XLIV
Natus erat Agricola Gaio Caesare tertium consule (Gaio Caesare tertium consule: i.e. ‘Gaius Caesar [Caligula] being consul, during his third [consulship]’; that would be in 40 A.D.; tertium, short for tertium consulatum, is acc, of time duration.) idibus Iuniis: (idibus Juniis: the ides were on the 13th day of all months except March, May, July, and October, in which the ides were on the 15th day) excessit quarto et quinquagesimo anno, decimum kalendas Septembris (decimo kalendas Septembris: for kalends, to turn the Roman date into English, add 2 to the days of the preceding month and subtract the given number; thus, since August has 31 days, 31 + 2 – 10 = 23) Collega Priscinoque consulibus. (Collega Priscinoque consulibus: in 93 A.D.) Quod si (quod si: cf. note in ch. 16.) habitum quoque eius posteri noscere velint, decentior quam sublimior fuit; nihil impetus (nihil impetus: impetus is partitive gen. after nihil; cf. nihil publicae rei in ch. 19.) in vultu: gratia oris supererat. (gratia oris supererat: ‘the pleasantness of his expression predominated’) Bonum virum facile crederes, (crederes: ‘one might think’, potential subjunctive with impersonal use of second person singular) magnum libenter. Et ipse quidem, quamquam medio in spatio integrae aetatis ereptus, quantum ad gloriam, (quantum ad gloriam: short for quantum ad gloriam pertinet) longissimum aevum peregit. Quippe et vera bona, quae in virtutibus sita sunt, impleverat, et consulari (consulari: singular with implied ornamento) ac triumphalibus ornamentis praedito (ornamentis praedito: lit. ‘to him being given decorations’; praeditus requires abl.) quid aliud adstruere fortuna poterat? Opibus nimiis non gaudebat, (opibus nimis non gaudebat: gaudeo requires abl. or gen.: ‘he did not rejoice in excessive wealth’.) speciosae contigerant. (speciosae [opes] contigerant: ‘respectable riches had fallen to his lot’.) Filia atque uxore superstitibus potest videri etiam beatus incolumi dignitate, florente fama, salvis adfinitatibus et amicitiis futura effugisse. Nam sicut ei [non licuit] durare in hanc beatissimi saeculi lucem ac principem Traianum (Traianum: Trajan became emperor in 97 A.D., Agricola died in 93.) videre, quod augurio votisque apud nostras auris ominabatur, (quod …apud nostras auris ominabatur: ‘something he predicted in our hearing’) ita festinatae mortis grande solacium (festinatae mortis grande solacium: lit. ‘a great solace of his premature death’) tulit evasisse postremum illud tempus, quo Domitianus non iam per intervalla ac spiramenta (per intervalla ac spiramenta: ‘through intervals and breathing spaces’) temporum, sed continuo et velut uno ictu rem publicam exhausit.