Hist. 2.106.1Scrīptōrēs temporum, quī potiente rērum Flāviā domō monimenta bellī huiusce composuērunt, cūram pācis et amōrem reī pūblicae, corruptās in adūlātiōnem causās, trādidēre: nōbīs super īnsitam levitātem et prōditō Galbā vīlem mox fidem aemulātiōne etiam invidiāque, nē ab aliīs apud Vitellium anteīrentur, pervertisse ipsum Vitellium videntur.The writers of those times who, while the Flavian house held power, composed records of this war, have reported concern for peace and love of the state as the motives, corrupting the causes into flattery: to us it seems that, besides their inborn fickleness and a loyalty that had become cheap once Galba was betrayed, rivalry and jealousy too, lest they be outstripped by others in Vitellius' favour, led them to ruin Vitellius himself. Hist. 2.106.1Caecīna legiōnēs adsecūtus centuriōnum mīlitumque animōs obstinātōs prō Vitelliō variīs artibus subruēbat: Bassō eadem mōlientī minor difficultas erat, lūbricā ad mūtandam fidem classe ob memoriam recentis prō Othōne mīlitiae.Caecina, having overtaken the legions, was by various arts undermining the minds of the centurions and soldiers, who were stubbornly loyal to Vitellius: Bassus, working at the same thing, had less difficulty, since the fleet was quick to change its loyalty because of the memory of its recent service for Otho.
Lectitō › Tacitus › Histories, Book 2 › Histories 2.106
Tacitus · Historiae II
Histories 2.106
Historians on Caecina's motives
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×1, indirect statement ×1, gerunds and gerundives ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (63 words)
| scrīptor, -ōris m. | writer, author |
| tempus, temporis, n. | time, season |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| potior, -īrī, -ītus | become master of, get possession of |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| domus, -ūs, f. | house, home |
| monumentum, -ī n. | memorial, monument; record |
| bellum, -ī, n. | war |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| compōnō, -ere, -posuī, -positum | put together; mend, set in order |
| cūra, -ae f. | care, concern (cūrae esse: to be a concern) |
| pāx, pācis f. | peace |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| amor, -ōris, m. | love |
| pūblicus, -a, -um | public, of the state (rēs pūblica: the state) |
| corruptus, -a, -um | spoiled, tainted, corrupt |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| adūlātiō, -ōnis f. | flattery, fawning |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| trādō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | give across, over, or up, deliver; hand down, relate, report |
| nōs | plur. of ego |
| super (prep. + acc. or abl.; also adv.) | over, above, on top of; upon; about, concerning |
| īnsitus, -a, -um | implanted, innate, natural |
| levitās, -ātis f. | lightness; fickleness |
| prōdō, -ere, -didī, -ditum | hand down; betray |
| vīlis, -e | cheap, worthless |
| mox, adv. | soon |
| fidēs, -eī f. | faith, trust; pledge |
| aemulātiō, -ōnis f. | rivalry, the effort to equal someone |
| etiam, adv. | and now, also, too, even |
| invidia, -ae f. | envy, jealousy, ill will |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| apud, prep, with acc. | among, with |
| anteeō, -īre, -iī | go before, go ahead; surpass |
| pervertō, -ere, -vertī, -versus | overturn; corrupt, ruin |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| legiō, -ōnis f. | legion |
| adsequor, -sequī, -secūtus sum | overtake; gain, achieve |
| centuriō, -ōnis m. | centurion (officer commanding about 80 men) |
| mīles, mīlitis, m. | soldier |
| animus, -ī, m. | mind; heart; spirit, courage |
| obstinātus, -a, -um | determined, stubborn |
| prō, prep. with abl. | before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for |
| varius, -a, -um | various |
| ars, artis, f. | art |
| subruō, -ere, -ruī, -rutum | undermine, dig under |
| īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron. | the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also |
| mōlior, -īrī, -ītus sum | work at, contrive, plot |
| parvus, -a, -um | little, small |
| difficultas, -tātis, f. | difficulty |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| lūbricus, -a, -um | slippery, smooth |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| mūtō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | change |
| classis, -is f. | fleet |
| ob, prep. with acc. | on account of, for; in compounds, to, against |
| memoria, -ae, f. | memory |
| recēns, -entis | recent, fresh |
| mīlitia, -ae f. | military service |
Tacitus, Historiae II. 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.