III.
Ceterum (ceterum: here with the sense of ‘moreover’, ‘in addition’) Augustus subsidia dominationi Claudium Marcellum sororis filium admodum adulescentem pontificatu et curuli aedilitate, M. Agrippam ignobilem loco, (M. Agrippam ignobilem loco: Marcus Agrippa, Augustus’ main helper in his rise to power, was born into an obscure family, probably from a provincial town in central Italy.) bonum militia et victoriae socium, geminatis consulatibus extulit, (Claudium Marcellum sororis filium … pontificatu et curuli aedilitate … extulit: Claudius Marcellus was the son of Gaius Claudius Marcellus and of Octavia, Augustus’ sister. He died in 23 B.C. The pontificatus was the office of pontifex, a member of the college of priests in charge of religious matters in Rome. A curulis aedilis was a magistrate entrusted with the supervision of public buildings, games, and markets; curulis refers to the chair inlaid with ivory, a symbol of magisterial status.) mox defuncto Marcello generum sumpsit; Tiberium Neronem et Claudium Drusum privignos imperatoriis nominibus auxit, (Tiberium Neronem et Claudium Drusum privignos imperatoriis nominibus auxit: both Tiberius and Drusus were the sons of Tiberius Claudius Nero and of Livia, whom Augustus married while the first husband was still alive and only a few months before the birth of Drusus. Both were distinguished with the title of imperator for their military successes in Germany, a tribute later extended also to Germanicus, Drusus’ son. The title was honorary, as was the acclamation of the soldiers after a victorious battle.) integra etiam tum domo sua. nam genitos Agrippa Gaium ac Lucium (genitos Agrippa Gaium ac Lucium: they were the sons of Marcus Agrippa and of Giulia, Augustus’ daughter from his first marriage to Scribonia. Lucius died in 2 A.D. and Caius in 4 A.D.) in familiam Caesarum induxerat, necdum posita puerili praetexta (puerili praetexta: toga worn by children, called praetexta because bordered with a purple stripe, from the verb praetexo, ‘to hedge’ or ‘to border’. It was worn until the age of 17, after which the toga virilis was assumed.) principes iuventutis (principes iuventutis: an honorary title given to an acknowledged heir to the throne.) appellari, destinari consules specie recusantis (specie recusantis: ‘under the appearance of refusing’) flagrantissime cupiverat. ut Agrippa vita concessit, (ut Agrippa vita concessit: vita concedere is one way to express death in Latin; vita is abl. of separation. Another way is to use an abl. abs. such as Druso extincto below. See also supremum diem explevisset in ch. 6 and vitam finivisset in ch. 9. Agrippa died in Pannonia in 12 B.C.) Lucium Caesarem euntem ad Hispaniensis exercitus, Gaium remeantem Armenia et vulnere invalidum mors fato propera vel novercae Liviae dolus abstulit, Drusoque pridem extincto (Drusoque pridem extincto: Drusus, Tiberius’ brother, died in Germany in 9 B.C., leaving behind his wife Antonia and three children, Germanicus, Claudius, and Livilla.) Nero solus e privignis erat, illuc cuncta vergere: filius, collega imperii, consors tribuniciae potestatis adsumitur omnisque per exercitus ostentatur, non obscuris, ut antea, matris artibus, sed palam hortatu. nam senem Augustum devinxerat adeo, uti nepotem unicum Agrippam Postumum, in insulam Planasiam proiecerit, (senem Augustum devinxerat adeo, uti nepotem unicum Agrippam Postumum, in insulam Planasiam proiecerit: the correlatives adeo …ut introduce the main and the dependent clause respectively of a consecutive sentence: ‘she had the aged Augustus so firmly under her thumb, that he banished his only grandson Agrippa Postumus to the island of Planasia’; proiecerit: consecutive clauses do not follow the rule of sequence and use of tense depends on sense: here the perfect subjunctive corresponds to the perfect indicative that would be used if the clause was not subordinate. The island of Planasia, now Pianosa, is SSW of the island of Elba, off the coast of Tuscany. Agrippa Postumus was the son of Agrippa and of Ottavia, Augustus’ sister. He was the younger brother of Lucius and Caius, mentioned above, and was named Postumus because he was born in 12 B.C., a few weeks after his father’s death.) rudem sane bonarum artium et robore corporis stolide ferocem, (rudem sane bonarum artium et robore corporis stolide ferocem: sane is concessive, ‘admittedly’: ‘a man, it is true, roughly hewn, devoid of any grace, brutishly proud of his physical strength’.) nullius tamen flagitii conpertum. at hercule (hercule: interjection expressive of strong feelings; here it denotes the author’s satisfaction in reporting Livia’s failure, for once, to control Augustus’ actions; a way of saying ‘well done, by Jove!’.) Germanicum Druso ortum octo apud Rhenum legionibus inposuit adscirique per adoptionem a Tiberio iussit, quamquam esset (quamquam esset: in Tacitus quamquam is regularly followed by subjunctive.) in domo Tiberii filius iuvenis, (Tiberii filius iuvenis: Drusus junior, son of Tiberius and his first wife Vipsania) sed quo pluribus munimentis insisteret. (quo pluribus munimentis insisteret: quo may be found replacing ut in purpose clauses.) bellum ea tempestate nullum nisi adversus Germanos supererat, abolendae magis infamiae ob amissum cum Quintilio Varo exercitum (ob amissum cum Quintilio Varo exercitum: allusion to the defeat and death of Quintilius Varus in the Teutoburg forest in Germany at the hand of Arminius in 9 A.D., when three complete legions were lost.) quam cupidine proferendi imperii aut dignum ob praemium. domi res tranquillae, eadem magistratuum vocabula; iuniores post Actiacam victoriam , etiam senes plerique inter bella civium nati: quotus quisque reliquus qui rem publicam vidisset? (quotus quisque reliquus qui rem publicam vidisset?: quotus quisque is interrogative: ‘one out of how many, who might have seen the republic?’; qui …vidisset is relative clause of characteristic with consecutive sense, i.e. the indefinite antecedent of qui is a person ‘such that he might have witnessed the republic’. Cf. A.G. 534, 535 and G. 631.)