X.
Dicebatur contra: pietatem erga parentem et tempora rei publicae obtentui (obtentui: dat. of purpose) sumpta: ceterum (ceterum: ‘in reality’) cupidine dominandi (cupidine dominandi: dominandi is objective genitive gerund.) concitos per largitionem veteranos, paratum ab adulescente privato exercitum, corruptas consulis legiones, (concitos per largitionem veteranos, paratum ab adulescente privato exercitum, corruptas consulis legions: after the assassination of Caesar, his adoptive father, in 44 B.C., Octavian (later Augustus), then a teenager of 19, induced veteran soldiers who had served under Caesar to follow him, illegally formed with them a private army, and even lured two legions away from Antony, who was the consul for the year, over to his side.) simulatam Pompeianarum gratiam partium; (Pompeianarum … partium: the Pompeian party was led by Pompei the Great, who was the leader of the senate and its champion in the fight for freedom and republican ideals against Julius Caesar. The party kept the name after Pompei’s death in 48 B.C., in the same way supporters of the opposite faction were called Caesariani well after the death of Caesar. The Pompeians, led by Pompei’s son Sextus, continued the fight against the Caesarian party represented by Antony and Octavian, until Sextus’ defeat and death in 36-35 B.C.) mox ubi decreto patrum fasces et ius praetoris (fasces et ius praetoris invaserit: fascis is a bundle of rods tightly bound with a protruding axe, a symbol of a magistrate’s authority or ius. By pretending to be on the side of the senate against Antony, Octavian was able to gain Cicero’s support in having the powers of a pro-praetor assigned to him and with it the legal right to command an army.) invaserit, caesis Hirtio et Pansa, (caesis Hirtio et Pansa: Hirtius and Pansa were the two consuls for 43 B.C. and both died at the siege of Mutina, today’s Modena NW of Bologna, fighting against Antony. Hirtius had previously served with distinction in Gaul under Julius Caesar and is the author of the eighth book of Caesar’s De Bello Gallico.) sive hostis illos, seu Pansam venenum vulneri adfusum, sui milites Hirtium et machinator doli Caesar abstulerat, (sive hostis illos, seu Pansam venenum vulneri adfusum, sui milites Hirtium et machinator doli Caesar abstulerat: the sentence, which has the main verb in the indicative and nominative subjects (hostis, venenum, milites, and machinator …Caesar), is within indirect speech introduced by dicebatur , thus explanatory, parenthetical, a sort of aside intended only for the readers, outside the rules governing oratio obliqua. The singular abstulerat agrees with the nearest subject. According to Suetonius, a persistent rumor circulated at the time that both Hirtius and Pansa had perished by Octavian’s agency, who aimed at adding to his private forces the armies of the two consuls. With Antony defeated and on the run, the state deprived of consuls, and he in command of a sizable army, the youngster was now a major player in Roman politics at twenty years of age. A few months after the battle of Mutina, he marched on Rome to demand (and obtain) the consulate.) utriusque copias ocupavisse; extortum invito senatu consulatum, (extortum invito senatu consulatum: invito senatu is dative of indirect object with extorqueo; senatu is an old form of senatui) armaque quae in Antonium acceperit (acceperit: repraesentatio, as is fas sit and introspexerit below; see note for postquam hic socordia senuerit … in previous chapter.) contra rem publicam versa; proscriptionem civium, divisiones agrorum (proscriptionem civium, divisiones agrorum: after Octavian became consul, a meeting was arranged in Oct. 43 B.C. at Bononia with Antony and Lepidus, the latter an able military commander and formerly a close ally of Julius Caesar. A division of the Roman territories was agreed upon and the trio was recognized by the senate as triumviri reipublicae constituendae, the second triumvirate. Proscription lists were drawn up for the elimination of dangerous adversaries and, later, land was distributed among the soldiers who had fought in 42 B.C. against the forces of Brutus and Cassius, Caesar’s assassins.) ne ipsis quidem qui fecere laudatas. sane Cassii et Brutorum (Brutorum: there were two Brutuses who conspired to kill Caesar, Marcus Junius Brutus, the head of the conspiracy, who committed suicide after his defeat in 42 B.C. at Philippi in eastern Macedonia, near the border with Thrace, and Decimus Brutus, put to death by Antony. ) exitus paternis inimicitiis datos, quamquam fas sit privata odia publicis utilitatibus remittere: sed Pompeium imagine pacis, sed Lepidum specie amicitiae deceptos; (sed Pompeium imagine pacis, sed Lepidum specie amicitiae deceptos [esse]: Sextus Pompeius, the valiant son of Pompei the Great, had concluded a peace treaty at Misenum, near Naples, with the triumvirs in 39 B.C., which was violated by Octavian the next year. See also the note above for Pompeianarum … partium; Lepidus was summarily forced by Octavian to relinquish his powers in 37 B.C., but retained his office of pontifex and died of old age. imagine pacis, specie amicitiae: ‘with the prospect of …’, ‘with the semblance of …’: ablatives of instrument more than of manner) post Antonium, Tarentino Brundisinoque foedere et nuptiis sororis inlectum, subdolae adfinitatis poenas morte exsolvisse. (post Antonium, Tarentino Brundisinoque foedere et nuptiis sororis inlectum, subdolae adfinitatis poenas morte exsolvisse: Antony had reached a peace accord with Octavian first at Brindisi in 40 B.C., then at Taranto in 37 B.C. The pact was further sealed by the marriage of Antony to Octavia, the sister of Octavian. Neither the pacts nor the marriage kept the two sides from going to war in 31 B.C., when Antony was defeated and took his own life, leaving Octavian the undisputed master of the world. Brindisi and Taranto are in the heel of Italy, at the same latitude, but the first on the Adriatic coast, the other on the Ionian coast in the gulf of Taranto. post is here adverb, not prep. and goes with poenas morte exsolvisse, thus: ‘Antony, lured on by the treaties and by the marriage, later paid the price of a deceitful family connection’.) pacem sine dubio post haec, verum cruentam: Lollianas Varianasque clades, (Lollianas Varianasque clades: names associated with Roman debacles in Germany: M. Lollius in 16 B.C. was defeated by the combined forces of the Sugambri and of the Tencteri and Q. Varus by the Cherusci, led by Arminius, in 9 A.D.) interfectos Romae Varrones, Egnatios, Iullos. (Varrones, Egnatios, Iullos: the plurals imply that these are just examples of people executed: Varro Murena for conspiracy in 23 B.C., Egnatius Rufus for conspiracy in 19 B.C., Iullus Antonius, the son of Antony, forced to commit suicide in 2 B.C. for his liaison with Julia, Augustus’ daughter and Tiberius’ second wife.) nec domesticis abstinebatur: (nec domesticis abstinebatur: domesticis, from the neutral plural domestica used as noun, is abl. of separation with abstineo: ‘domestic affairs’, ‘private life’: lit. ‘it was not abstained from his personal life’. Note: from here on the narrative weaves in and out of oratio obliqua: direct speech (oratio recta) takes over down to coli vellet and then again fom etenim Augustus to the end of the chapter. Tacitus probably felt the need of greater variety.) abducta Neroni uxor et consulti per ludibrium pontifices an concepto necdum edito partu rite nuberet; (an concepto necdum edito partu rite nuberet: disjunctive or alternative indirect question with the first part implied and an preceding the second part: ‘whether she could rightfully marry with a child conceived but not yet born’. The unborn child was Drusus, the father of Germanicus. concepto necdum edito partu can be either abl. of attendant circumstance or abl. abs.) Q. Tedii et Vedii Pollionis luxus; (Q. Tedii et Vedii Pollionis luxus: Q. Tedius is otherwise unknown, but Vedius Pollio was notorious for feeding his lampreys, even in the presence of Augustus, by throwing slaves into the pond.) postremo Livia gravis in rem publicam mater, gravis domui Caesarum noverca. (Livia gravis in rem publicam mater, gravis domui Caesarum noverca: grievous (gravis) for bringing Tiberius into the world and allegedly for eliminating more worthy competitors to the throne, such as Gaius and Lucius Caesar, the sons of Marcus Agrippa and Augustus’ daughter Julia. She was also suspected of having had a hand in the death of Germanicus and even of Augustus himself.) nihil deorum honoribus relictum, cum se templis et effigie numinum per flamines et sacerdotes coli vellet. (cum … vellet: causal cum requires subjunctive.) ne Tiberium quidem caritate aut rei publicae cura (caritate … cura: ablatives of cause) successorem adscitum, sed quoniam adrogantiam saevitiamque eius introspexerit, (quoniam … introspexerit: quoniam is with indicative, except in oratio obliqua. See also note for acceperit above.) comparatione deterrima sibi gloriam quaesivisse. (comparatione deterrima sibi gloriam quaesivisse: lit. ‘that he had sought glory from the worst of comparisons’) etenim Augustus paucis ante annis, cum Tiberio tribuniciam potestatem a patribus rursum postularet, quamquam honora oratione (quamquam honora oratione: Tacitus frequently uses subordinating conjunctions as adverbs before adjectives: cf. G. 609, Note 2; honora oratione, ‘with a speech full of praise’, is abl. of instrument, though manner is not far off.) quaedam de habitu cultuque et institutis eius iecerat, quae velut excusando exprobraret. (quae velut excusando exprobraret: use of a relative clause to express purpose: ‘[certain things] which might express reproach, by seemingly excusing’; excusando is instrumental use of abl. gerund.) ceterum (ceterum: ‘however that may be’) sepultura more (more: ‘in keeping with custom’) perfecta templum et caelestes religiones decernuntur. (decernuntur: hist. present)