II.
Postquam Bruto et Cassio caesis (postquam Bruto et Cassio caesis: subordinating conjunctions like etsi, quamvis, quamquam, and here postquam may be found in Tacitus qualifying the participle in an abl. abs.; cf. L. 1374, and (indirectly) G. 609, Note 1. Brutus and Cassius took their own lives after their defeat in 42 B.C. at Philippi, in the Macedonia region of NE Greece. Notice that postquam introduces a long and tightly woven complex sentence that ends with periculosa mallent. The main clause, on which hangs all the rest, is as follows: Pompeius apud Siciliam oppressus [est] …{et} Caesar …insurgere paulatim, … munia senatus magistratuum legum in se trahere; insurgere and trahere are historical infinitives. Noteworthy is also the ever-changing constructions.) nulla iam publica arma, Pompeius apud Siciliam oppressus exutoque Lepido, interfecto Antonio (Pompeius apud Siciliam oppressus exutoque Lepido, interfecto Antonio: Sextus Pompeius, who had continued in Sicily and on the sea the fight after the death of his father Pompei the Great, was defeated by Agrippa in two naval clashes in 36 B.C., the first off Mylae (Milazzo) on the spiky peninsula jutting out into the Tyrrhenian sea off the north coast of Sicily, west of Messina, and the second off Naulochus, between Mylae and Cape Pelorum, the NE tip of Sicily. In the same year Lepidus had his legions enticed away from him by Octavian (later Augustus) and had no choice but to leave the political arena. Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by Octavian and Agrippa in 31 B.C. at the naval battle of Actium, near modern Preveza in NW Greece, on the Ionian coast.) ne Iulianis quidem partibus (Iulianis … partibus: i.e. the party of Julius Caesar) nisi Caesar dux reliquus, posito triumviri nomine consulem se ferens et ad tuendam plebem tribunicio iure contentum, ubi militem donis, populum annona, cunctos dulcedine otii pellexit, (ubi …pellexit: temporal ubi is regularly with perfect indicative.) insurgere paulatim, munia senatus magistratuum legum in se trahere, nullo adversante, cum ferocissimi per acies aut proscriptione (per acies aut proscription: two constructions to express cause, per + acc. and simple abl.) cecidissent, (cum …cecidissent: causal cum requires subjunctive.) ceteri nobilium, quanto quis servitio promptior, opibus et honoribus extollerentur ac novis ex rebus aucti tuta et praesentia quam vetera et periculosa mallent. (ceteri nobilium, quanto quis servitio promptior, opibus et honoribus extollerentur … et praesentia … mallent: extollerentur and mallent are potential subjunctive: ‘they would find advancement through preferment and wealth the more eager anyone was to serve … and would favor the present state of things’; servitio: in Tacitus the dat. is often in place of ad + acc. when denoting purpose. quis is for aliquis; quanto, often followed by its correlative tanto, was in origin the abl. of degree of difference of quantum and later through usage became adverb. ceteri nobilium: partitive genitive after ceteri: another author would have written ceteri nobiles, too stale for Tacitus.) neque provinciae illum rerum statum abnuebant, suspecto senatus populique imperio (suspecto senatus populique imperio: abl. abs., as is invalido legum auxilio below) ob certamina potentium et avaritiam magistratuum, invalido legum auxilio quae vi ambitu postremo pecunia turbabantur.