III
Nunc demum redit animus; et (et: in Tacitus et may have adversative sense, even if not reinforced, as is here further on in the period, by tamen; cf. G. 475, Note 1.) quamquam primo statim (statim: ‘without delay’.) beatissimi saeculi ortu Nerva Caesar (Nerva Caesar: emperor 96-98 A.D.) res olim dissociabilis miscuerit, principatum ac libertatem, augeatque cotidie felicitatem temporum Nerva Traianus, (Nerva Traianus: emperor 98-117 A.D.) nec spem modo ac votum securitas publica, sed ipsius voti fiduciam ac robur (fiduciam ac robur: ‘faith and strength’, hendiadys) adsumpserit, (quamquam … miscuerit, …augeat … adsumpserit: Tacitus regularly uses the subjunctive after concessive quamquam; cf. G. 605 Note.) natura tamen infirmitatis humanae tardiora sunt remedia quam mala; et ut corpora nostra lente augescunt, cito extinguuntur, sic ingenia studiaque oppresseris facilius quam revocaveris: (oppresseris facilius quam revocaveris: potential subjunctive, the second person sing. being used impersonally, ‘you might more easily oppress than bring back.’) subit quippe etiam ipsius inertiae dulcedo, (subit quippe etiam ipsius inertiae dulcedo: ‘the sweetness of inertia itself, of course, works its way in also.’) et invisa primo desidia postremo amatur. Quid, si (quid, si: ‘what other reason is there for the fact that…’, rhetorical question) per quindecim annos, (per qindecim annos: Domitian reigned from 81 to 96 A.D.) grande mortalis aevi spatium, multi fortuitis casibus, promptissimus quisque (promptissimus quisque: lit. ‘all most active men’; cf. note for celeberrimus quisque, ch. 1.) saevitia principis interciderunt, pauci et, ut ita dixerim, (ut ita dixerim: ‘as I might say so’, potential subjunctive) non modo aliorum sed etiam nostri superstites sumus, (nostri superstites sumus: lit. ‘we are the survivors of ourselves’, where nostri is pers. pronoun, first person plur. gen.) exemptis e media vita tot annis, quibus iuvenes ad senectutem, senes prope ad ipsos exactae aetatis terminos per silentium venimus? (exemptis e media vita tot annis, quibus…per silentium venimus: abl. abs., ’so many years being taken from the core of our lives during which we advanced through silence’; the long period beginning with quid, si and ending with per silentium venimus is framed as a rhetorical question, which is too complex for a parallel rendition into English; literally translated it may run thus: ‘What [other] reason [can be given], if for fifteen years, a long stretch in a man’s life, many died accidental deaths, the most active men victims of the emperor’s brutality, and a few of us have survived not only the others, but, as I might say, also ourselves, so many years being removed from the center of our lives, in which we advanced in silence, the young towards old age and the old to the very limits of their spent existence.’) Non tamen pigebit (pigebit [me]: the impersonal verb piget takes acc. of the person affected and gen. of the cause of the feeling, though the latter is here replaced by an infinitive clause.) vel incondita ac (vel … ac: the meaning is similar to that of et …et.) rudi voce memoriam prioris servitutis ac testimonium praesentium bonorum composuisse. Hic interim liber honori Agricolae soceri mei destinatus, professione pietatis (professsione pietatis: abl. of cause, ‘for its profession of piety’) aut laudatus erit aut excusatus.