Hist. 2.79.1Versābātur ante oculōs Germānicī exercitūs rōbur, notum virō mīlitārī: suās legiōnēs cīvīlī bellō inexpertās, Vitelliī victrīcīs, et apud victōs plūs querimōniārum quam vīrium.Before his eyes passed the strength of the German army, well known to a military man: his own legions were untried in civil war, those of Vitellius victorious, and among the defeated there were more complaints than strength. Hist. 2.79.1Fluxam per discordiās mīlitum fidem et perīculum ex singulīs: quid enim prōfutūrās cohortīs alāsque, sī ūnus alterve praesentī facinore parātum ex dīversō praemium petat?Soldiers' loyalty was unstable amid discord, and there was danger from individuals: for what good would cohorts and cavalry squadrons do, if one man or another, by a crime of the moment, sought the reward ready for him on the other side? Hist. 2.79.1Sīc Scrībōniānum sub Claudiō interfectum, sīc percussōrem eius Volaginium ē gregāriō ad summa mīlitiae prōvectum: facilius ūniversōs impellī quam singulōs vītārī.Thus Scribonianus had been killed under Claudius, thus his assassin Volaginius had been raised from the ranks to the highest posts in the army: it was easier to drive men on as a body than to guard against them one by one.
Lectitō › Tacitus › Histories, Book 2 › Histories 2.79
Tacitus · Historiae II
Histories 2.79
Vespasian's fears and doubts
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Read in LectitōLatin vocabulary for this passage (59 words)
| versor, -ārī, -ātus | keep turning, be busy or employed, be |
| ante, prep, with acc. and adv. | before |
| oculus, -ī, m. | eye |
| Germānicus, -a, -um | German, of the Germans |
| exercitus, -ūs, m. | army |
| rōbur, rōboris, n. | oak |
| nōtus, -a, -um | known, well-known, famous |
| vir, virī, m. | man |
| mīlitāris, -e | military, warlike; rēs mīlitāris, art of war, warfare |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| legiō, -ōnis f. | legion |
| cīvīlis, -e | of citizens; bellum cīvīle: civil war |
| bellum, -ī, n. | war |
| inexpertus, -a, -um | untried, not attempted; inexperienced |
| victrīx, -īcis (f. adj. and noun) | victorious; conqueror (feminine) |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| apud, prep, with acc. | among, with |
| vincō, -ere, vīcī, victum | conquer, defeat |
| plūs (adv.) | more |
| querimōnia, -ae f. | complaint, grievance |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| vīs, vīs, f. | violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy; plur. vīrēs, -ium, strength; omnibus vīribus, with all one's strength, with might and main |
| fluxus, -a, -um | flowing; fleeting, unstable |
| per, prep, with ace. | through, by means of |
| discordia, -ae f. | disagreement, discord, strife |
| mīles, mīlitis, m. | soldier |
| fidēs, -eī f. | faith, trust; pledge |
| perīculum, -ī, n. | danger, peril, risk |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| singulī, -ae, -a | one at a time, single |
| quis, quid, interrog. pron. | who? which? what? |
| enim, conj. | for |
| prōsum, prōdesse, prōfuī | be of advantage, profit, avail, assist |
| cohors, cohortis f. | cohort (a tenth of a legion); company |
| ala, -ae, f. | wing |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| sī, conj. | if |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| alter, -era, -erum | one or the other (of two); another, second |
| praesēns, -sentis, adj. | present, immediate, imminent |
| facinus, facinoris, n. | deed, crime |
| parō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | make ready, prepare |
| dīversus, -a, -um | turned different ways, opposite, contrary, different |
| praemium, -ī, n. | reward |
| petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus | seek, ask; attack |
| sīc, adv. | so, thus |
| sub, prep. with acc. and abl. | under; sub vesperum, towards evening |
| interficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectus | put out of the way, kill |
| percussor, -ōris m. | assassin, murderer; one who strikes, destroyer |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| gregārius, -a, -um | of the herd, common; mīles gregārius: a common soldier |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| summus, -a, -um | uppermost, highest, greatest |
| mīlitia, -ae f. | military service |
| prōvehō, -vehere, -vexī, -vectus | carry forward |
| facile, adv. | easily |
| ūniversus, -a, -um | all together, whole, entire, all |
| impellō, -pellere, -pulī, -pulsus | drive or urge on, incite, urge |
| vītō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | avoid, escape |
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.