XXXIII. _Occurrebant. Met the view, presented themselves_. Almost the sense of the corresponding English word. The structure of _narratur_ (as impers.) is very rare in the earlier authors, who would say: _Chamavi narrantur_. Cf. His. 1, 50. 90. The _Chamavi_, &c., were joined afterwards to the Franks. Cf. Prichard. The present town of _Ham_ in Westphalia probably preserves the name and gives the _original_ locality of the _Chamavi_, the present _Engern_ that of the _Angrivarii_. The termination varii or uarii probably==inhabitants of. Thus angrivarii==inhabitants of Engern. Chasuarii==Inhabitants of the river Hase. The same element is perhaps contained in the termination of Bruct_eri_ and Tenct_eri_. See Latham in loco. _Nos, se_. Romanos. _Erga_==inclined to (cf. vergo), _towards_. _Spectaculo_. Ablative. Invidere is constructed by the Latins in the following ways: invidere alicui aliquid, alicui alicujus rei, alicui aliqua re, alicui in aliqua re. Hess. The construction here (with the abl. of the thing, which was the object of envy) belongs to the silver age. Cf. Quint. (Inst. 9, 3, 1) who contrasts it with the usage of Cicero, and considers it as illustrating the fondness of the age for _figurative_ language. _Oblectationi oculisque_. Hendiadys for ad oblectationem oculorum. The author here exults in the promiscuous slaughter of the German Tribes by each other's arms, as a brilliant spectacle to Roman eyes--a feeling little congenial to the spirit of Christianity, but necessarily nurtured by the gladiatorial shows and bloody amusements of the Romans, to say nothing of the habitual hostility which they waged against all other nations, that did not submit to their dominion. _Quaeso_, sc. _deos_. Though _fortune_ is spoken of below, as controlling the destiny of nations. This passage shows clearly that Tacitus, with all his partiality for German manners and morals, still retains the heart of a Roman patriot. He loves his country with all her faults, and bears no good-will to her enemies, however many and great their virtues. The passage is important, as illustrating the spirit and design of the whole Treatise. The work was not written as a blind panegyric on the Germans, or a spleeny satire on the Romans. Neither was it composed for the purpose of stirring up Trajan to war against Germany; to such a purpose, such a clause, as _urgentibus imperii fatis_, were quite adverse. Least of all was it written for the mere pastime and amusement of Roman readers. It breathes the spirit at once of the earnest patriot, and the high-toned moralist. _Odium sui_. Cf. note, 28: _conditor. Hatred of themselves_; i.e. of one another. So in Greek, the reflexive pronoun is often used for the reciprocal.