, discreet

    sapiens –ientis: wise, prudent

    prōmptus –a –um: ready, quick, eager

    ēventus ēventūs m.: issue, result

    magniloquus –a –um: talking loudly or boastfully

    inīquus –a –um: unfair

    prōsper – or more frequently – prōsperus –a –um: prosperous, favorable

    vindicō vindicāre vindicāvī vindicātus: to claim

    imputō –putāre: to credit, ascribe

    Britannī –ōrum m.: Britons

    occāsiō occāsiōnis f.: opportunity

    arrogantia –ae f.: arrogance, haughtiness

    remittō remittere remīsī remissum: to give up, lessen

    quō: (expresses degree of difference)

    iuventūs iuventūtis f.: the men of military age

    armō armāre armāvī armātus: arm

    līberī līberōrum m. pl.: children

    trānsferō trānsferre trānstulī trānslātus: to transfer

    coetus coetūs m.: assembly, gathering

    sacrificium sacrifici(ī) n.: sacrifice

    cōnspīrātiō –ōnis f.: confederacy

    sanciō sancīre sānxī sānctus: to confirm, sanction

    inrītō inrītāre inrītāvī inrītātus: to enrage

    utrimque: on both sides

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    Suggested Citation

    Cynthia Damon, Tacitus: Agricola. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-947822-09-2. https://dcc.dickinson.edu/tacitus-agricola/27