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Tacitus · Historiae II

Histories 2.5

The armies of the East

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Hist. 2.5.1Prōflīgāverat bellum Iūdaicum Vespasiānus, obpugnātiōne Hierosolymōrum reliquā, dūrō magis et arduō opere ob ingenium montis et pervicāciam superstitiōnis quam quō satis vīrium obsessīs ad tolerandās necessitātēs superesset.Vespasian had all but finished the Jewish war; the siege of Jerusalem remained, a task hard and steep more because of the nature of the mountain and the obstinacy of the superstition than because the besieged had enough strength left to endure their hardships. Hist. 2.5.1Trēs, ut suprā memorāvimus, ipsī Vespasiānō legiōnēs erant, exercitae bellō: quattuor Mūciānus obtinēbat in pāce, sed aemulātiō et proximī exercitūs glōria dēpulerat segnitiam, quantumque illīs rōboris discrīmina et labor, tantum hīs vigōris addiderat integra quiēs et inexpertī bellī labor.Vespasian himself, as we have related above, had three legions, practised in war; Mucianus held four in peace, but rivalry and the glory of the neighbouring army had driven off sloth, and as much strength as dangers and toil had given the former, so much vigour had unbroken rest and the toil of a war not yet tried given the latter. Hist. 2.5.1Auxilia utrīque cohortium alārumque et classēs rēgēsque ac nōmen disparī fāmā celebre.Each had auxiliaries of cohorts and cavalry squadrons, fleets, client kings, and a name famous, though with differing renown.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (67 words)
prōflīgō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumrout, defeat utterly
bellum, -ī, n.war
Iūdaicus, -a, -umJewish
oppugnātiō, -ōnis f.siege, assault on a town
reliquus, -a, -umleft, the remaining, the other, the rest of
dūrus, -a, -umhard; harsh; difficult
magis, comp. adv.more, rather
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
arduus, -a, -umsteep, difficult
opus, operis, n.work, task
ob, prep. with acc.on account of, for; in compounds, to, against
ingenium, -ī n.natural ability, talent, cleverness; character
mōns, montis, m.mountain
pervicācia, -ae f.stubbornness, obstinacy; persistence
superstitiō, -ōnis f.superstition, irrational religious fear
quam, adv.how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
quō, adv.to what place? whither? to which place, whither; for which reason, wherefore, therefore; quō ūsque, till when? how long?
satis, adv.enough, sufficiently
vīs, vīs, f.violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy; plur. vīrēs, -ium, strength; omnibus vīribus, with all one's strength, with might and main
obsideō, -sidēre, -sēdī, -sessusbeset, besiege
ad, prep. with acc.to, toward; at, near; for
tolerō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumbear, endure; keep off (hunger)
necessitās, -ātis f.necessity, compulsion
supersum, -esse, -fuībe over or left, remain
trēs, tria, plur. adj.three
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
suprā, adv. and prep. with acc.above, before
memorō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusremind of, mention
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
legiō, -ōnis f.legion
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
exerceō, -ercēre, -ercuī, -ercitusexercise
quattuor, indecl. adj.four
obtineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentushold
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
pāx, pācis f.peace
sed, conj.but
aemulātiō, -ōnis f.rivalry, the effort to equal someone
proximus, -a, -umnearest, next
exercitus, -ūs, m.army
glōria, -ae, f.glory
dēpellō, -pellere, -pulī, -pulsusdrive off or away, drive
segnitia, -ae f.sloth, sluggishness, inactivity
quantus, -a, -umhow great or much?
que, enclitic conj.and
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
rōbur, rōboris, n.oak
discrīmen, -crīminis, n.crisis, peril, danger
labor, -ōris, m.labor, toil
tantus, -a, -umso great or much
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
vigor, -ōris m.vigour, energy, liveliness
addō, -ere, -didī, -ditusadd, put to
integer, -gra, -grumuntouched, fresh, whole
quiēs, quiētis, f.rest, repose
inexpertus, -a, -umuntried, not attempted; inexperienced
auxilium, -ī, n.help, aid
uterque, utraque, utrumqueeach, either, both
cohors, cohortis f.cohort (a tenth of a legion); company
ala, -ae, f.wing
classis, -is f.fleet
rēx, rēgis, m.king
atque, ac (conj.)and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
nōmen, -minis, n.name (that by which one is known)
dispār, -parisunequal, unlike
fāma, -ae, f.report, rumor
celeber, celebris, celebrefrequented; renowned, celebrated
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.