LIII.
Eodem anno Iulia supremum diem obiit, (Iulia supremum diem obit: mortem obire, diem obire, or supremum diem obire are idioms to signify someone’s death. Julia died about three months after her father at fifty-three years of age. Augustus’ only progeny (by his first wife Scribonia), she was married three times, first at fourteen to her cousin Claudius Marcellus; the son of Augustus’ sister Octavia and Gaius Claudius Marcellus, the second time to Marcus Agrippa, Augustus’ right hand, by whom she had three sons and Agrippina, Germanicus’ future wife; the third time to Tiberius.) ob impudicitiam olim a patre Augusto Pandateria insula, (Pandateria insula: the island of Ventotene outside the bay of Naples, WNW of the island of Capri) mox oppido Reginorum, qui Siculum fretum accolunt, (mox oppido Reginorum, qui Siculum fretum accolunt: the explanatory relative clause is necessary to differentiate this Regium or Rhegium (modern Reggio Calabria) from Rhegium Lepidi (Reggio Emilia) NW of Bologna, between Parma and Modena.) clausa. fuerat in matrimonio Tiberii florentibus Gaio et Lucio Caesaribus (florentibus Gaio et Lucio Caesaribus: Gaius and Lucius were two of Julia’s three sons by Marcus Agrippa. Their death is described in ch. 3.) spreveratque ut inparem; nec alia tam intima Tiberio causa cur Rhodum abscederet. (spreveratque ut inparem; nec alia tam intima Tiberio causa cur Rhodum abscederet: lit. ‘she had looked down on him as beneath her, no other reason [being] so very personal as to why he retired to Rhodes.’ tam adds prominence to the superlative intima. Rhodum: with names of small islands the simple accusative is used to express place to which. cur abscederet: subjunctive for indirect question introduced by cur; Tiberius’ quasi-confinement at Rhodes (from 6 B.C. to 2 A.D.) is mentioned in ch. 3.) imperium adeptus extorrem, infamem et post interfectum Postumum Agrippam (post interfectum Postumum Agrippam: the last of Julia’s three sons by Marcus Agrippa. For his murder see ch. 6.) omnis spei egenam (omnis spei egenam: egenus occurs in poets, mainly Statius and Virgil, with complementary genitive; in Tacitus is found with genitive or ablative.) inopia ac tabe longa peremit, obscuram fore necem longinquitate exilii ratus. par causa saevitiae in Sempronium Gracchum, qui familia nobili, sollers ingenio et prave facundus, (Sempronium Gracchum, … familia nobili, sollers ingenio et prave facundus: familia nobili and ingenio are ablatives of respect or specification; prave facundus: lit. ‘flagitiously eloquent’, i.e. ‘using eloquence for evil ends’; Sempronius may have been a writer of tragedies, though nothing of his work has survived.) eandem Iuliam in matrimonio Marci Agrippae temeraverat. nec is libidini finis: traditam Tiberio pervicax adulter contumacia et odiis in maritum accendebat; litteraeque quas Iulia patri Augusto cum insectatione Tiberii scripsit a Graccho compositae credebantur. igitur amotus Cercinam, (Cercinam: today Kerkena in the gulf of Gabes near Tripoli in Lybia.) Africi maris insulam, quattuordecim annis (quattuordecim annis: the time within which something occurs or is done (without regard to duration) is expressed by the simple ablative; easily confused with time during which requiring accusative. Cf. A.G. 423 – 424.) exilium toleravit. tunc milites ad caedem missi invenere in prominenti litoris (in prominenti litoris: ‘on a prominent part of the coast’: prominenti is singular neuter ablative of prominens used as a noun, a construction rarely found, except in Tacitus, if the adjective is governed by a preposition.) nihil laetum opperientem. quorum adventu (quorum adventu: ablative of time when) breve tempus petivit ut suprema mandata uxori Alliariae per litteras daret, cervicemque percussoribus obtulit; constantia mortis haud indignus Sempronio nominee: vita degeneraverat. (constantia mortis haud indignus Sempronio nomine: vita degeneraverat: ‘with his resolve in death he was not unworthy of the name Sempronius: with his life he had fallen below it.’ indignus …nomine: indignus is here with abl. of respect; rarely found with genitive and only in poetry. Cf. G. 374, N. 10.) quidam non Roma eos milites, sed ab L. Asprenate pro consule Africae missos tradidere auctore Tiberio, qui famam caedis posse in Asprenatem verti frustra speraverat. (quidam non Roma eos milites, sed ab L. Asprenate pro consule Africae missos tradidere auctore Tiberio, qui famam caedis posse in Asprenatem verti frustra speraverat: ‘some have reported that those soldiers were not sent from Rome, but by Lucius Asprenas, proconsul of Africa, on Tiberius’ initiative, who had hoped in vain that the odium for the murder might fall on Asprenas.’ Asprenas had been consul eight years earlier in 6 A.D. The passage is in indir. discourse after tradidere, except for the closing relative clause, which, being inserted by the writer as an explanation, is with indicative, thus outside the rules governing oratio obliqua (cf. G. 628, R. (a), 655, R. 2.). Roma: place from which is by simple ablative if the place is a city or town; auctore Tiberio: abl. abs., ‘Tiberius being the instigator’)