Helps to Latin Translation at Sight Part 46

247. +frangebat vertice vitem+ = _he had the vine-switch (rattan) broken on his head_, i.e. served as a common soldier. --D.

248. +dolabra+ = half-hatchet for cutting stakes, and half-pickaxe for digging the fossa. For +dolabra+, cf. _Dolabella_.

249. +Cimbros+, annihilated by Marius and Catulus near Vercellae, 101 B.C.

250. +Excipit+ = _faced_ (lit. _is ready to receive_); metaphor from field-sports. --D.]

B. _From a poem by Cicero on his fellow-townsman Marius._

Hic Iovis altisoni subito pinnata satelles Arboris e trunco serpentis saucia morsu Surrigit ipsa feris transfigens unguibus anguem Semianimum et varia graviter cervice micantem. 4 . . . . . . .

Hanc ubi praepetibus pennis lapsuque volantem Conspexit Marius, divini numinis augur, Faustaque signa suae laudis reditusque notavit, Partibus intonuit caeli pater ipse sinistris: Sic aquilae clarum firmavit Iuppiter omen.

[Linenotes: 1. +Iovis pinnata satelles+, i.e. the Eagle. Cf. Pindar, _Pyth._ i. 6: e?de? d' ??? s??pt? (= s??pt??) ???? a?et??, _and sleeps on the staff of Zeus his eagle_.

3. +Surrigit+ (= _surgit_) = _raises up_; very rare in this sense.

The _v.l._ +Subigit+ (for _subigit_) = _carries aloft_.]

Compare Plutarch's story of the eagle's nest, with seven young ones in it, which fell into the lap of Marius when a boy, predicting (so the diviners said) that Marius would be seven times Consul.

B5

_The Annihilation of the Teutones at Aquae s.e.xtiae, 102 B.C._

Cimbri et Teutones ab extremis Germaniae profugi, c.u.m terras eorum inunda.s.set Ocea.n.u.s, novas sedes toto orbe quaerebant, exclusique et Gallia et Hispania c.u.m in Italiam demigrarent, misere legatos in castra Silani, inde ad Senatum {5} petentes ut populus Martius aliquid sibi terrae daret. Sed quas daret terras populus Roma.n.u.s, agrariis legibus inter se dimicaturus? Repulsi igitur, quod nequiverant precibus, armis petere coeperunt. Sed nec primum impetum barbarorum Sila.n.u.s, nec {10} secundum Mallius, nec tertium Caepio sustinere potuerunt: omnes fugati, exuti castris. Actum erat, nisi Marius illi saeculo contigisset. . . .

Ille mira statim velocitate occupatis compendiis praevenit hostem, prioresque Teutones sub ipsis Alpium radicibus {15} adsecutus in loco quem Aquas s.e.xtias vocant, proelio oppressit. Vallem fluviumque medium hostes tenebant, et nostris aquarum nulla erat copia. Consultone id egerit imperator an errorem in consilium verterit, dubium; certe necessitate acta virtus {20} victoriae causa fuit. Nam flagitante aquam exercitu, 'Si viri estis' inquit, 'en, illic habetis.' Itaque tanto ardore pugnatum est, ea caedes hostium fuit ut victor Roma.n.u.s cruento flumine non plus aquae biberit quam sanguinis barbarorum. {25}

FLORUS, III. iii. 1-9 (sel).

[Linenotes: 5. +Silani+ = M. Junius Sila.n.u.s, defeated by Cimbri, 109 B.C.

11. +Mallius--Caepio+, defeated by Cimbrians at Arausio, on the Rhone, 105 B.C.

Plutarch, _Lucullus_ 27, says: 'The 6th Oct., on which day the battle was fought, was marked in the calendar as a black day, like the fatal day of the Allia, 390 B.C.'

12. +Actum erat+, sc. _de republica_.

14. +compendiis+ = _short ways_; cf. our _compendium_ = _an abridgement_.

16. +Aquas s.e.xtias+, founded by s.e.xtius Calvinus 122 B.C. = Aix, 18 miles N. of Ma.r.s.eilles.

23. +caedes hostium.+ 150,000 (Vell.) and 200,000 (Liv. Ep.

lxviii.).

'By the great victories of Aquae s.e.xtiae and of Vercellae (over the Cimbri, 101 B.C.), the movement of the German races southward was for the present stopped. Rome was saved, and the saviour of Rome was Marius, the champion of the people.' --Ihne.]

+Parallel Pa.s.sages.+ Propert. IV. iii. 41-44; Livy Ep. lxviii.

+References.+ Plutarch, _Marius_, 15. Ihne, _Hist. Rome_, vol. v. pp.

98-105.

B6

MARIUS, 157-86 B.C.

A. _His Flight from Sulla: Consul for the 7th time._

Atque aliquis magno quaerens exempla timori, 'Non alios,' inquit, 'motus tum fata parabant, c.u.m post Teutonicos victor Libycosque triumphos Exsul limosa Marius caput abdidit ulva. 70 Stagna avidi texere soli laxaeque paludes Depositum, Fortuna, tuum: mox vincula ferri Exedere senem longusque in carcere paedor.

Consul et eversa felix moriturus in urbe Poenas ante dabat scelerum. Mors ipsa refugit 75 Saepe virum, frustraque hosti concessa potestas.

Sanguinis invisi: primo qui caedis in ictu[35]

Deriguit ferrumque manu torpente remisit; Viderat immensum tenebroso in carcere lumen Terribilesque deos scelerum Mariumque futurum 80 Audieratque pavens: "Fas haec contingere non est Colla tibi: debet multas his legibus aevi Ante suam mortes: vanum depone furorem."

Si libet ulcisci deletae funera gentis, Hunc, Cimbri, servate senem.' 85

LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, ii. 67-85.

[Footnote 35: Postgate, _actu_.]

[Linenotes: 67. +exempla timori+ = _precedents to hear out his fears_. --Haskins.

70. +Exsul.+ 88-7 B.C. For details see Plut. _Marius_, caps. 38-40.

72. +Fortuna+, i.e. the _evil_ destiny of Rome, protecting him because the G.o.ds were angry with Rome. Cf. 16-17 _debet ... mortes_.

73. +in carcere+, i.e. at Minturnae, S.E. of Latium. There were extensive marshes in the neighbourhood.

+paedor+ = _filth_.

82. +legibus aevi+ = _the laws that govern time_ = _fatis_. --H.]

B. _Marius outlived his fame._

Quid illo cive tulisset Natura in terris, quid Roma beatius umquam, Si circ.u.mducto captivorum agmine et omni 280 Bellorum pompa animam exhala.s.set opimam, c.u.m de Teutonico vellet descendere curru?

JUVENAL, _Sat._ x. 278-282.

_Marius outlived his powers and his reputation._

'Had he now died, he would have gone down to posterity as one of the greatest men of his people, as a second Romulus or Camillus, unstained with any blood save that of foreign foes.' --Ihne.

+Parallel Pa.s.sages.+ Ov. _P. Ep._ iv. 3. 45-48; Juv. x. 276-278.

+References.+ Plut. _Marius_, caps. 38-end. Ihne, vol. iv. pp. 336-7, vol. v. pp. 111-12.

B7

_Cicero on Civil Strife._

Etenim recordamini, Quirites, omnes civiles dissensiones, non solum eas quas audistis, sed et has quas vosmetipsi meministis atque vidistis. L.

Sulla P. Sulpicium oppressit: ex Urbe eiecit C. Marium, custodem huius urbis, multosque fortes viros partim {5} eiecit ex civitate, partim interemit. Cn. Octavius consul armis ex Urbe collegam suum expulit: omnis his locus acervis corporum et civium sanguine redundavit.

Superavit postea Cinna c.u.m Mario: tum vero, clarissimis viris interfectis, lumina civitatis {10} exstincta sunt. Ultus est huius victoriae crudelitatem postea Sulla: ne dici quidem opus est, quanta deminutione civium et quanta calamitate reipublicae. . . . Atque illae tamen omnes dissensiones, quae non ad delendam, sed ad commutandam rempublicam {15} pertinebant--non illi nullam esse rempublicam, sed in ea quae esset se esse principes, neque hanc urbem conflagrare, sed se in hac urbe florere voluerunt--eius modi fuerunt, ut non reconciliatione concordiae, sed internecione civium diiudicatae sint. {20}

CICERO, _In Cat._ iii. 10.

[Linenotes: 4. +P. Sulpicium+, distinguished orator, bought over by Marius. As Tribunus Plebis 88 B.C. carried the Leges Sulpiciae.

6. +Cn. Octavius+, one of Sulla's chief supporters. Consul 87 B.C.

Expelled his colleague Cinna. Murdered in his curule chair.

9-11. +Superavit ... exstincta sunt+, i.e. 87-6 B.C. The Reign of Terror. Marius Consul for the 7th time. Cf. Vell. Pat. ii. 22 'Nihil illa victoria fuisset crudelius, nisi mox Sullana esset secuta.'

10. +lumina civitatis+, e.g. the Consuls Cn. Octavius and L. Merula; Q. Catulus, the conqueror (with Marius) in the Cimbric War; the orator M. Antonius; the brothers L. and C. Caesar.

11-13. The victims of the Sullanian proscriptions. Cf. Vell. Pat.

ii. 28 'Primus ille (Sulla), et utinam ultimus, exemplum proscriptionis invenit.']