IX. _Revertentem_, etc. Returning from his command in Britain.--_Divus_. Cf. notes, G. 28; His. 2, 33.
_Vesp.--ascivit_. By virtue of his office as Censor, the Emperor claimed the right of elevating and degrading the rank of the citizens. Inasmuch as the families of the aristocracy always incline to run out and become extinct, there was a necessity for an occasional re-supply of the patrician from the plebeian ranks, e.g. by Julius Caesar, Augustus and Claudius (Ann. 11, 25), as well as by Vespasian (Aur. Vic. Caes. 9. Suet. 9.)--_Provinciae--praeposuit_. Aquitania was one of seven provinces, into which Augustus distributed Gaul, and which with the exception of Narbonne Gaul, were all subject to the immediate disposal and control of the Emperor himself. It was the south-western part of Gaul, being enclosed by the Rhone, the Loire, the Pyrenees and the Atlantic.
_Splendidae--destinarat. A province of the first importance both in its government_ (in itself considered), _and the prospect of the consulship, to which he_ (Vesp.) _had destined him_ (A.), sc. as soon as his office should have expired.
_Subtilitatem_==calliditatem, nice discernment, _discrimination_.-- _Exerceat_, Observe the subj. to express the views of others, not of the author. H. 531; Z. 511.
_Secura--agens. _Requiring less anxious thought and mental acumen_, and _proceeding more by physical force. Secura_==minus anxia. Dr. Cf. note, His. 1, 1. _Obtusior_==minus acuta.
_Togatos. Civilians_ in distinction from military men, like A. The _toga_ was the dress of civil life to some extent in the _provinces_ (cf. 21, His. 2, 20), though originally worn only in _Rome_. (Beck. Gall., Exc. Sc. 8.)
_Remissionumque_. The Greeks and Romans both used the pl. of many abstracts, of which we use only the sing. For examples see R. Exc. 4. For the principle cf. Z. 92.
_Curarum--divisi_. This clause means not merely, that his time was divided between business and relaxation; but that there was a broad line of demarcation between them, as he proceeds to explain. _Divisa_==diversa inter se. Dr. So Virg. Georg. 2, 116: divisae arboribus patriae==countries are _distinguished from_ each other by their trees. _Jam vero_. Cf. note, G. 14.