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The sources and language of Jordanes 367
(12) caputque eius [i.e. Rufini] et dextera manus
Constantinopolim...circumductum uxoremque eius exulatam
(Rom. 319)
and Rufinus’ head and right hand were brought round Constantinople
and his wife was banished,
cf. Marcell. Chron. ii p. 64.395.5 caput eius manusque dextra per totam
Constantinopolim demonstrata; 25
(13) Misahelu et Ardaburem Serdica in exilio misit
he banished Misahelus and Ardaburis to Sofia,
(Rom. 360)
cf. Marcell. Chron. ii p. 101.519.2 Misahel et Ardabur Serdicam in exilium
missi;
(14) Archelaus Romae adveniens
as Archelaus came to Rome,
(Rom. 225)
cf.Ruf.Fest.11.4 cum Archelaus . . . Romam venisset.
An analogous case is the usage of the moods in relative clauses. Mommsen
(1882: 183) first noticed that the Romana and Getica often display an apparently
unmotivated subjunctive in subordinate clauses, particularly in the
relative ones (‘coniunctivus locum indicativi usurpavit praesertim post
pronomen relativum’). This observation, which was partly confirmed by
Werner (1908: 95), must be revised: a closer examination of all individual
occurrences reveals on the one hand that the allegedly incorrect uses of the
subjunctive are limited to the pluperfect (in the other cases one can assume
an attractio) and, on the other hand, that this mood (unlike the indicative)
is mainly found in clauses having a direct logical connection with the main
sentence, which they usually explain. This mood operates as an additional
signal to highlight the temporal–logical relationship between relative and
main clause (see Galdi 2008: 321–7). Therefore, we cannot regard these
instances as ‘wrong’ or inappropriate, but rather as conforming to the classical
practice of inserting the subjunctive in those relative clauses with an
additional (causal, concessive, etc.) value (see K–S ii.292–3). For example:
(15) [Nepus] Glycerium, qui sibi tyrannico more regnum inposuisset, ab
imperio expellens (Rom. 338)
Nepus excluded from the command Glycerius, who had usurped power
as a tyrant
25 Jordanes’ use of the neuter singular instead of the plural with the participle (circumductum vs
demonstrata in Marcellinus) is probably to be explained variationis causa.