XI.
Versae inde ad Tiberium preces. et ille varie diserebat de magnitudine imperii sua modestia. solam divi Augusti mentem tantae molis capacem: se in partem curarum ab illo vocatum experiendo didicisse quam arduum, quam subiectum fortunae regendi cuncta (experiendo … regendi cuncta: experiendo is instrumental abl. gerund; regendi cuncta is an example of genitive gerund followed by direct object, a construction only possible with the abl. gerund without preposition and the genitive gerund.) onus. proinde in civitate tot inlustribus viris subnixa non ad unum omnia deferrent: (non … deferrent: negative hortatory or jussive subjunctive in oratio obliqua; non is found in place of ne in later writers. Cf. A.G. 439, Note. 3.) plures facilius munia rei publicae sociatis laboribus exsecuturos. plus in oratione tali dignitatis quam fidei erat; (plus in oratione tali dignitatis quam fidei erat: ‘in such speech there was more loftiness than frankness’; dignitatis and fidei are partitive genitives after the neuter plus.) Tiberioque etiam in rebus quas non occuleret, (in rebus quas non occuleret: relative clause of characteristic with consecutive sense: ‘in matters of such kind that he might not try to conceal’. The subjunctive may also be viewed as potential. Cf. G. 631.) seu natura sive adsuetudine, (seu natura sive adsuetudine: ablatives of cause) suspensa semper et obscura verba: (Tiberio … suspensa semper et obscura verba [erant]: Tiberio is dat. of possessor with implied erat: ‘Tiberius always had obscure and ambiguous language’.) tunc vero nitenti ut sensus suos penitus abderet, (nitenti ut sensus suos penitus abderet: nitenti agrees with Tiberio: lit. ‘to him trying to hide completely his meaning’.) in incertum et ambiguum (in incertum et ambiguum: in + acc. is used to express result; cf. also in questus lacrimas vota below; incertum et ambiguum: the neuter singular of an adjective used as a noun is not as frequent in Tacitus as the neuter plural.) magis implicabantur. at patres, quibus unus metus si intellegere viderentur, (patres, quibus unus metus si intellegere viderentur, …: si intellegere viderentur: in Tacitus, a conditional clause after metus is occasionally found replacing a quod clause; cf. L. 2068, 1851: ‘the senators, who [had] only one fear, that they might appear to see through him, …’. quibus is dat. of possessor with an implied erat.) in questus lacrimas vota effundi; (effundi: passive historical infinitive with reflexive sense: ‘they expended themselves’, ‘they poured themselves out’) ad deos, ad effigiem Augusti, ad genua ipsius manus tendere, cum proferri libellum recitarique iussit. (cum proferri libellum recitarique iussit: temporal cum is with perfect indicative when introducing a new or unexpected event: in such cases the action of the cum clause becomes dominant over that of the main clause, so that the normal relation of the two clauses is inverted and this usage of cum is called cum inversum. The term libellus means a small book used for notes and records. Suetonius calls the schedule left by Augustus breviarius totius imperii, a summary of the resources of the empire.) opes publicae continebantur, quantum civium sociorumque in armis, quot classes, regna, provinciae, tributa aut vectigalia, (tributa aut vectigalia: usually translated as ‘direct and indirect taxes’, tributa being the fixed taxes levied directly on the provinces and on Roman citizens, vectigalia the income accruing to the state in the form of custom duties, tithes, fees from the use of communal lands, roads, bridges, watercourses, harbor facilities, public latrines, and all the rest.) et necessitates ac largitiones. quae cuncta sua manu perscripserat Augustus addideratque consilium coercendi intra terminos imperii, (consilium coercendi intra terminos imperii: coercendi imperii is objective gen. gerundive, lit. ‘the mandate of the empire to be restricted within the [present] boundaries’) incertum metu an per invidiam. (incertum metu an per invidiam: alternative indirect question with no verb(s), without utrum to precede the first part of the question, and two ways to express cause, simple abl. (metu) and per + acc. (per invidiam); cf. note for per acies aut proscriptione in ch. 2.)