VI
Hinc ad capessendos magistratus (ad capessendos magistratus: gerundive construction to express purpose, in place of the gerund ad capessendum magistratus, considered unacceptable in Latin) in urbem degressus Domitiam Decidianam, splendidis natalibus ortam, sibi iunxit; idque matrimonium ad maiora nitenti decus ac robur fuit. vixeruntque mira concordia, per mutuam caritatem et in vicem se anteponendo, (in vicem se anteponendo: ‘reciprocally placing each other in front’) nisi quod (nisi quod: ‘except that…’) in bona uxore tanto maior laus, quanto in mala plus culpae (plus culpae: partitive gen. after the neuter plus) est. Sors quaesturae (quaesturae: the first step of the political ladder, or cursus honorum, traditionally open to an upper class young Roman after military service, the other steps being: the aedileship, the praetorship, the censorship, and the consulship.) provinciam Asiam, pro consule (proconsulem: lit. ‘for its consul’, since a proconsul, i.e. an ex-consul, on becoming governor of a province, performed the duties of a consul.) Salvium Titianum dedit, quorum neutro corruptus est, (quorum neutro corruptus est: ‘he was corrupted by neither of them’; neutro is dat. of agent, commonly used, in place of the abl. of agent with ab, when the tense entails the presence of the perf. participle.) quamquam et provincia dives ac parata peccantibus, (parata peccantibus: ‘easy target for wrongdoers’) et pro consule in omnem aviditatem pronus quantalibet facilitate (quantalibet facilitate: ‘with as much ease as you wish’) redempturus esset (quamquam …redempturus esset: ‘although he would have been ready to buy off immunity’; quamquam is freely construed with the subjunctive in post-classical times.) mutuam dissimulationem mali. Auctus est ibi filia, (auctus est filia: lit. ‘he was augmented by a daughter’; she would later become Tacitus’ wife.) in subsidium simul ac solacium; nam filium ante sublatum brevi (brevi: short for brevi tempore) amisit. Mox (mox: ‘next’, i.e. after the term as quaestor) inter quaesturam ac tribunatum plebis (tribunatum plebis: the office of tribune of the plebs, a civil officer elected by the lower classes to defend their interests, through the use of veto power, against the patricians and the abuses of the Senate. Not the same as the military tribunate mentioned in ch. 5.) atque ipsum etiam tribunatus annum quiete et otio transiit, gnarus sub Nerone temporum, quibus (gnarus sub Nerone temporum, quibus…: ‘well aware of the times under Nero, during which…’) inertia pro sapientia fuit. Idem praeturae tenor et silentium; nec enim iurisdictio obvenerat. Ludos et inania honoris medio rationis atque abundantiae duxit, (ludos et inania honoris medio…duxit: ‘he conducted games and other trivialities of office in the middle’; medio is short for in medio) uti longe a luxuria ita famae propior. (uti longe a luxuria ita famae propior: comparative sentence with ut…ita and the verb understood, ’as he was far from excess, so he was closer to popularity’; uti is for ut) Tum electus a Galba (Galba: emperor 68-69 A.D.) ad dona templorum recognoscenda (ad dona templorum recognoscenda: cf. ad capessendos magistratus at the beginning of the chapter.) diligentissima conquisitione effecit, ne cuius alterius sacrilegium res publica quam Neronis sensisset. (diligentissima conquisitione effecit, ne cuius alterius sacrilegium res publica quam Neronis sensisset: lit. ‘with his thorough enquiries he saw to it that the state would not [again] experience the sacrilege of anyone else than that of Nero; ne introduces a negative purpose clause; the pluperfect sensisset –lit. ‘would not have experienced’– is occasionally found in purpose clauses to emphasize the unlikelihood of something ever occurring again; cf. G. 512, N. 1; cuius is in place of alicuius, as aliquis becomes quis when used after ne, si, nisi, num.)