§9Per octo annos uarie et inaequabiliter prouinciam rexit, primo acer et uehemens et in coercendis quidem delictis uel immodicus.
For eight years he ruled the province in a varied and inconsistent manner, at first sharp and vigorous, and indeed even immoderate in punishing offenses.
nam et nummulario non ex fide uersanti pecunias manus amputauit mensaeque eius adfixit, et tutorem, quod pupillum, cui substitutus heres erat, ueneno necasset, cruce adfecit; implorantique leges et ciuem Romanum se testificanti, quasi solacio et honore aliquo poenam leuaturus, mutari multoque praeter ceteras altiorem et dealbatam statui crucem iussit.
For he cut off the hands of a money-changer who was dealing dishonestly and nailed them to his counter, and he crucified a guardian because he had poisoned his ward, whose substitute heir he was; and when the man appealed to the laws and testified that he was a Roman citizen, Galba, as if to lighten his punishment by some consolation and honor, ordered his cross to be changed and one much higher than the rest and whitewashed to be erected.
paulatim in desidiam segnitiamque conuersus est, ne quid materiae praeberet Neroni et, ut dicere solebat, quod nemo rationem otii sui reddere cogeretur.
Gradually he turned to indolence and inactivity, in order to give Nero no pretext, and, as he was wont to say, because no one was forced to render an account of his leisure.
Carthagine noua conuentum agens tumultuari Gallias comperit legato Aquitaniae auxilia implorante; superuenerunt et Vindicis litterae hortantis, ut humano generi assertorem ducemque se accommodaret.
While holding court at New Carthage, he learned that the Gauls were in revolt, when the governor of Aquitania implored his assistance; there came also a letter from Vindex, urging him to show himself as the champion and leader of the human race.
nec diu cunctatus condicionem partim metu partim spe recepit; nam et mandata Neronis de nece sua ad procuratores clam missa deprenderat et confirmabatur cum secundissimis auspiciis et ominibus uirginis honestae uaticinatione, tanto magis quod eadem illa carmina sacerdos Iouis Cluniae ex penetrali somnio monitus eruerat ante ducentos annos similiter a fatidica puella pronuntiata.
Nor did he hesitate long, but accepted the proposal, partly from fear, partly from hope; for he had also intercepted Nero’s orders for his own death, secretly sent to his procurators, and he was encouraged both by most favorable auspices and omens, and by the prophecy of a well-born maiden, all the more because the priest of Jupiter at Clunia, warned by a dream, had dug up from the inner shrine the very same verses, pronounced similarly by a prophetic girl two hundred years before.
quorum carminum sententia erat oriturum quandoque ex Hispania principem dominumque rerum.
The meaning of these verses was that sometime a ruler and master of the world would arise from Spain.
§10Igitur cum quasi manumissioni uacaturus conscendisset tribunal, propositis ante se damnatorum occisorumque a Nerone quam plurimis imaginibus et astante nobili puero, quem exulantem e proxima Baliari insula ob id ipsum acciuerat, deplorauit temporum statum consalutatusque imperator legatum se senatus ac populi R. professus est.
Therefore, having ascended the tribunal as if about to attend to a manumission, with as many portraits as possible of those condemned and put to death by Nero displayed before him, and with a noble boy standing by, whom he had summoned for this very purpose from his exile in the neighboring Balearic island, he lamented the state of the times; and being saluted as Emperor, he declared himself the legate of the Senate and people of Rome.
dein iustitio indicto, e plebe quidem prouinciae legiones et auxilia conscripsit super exercitum ueterem legionis unius duarumque alarum et cohortium trium; at e primoribus prudentia atque aetate praestantibus uel instar senatus, ad quos de maiore re quotiens opus esset referretur, instituit.
Then, having proclaimed a suspension of public business, he enlisted legions and auxiliaries from the common people of the province, in addition to his old army of one legion, two squadrons of horse, and three cohorts of foot; but from the leading men, preeminent in wisdom and age, he established a body like a senate, to whom matters of greater importance might be referred as often as there was need.
delegit et equestris ordinis iuuenes, qui manente anulorum aureorum usu euocati appellarentur excubiasque circa cubiculum suum uice militum agerent.
He also chose young men of the equestrian order, who, retaining the use of their golden rings, should be called "evocati" and perform guard duty around his bedchamber in place of soldiers.
etiam per prouincias edicta dimisit, auctor in singulis uniuersisque conspirandi simul et ut qua posset quisque opera communem causam iuuarent.
He also sent edicts throughout the provinces, encouraging them to conspire together, both individually and collectively, and to assist the common cause by whatever means each could.
Per idem fere tempus in munitione oppidi, quod sedem bello delegerat, repertus est anulus opere antiquo, scalptura gemmae Victoriam cum tropaeo exprimente; ac subinde Alexandrina nauis Dertosam appulit armis onusta, sine gubernatore, sine nauta aut uectore ullo, ut nemini dubium esset iustum piumque et fauentibus diis bellum suscipi: cum repente ex inopinato prope cuncta turbata sunt.
About the same time, in the fortification of the town which he had chosen as his seat of war, a ring of ancient workmanship was found, the engraving on its gem representing Victory with a trophy; and immediately after, an Alexandrian ship laden with arms arrived at Dertosa without a pilot, without a sailor or any passenger, so that no one doubted that a just and holy war was being undertaken with the favor of the gods: when suddenly, and unexpectedly, almost everything was thrown into confusion.
alarum altera castris appropinquantem paenitentia mutati sacramenti destituere conata est aegreque retenta in officio, et serui, quos a liberto Neronis ad fraudem praeparatos muneri ac ceperat, per angiportum in balneas transeuntem paene interemerunt, nisi cohortantibus in uicem ne occasionem omitterent, interrogatisque de qua occasione loquerentur, expressa cruciatu confessio esset.
One of the squadrons of horse, as he approached the camp, repenting of their changed allegiance, attempted to desert him and was with difficulty kept to their duty; and some slaves, whom he had received as a gift after they had been prepared for treachery by a freedman of Nero, almost killed him as he was passing through an alley to the baths, had they not, while encouraging one another not to lose the opportunity, been questioned as to what opportunity they were speaking of, and had their confession not been wrung from them by torture.