LXXII.
Decreta eo anno triumphalia insignia A. Caecinae, L. Apronio, C. Silio (triumphalia insignia A. Caecinae, L. Apronio, C. Silio: for Caecina and Silius see ch. 31, for Apronius ch. 56. We are not told what Silius accomplished to deserve special recognition and Apronius’ contribution, if limited to that mentioned in ch. 56, was not exactly heroic. Regular triumphs were reserved for members of the imperial family only. All others were awarded triumphalia insignia or ornamenta, in theory tangible tokens like a laurel crown, a curule chair, the toga picta and the tunica palmata, an ivory sceptre, a laureate statue. With these went special privileges such as permission to wear the triumphal dress at festivals and public games or choice of seats in the circus or at the theatre. In practice, especially during imperial times, these triumphalia ornamenta became purely nominal: one received nothing but the triumphal dignity, highly valued in that it extended to one’s family or successors.) ob res cum Germanico gestas. nomen patris patriae Tiberius, a populo saepius ingestum, (saepius ingestum: ‘thrusted [on him] more than once’; for saepius cf. note for id Tiberii animum altius penetravit in ch. 69.) repudiavit; neque in acta sua iurari quamquam censente senatu (quamquam censente senatu: lit. ‘even though the senate approving [the title]’: the association of quamquam and other subordinating conjunctions with the participle of an abl. abs. is not rare in classical Latin, but becomes more frequent later, especially in Tacitus.) permisit, (neque in acta sua iurari … permisit: ‘nor did he allow that [obedience] be sworn to his decrees.’ The oath was taken every year on the first of January by every magistrate and senator. Tiberius himself had taken the oath to the enactments of Augustus. The formula of the oath was: se nihil contra acta Caesaris facturum (Furneaux). The use of acc. + passive infinitive after permitto, in place of ut + subjunctive, is contrary to the usage of the best writers, according to some commentators (Madwig).) cuncta mortalium incerta, quantoque plus adeptus foret, tanto se magis in lubrico dictitans. (quantoque plus adeptus foret, tanto se magis in lubrico dictitans: comparative sentence with quanto …, tanto in oratio obliqua summoned up by dictitans: ‘saying repeatedly that the more [power] he had been furnished with, the more liable his position to lead to false steps’; the dependent clause with quanto becomes subjunctive in indir. discourse; the verb of the main clause with tanto, if one were present, would be infinitive. in lubrico: ‘in a slippery situation’; dictitans: dictitare is the frequentative form of dicere.) non tamen ideo faciebat fidem civilis animi; (non tamen ideo faciebat fidem civilis animi: lit. ‘yet, on that account, he gave no convincing proof of his egalitarian sentiments.’ Freely, ‘he did not convince anyone that he regarded his status as that of an ordinary citizen.’) nam legem maiestatis (legem maiestatis: the full term is lex laesae meiestatis. In republican times the law was confined to cases of criminally negligent administration, its purpose being the protection of the state.) reduxerat, cui nomen apud veteres idem, sed alia in iudicium veniebant, si quis proditione exercitum aut plebem seditionibus, denique male gesta re publica (proditione … seditionibus, … male gesta re publica: probably ablatives of cause, though manner and instrument may also be involved.) maiestatem populi Romani minuisset: (alia in iudicium veniebant, si quis … exercitum aut plebem …., maiestatem populi Romani minuisset: lit. ‘other crimes came under its scrutiny, [such as] if anyone would have damaged the army, the plebs, the majesty of the Roman people.’ The inference is that the lex majestatis, as applied in the past, protected the dignity and integrity of a state wherein the people was sovereign. Now, it safeguarded only the majesty of the emperor, who, as someone has aptly said, had supplanted the people and had himself become the state. si quis …minuisset: the condition is potential in past time, usually expressed by imperfect subjunctive, rarely by pluperfect. In such cases the construction coincides with that of unreal conditions and is therefore avoided if possible. See G. 596, 2. quis is always for aliquis after si.) facta arguebantur, dicta inpune erant. (dicta inpune erant: ‘words went unpunished’; the adverb impune is used here as predicate, ‘words were without punishment’.) primus Augustus cognitionem de famosis libellis specie legis eius tractavit, (Augustus cognitionem de famosis libellis specie legis eius tractavit: ‘Augustus carried out the inquiry about defamatory tracts under a specific interpretation (specie) of that (eius) law.’ The personal pronominal adjective eius is in place of the demonstrative illius.) commotus Cassii Severi (Cassii Severi: famous orator and audacious defender of freedom of speech under Augustus and Tiberius; he was ultimately exiled and his works banned after his death in 32 A.D. See Book 4, ch. 21) libidine, qua viros feminasque inlustris procacibus scriptis diffamaverat; mox Tiberius, consultante Pompeio Macro praetore an iudicia maiestatis redderentur, (consultante Pompeio Macro praetore an iudicia maiestatis redderentur: abl. abs. with complementary indirect question in the subjunctive: ‘the praetor Pompeius Macer asking whether trials of treason should be allowed, …’; P. Macer, a Greek by origin and a friend of the poet Ovid, served under Augustus as procurator for the province of Asia and later as director of state libraries in Rome. He retained his influence under Tiberius, but not indefinitely. For his death see Book 6, ch. 18. ) exercendas leges esse respondit. (exercendas leges esse respondit: ‘he answered that the laws were there to be applied.’ use of passive periphrastic conjugation (gerundive + forms of esse) to express duty or desirability) hunc quoque asperavere carmina incertis auctoribus vulgata (incertis auctoribus vulgata: ‘circulated by anonymous authors’; incertis auctoribus is dat. of agent with the passive vulgata: Tacitus uses it frequently in place of abl. with a or ab.) in saevitiam superbiamque eius et discordem cum matre animum.