VII.
At Romae ruere (ruere: may be perfect indicative or hist. infinitive, more likely the latter.) in servitium consules, patres, eques. quanto quis inlustrior, tanto magis falsi ac festinantes, (quanto quis inlustrior, tanto magis falsi ac festinantes: comparative sentence without verbs: Tacitus omits any words that can be left out without impairing meaning: lit. ‘the higher up anyone, so much more phony and zealous’; the singular in the quanto clause arbitrarily becomes plural in the tanto or main clause, all in the interest of stylistic variety.) vultuque composito, ne laeti excessu principis neu tristiores primordio, (vultuque composito, ne laeti excessu principis neu tristiores primordio: vultuque composito is abl. abs. with dependent neg. final clause without a verb, such as viderentur or forent: ‘their expression being adjusted not to seem glad of Augustus’ exit, nor too sad because of the new commencement’; ne …neu: neu or neve introduces a second neg. final clause, or, if more than two, then usually the last, e.g. ne …ne …neu. See the last but one note in previous chapter.) lacrimas gaudium, questus adulationem miscebant. Sex. Pompeius et Sex. Appuleius consules (Sex. Pompeius et Sex. Appuleius consules: consuls for the year 14 A.D.; according to the historian Cassius Dio, both were distant relatives of Augustus.) primi in verba Tiberii Caesaris iuravere, (in verba Tiberii Caesaris iuravere: ‘took the oath in repeating the formula dictated by Tiberius’.) apudque eos (apud eos: i.e. in the consuls’ presence) Seius Strabo et C. Turranius, (Seius Strabo et C. Turranius: Strabo was the head or prefect of the praetorian cohorts, about ten in numbers and of a thousand men each, who ensured the security of the emperor, for which they received twice the pay of a legionary. He was the father of Seianus, who became the closest advisor of Tiberius. Turranius was the man in charge of the grain provisions in Rome, an office he held for several decades, until well past ninety.) ille praetoriarum cohortium praefectus, hic annonae; mox senatus milesque et populus. Nam Tiberius cuncta per consules incipiebat, tamquam vetere re publica et ambiguus imperandi: (tamquam vetere re publica et ambiguus imperandi: tamquam vetere re publica is abl. of attendant circumstance preceded by tamquam, which also modifies ambiguus imperandi, an elliptical clause: lit. ‘as if with (or ‘in’) the old republic and he seemingly undecided about assuming power ’; imperandi is objective genitive gerund.) ne edictum quidem, quo patres in curiam vocabat, nisi tribuniciae potestatis praescriptione posuit (ne edictum quidem … nisi tribuniciae potestatis praescriptione posuit: praescriptione posuit = praescriptione proposuit: ‘he did not even publish the edict with any title but that (nisi) of tribune [of the plebs]’, which gave him the power of summoning the senate.) sub Augusto acceptae. verba edicti fuere pauca et sensu permodesto: de honoribus parentis consulturum, neque abscedere a corpore, (de honoribus parentis consulturum [patres], neque abscedere a corpore: ‘that he intended to consult [the Senate] on the last honors of Augustus, and that [meanwhile] he was not leaving the body of his dead father’; Tiberius was then at Nola, where Augustus had died. (see ch. 5). conslturum [esse] is future infinitive for intended action, abscedere simple infinitive for current action in oratio obliqua after verba edicti.) idque unum ex publicis muneribus usurpare. sed defuncto Augusto signum praetoriis cohortibus (signum praetoriis cohortibus: the watchword for the praetorian cohorts, which came inscribed on a square tablet called tessera; the signum could also be given by word of mouth.) ut imperator dederat; excubiae, arma, cetera aulae; (cetera aulae: ‘and all the other trappings of a court’) miles in forum, miles in curiam comitabatur. litteras ad exercitus tamquam adepto principatu (tamquam adepto principatu: tamquam qualifies the abl. abs. adepto pricipatu: lit. ‘as if the empire having been securely acquired’; though adipiscor is deponent, its perfect participle has here passive meaning.) misit, nusquam cunctabundus nisi cum in senatu loqueretur. (nusquam cunctabundus nisi cum in senatu loqueretur: ‘nowhere being hesitant, except every time he spoke in the senate’; nisi may be found followed by temporal, causal, relative, or other clauses. cum …loqueretur: temporal cum requires subjunctive if it gives the circumstances accompanying or preceding the action of the main verb (circumstantial cum).) causa praecipua ex formidine, ne Germanicus, in cuius manu tot legiones, immensa sociorum auxilia, mirus apud populum favor, habere imperium quam exspectare mallet. (ne Germanicus … habere imperium quam exspectare mallet: negative purpose clause: ‘for fear that Germanicus might prefer to claim the empire [at once] rather than wait’) dabat et famae, (dabat et famae ut …videretur: dare aliquid famae is idiom: ‘he also paid attention to public opinion, in order to be seen as …’) ut vocatus electusque potius a re publica videretur quam per uxorium ambitum et senili adoptione inrepsisse. postea cognitum est ad introspiciendas etiam procerum voluntates inductam dubitationem: (postea cognitum est ad introspiciendas etiam procerum voluntates inductam [esse] dubitationem: ‘it became apparent later that his hesitation was simulated to penetrate the minds even of the leading men’; use of the passive gerundive with ad to express purpose, in place of a ut clause: lit. ‘for the minds to be penetrated’.) nam verba vultus in crimen detorquens recondebat.