I.
Urbem Romam a principio reges (reges: seven kings ruled Rome from 753 B.C. (the mythical date of the foundation of the city) to 509 B.C.: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus. Lucius Brutus overthrew the last king and established the consulate.) habuere; libertatem et consulatum L. Brutus instituit. dictaturae (dictaturae: in pressing emergencies all powers were invested in one man, nominated by a consul on the recommendation of the senate and confirmed by the popular assembly. The dictator’s term was a maximum of six months.) ad tempus (ad tempus: idiom, ‘to suit the occasion’) sumebantur; neque decemviralis potestas (decemviralis potestas: in the wake of serious civil discord between patricians and plebeians, a legislative commission of ten men (decemvirate) was set up to write a code of laws, later known as the Twelve Tables, that would be acceptable to both sides. During their two years in office (452-451 B.C.) all other magistracies, such as the consulate, were suspended and the decisions of the decemvirs were final.) ultra biennium, neque tribunorum militum consulare ius (tribunorum militum consulare ius: the consular authority of the military tribunes (six per legion) exercised power intermittently between 445 and 367 B.C., to block the pressing demands of the plebs that one of the two consuls be a plebeian. The military tribunes of the legions were given the authority of the consuls and discharged all the functions of the latter, to the unending discontent of the plebs. In 367 B.C. the consulate was resumed on the conditions claimed by the people.) diu valuit. non Cinnae, non Sullae longa dominatio; (Cinnae, … Sullae … domination: from 87 to 84 B.C., Lucius Cornelius Cinna was consul for four consecutive years, first using his power to nominate himself to the consulate, then by retaining the office for the following years. Historians are generally agreed in condemning Cinna’s rule as despotic. Sulla assumed power as dictator and held it from 82 to 79 B.C., then voluntarily abdicated and retired to private life.) et Pompei Crassique potentia cito in Caesarem, Lepidi atque Antonii arma in Augustum cessere, (Pompei Crassique potentia cito in Caesarem, Lepidi atque Antonii arma in Augustum cessere: Pompei, Crassus, and Caesar formed the first triumvirate in 60 B.C., an unconstitutional arrangement among the three most powerful men in Rome, as was the second triumvirate in 43 B.C. of Lepidus, Antony, and Octavian (later Augustus). Both ended in civil war and the elimination, in the first, of Pompei and Crassus, and of Lepidus and Antony in the second.) qui cuncta discordiis civilibus fessa nomine principis (nomine principis: ‘under the title of prince’, i.e. ‘First of the Senate’ or Princeps Senatus, a constitutional pis aller or fiction to mask the unsavoury reality of Augustus arrogating to himself all civic powers and becoming in effect a king, a word hateful to the Romans.) sub imperium (dictatura … potestas …ius … domination … potentia … imperium: various gradations of power, both legal and abusive: dictatura: legal when decided on by the senate and the people, but not when prompted by personal ambition; potestas: constitutional authority as embodied in the consulate; ius: legal sanction, according to the laws; domination: lawless usurpation of power, on the example of the irresponsible exercise of authority by the master of a house (domus); potentia: influence, ascendancy, the ability to exercise arbitrary control over matters of public interest; imperium: supreme and absolute administrative authority embodied in a king or emperor; imperium partakes also of the irrefutable character of military command.) accepit. sed veteris populi Romani prospera vel adversa claris scriptoribus (claris scriptoribus: dative of agent often found in Tacitus in place of a or ab + abl., especially with the compound tenses of passive verbs) memorata sunt; temporibusque Augusti dicendis (temporibusque Augusti dicendis: lit. ‘for the times of Augustus to be narrated’: use of dat. gerundive to express purpose, fitness, adaptability, a favorite construction in Tacitus often replacing ad + acc. or a purpose clause with ut.) non defuere decora ingenia, donec gliscente adulatione deterrerentur. (donec … deterrerentur: donec is seldom followed by indicative in Tacitus even when, as here, donec has the terminative sense of ‘until’, ‘up the moment when …’, and nothing purposed, planned, or expected is being denoted.) Tiberii Gaique et Claudii ac Neronis res florentibus ipsis (florentibus ipsis: abl. abs., ‘these same [emperors] being at the apex of their power’) ob metum falsae, postquam occiderant, recentibus odiis compositae sunt. inde consilium mihi (consilium mihi: ‘my plan [is] …’; mihi is dat. of interest, ‘for me’: in English the personal pronoun is replaced by a possessive adj.) pauca de Augusto et extrema tradere, mox Tiberii principatum et cetera, sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul habeo. (sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul habeo: reminiscent of similar words at the end of ch. 1 in Book 1 of the Histories.)