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Tacitus · Historiae I

Histories 1.65

Massacre at Divodurum

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Hist. 1.65.1Et Trēvirōs quidem ut sociōs sēcūrī adiēre: Divodūrī (Mediomatricōrum id oppidum est) quamquam omnī cōmitāte exceptōs subitus pavor terruit, raptīs repente armīs ad caedem innoxiae cīvitātis, nōn ob praedam aut spoliandī cupīdine, sed furōre et rabiē et causīs incertīs eōque difficiliōribus remediīs, dōnec precibus ducis mītigātī ab excidiō cīvitātis temperāvēre;They approached the Treviri, indeed, without anxiety, as allies: at Divodurum (this is a town of the Mediomatrici), although they had been received with every courtesy, a sudden panic seized them, and they snatched up their arms to slaughter the harmless community, not for booty or from lust for plunder, but from fury and madness and for uncertain causes, and so with remedies the more difficult, until, softened by their general's entreaties, they refrained from destroying the community; Hist. 1.65.1caesa tamen ad quattuor mīlia hominum.nevertheless about four thousand people were slaughtered. Hist. 1.65.1Isque terror Galliās invāsit ut venientī mox agminī ūniversae cīvitātēs cum magistrātibus et precibus occurrerent, strātīs per viās fēminīs puerīsque: quaeque alia plācāmenta hostīlis īrae, nōn quidem in bellō sed prō pāce tendēbantur.And such terror spread through the Gauls that, as the column soon approached, whole communities came out to meet it with their magistrates and with prayers, women and children prostrate along the roads: and all the other means of appeasing an enemy's anger were held out, not indeed in war but to secure peace.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×1, ablative absolute ×2, purpose clauses ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (74 words)
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
quidem, adv.in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
socius, -ī, m.companion, comrade, ally
sēcūrus, -a, -umfree from care, untroubled; careless (of: gen.)
adeō, -īre, -iī, -itusgo to, approach
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
oppidum, -ī, n.town
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
quamquam, conj.however much, although
omnis, -eall, every
cōmitās, -ātis f.courtesy, friendliness
excipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptustake out or up, receive, welcome, entertain
subitus, -a, -umsudden
pavor, -ōris, m.terror, panic
terreō, -ēre, -uī, -itusfrighten, terrify
rapiō, -ere, -uī, -tusseize, snatch
repente (adv.)suddenly
arma, -ōrum, n. plur.arms, weapons
ad, prep. with acc.to, toward; at, near; for
caedēs, -is, f.cutting down, killing, slaughter
innoxius, -a, -umharmless; innocent
cīvitās, -tātis, f.state
nōn, adv.not
ob, prep. with acc.on account of, for; in compounds, to, against
praeda, -ae, f.booty, spoil, plunder
aut, conj.or; aut ... aut, either ... or
spoliō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumstrip, rob
cupīdō, -inis f. (in Sallust also m.)desire, longing, greed
sed, conj.but
furor, -ōris, m.rage, fury, frenzy, madness
rabiēs, -ēī f.madness, fury
causa, -ae, f.cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of
incertus, -a, -umuncertain, unreliable
eō (adv.)to that place, thither; to that point (usque eō); (with comparatives) by so much, all the (more)
que, enclitic conj.and
difficilis, -enot easy, difficult
remedium, -ī, n.remedy
dōnec (conj.)until; while, as long as
prex, precis f. (usu. pl.)prayer, entreaty
dux, ducis, m. and f.leader, commander
mītigō, -āre, -āvī, -ātussoften, calm, soothe
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
excidium, -ī n.destruction, overthrow
temperō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum (ab + abl.)refrain (from)
caedō, -ere, cecīdī, caesumcut, cut down; kill
tamen, adv.however, yet, nevertheless
quattuor, indecl. adj.four
mīlle, indecl. adj.a thousand; mīlia, -ium, n. plur., thousands;
homō, hominis, m.man
terror, -ōris, m.terror, fright
invādō, -ere, -vāsī, -vāsusgo into, attack, seize; come upon
veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventuscome
mox, adv.soon
agmen, -minis, n.band, column
ūniversus, -a, -umall together, whole, entire, all
cum, prep, with abl.with
magistrātus, -ūs m.magistrate, official
occurrō, -currere, -currī, -cursusrun against, meet
sternō, -ere, strāvī, strātusspread out; furnish with couches (of a room)
per, prep, with ace.through, by means of
via, -ae, f.road, way
fēmina, -ae, f.woman
puer, puerī, m.boy
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
alius, -a, -udanother, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others
plācāmentum, -ī n.means of appeasing, peace-offering
hostīlis, -eof the enemy, hostile
īra, -ae, f.anger, wrath
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
bellum, -ī, n.war
prō, prep. with abl.before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for
pāx, pācis f.peace
tendō, -ere, tetendī, tentumstretch out; hold out
Tacitus, Historiae I. Latin text: C. D. Fisher, Cornelii Taciti Historiarum Libri (Oxford, 1911), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.