LXXVI.
Eodem anno continuis imbribus auctus Tiberis plana urbis (plana urbis: ‘the level parts of the city’, especially the valley between the Capitoline and the Palatine hills next to the Tiber, formally a swamp.) stagnaverat; relabentem secuta est aedificiorum et hominum strages. (relabentem secuta est aedificiorum et hominum strages: relabentem refers to the Tiber: ‘loss of lives and of buildings followed the retreating river’; the stagnant waters may have undermined the foundations of buildings and caused many deaths by triggering an epidemic.) igitur censuit Asinius Gallus ut libri Sibyllini adirentur. (censuit Asinius Gallus ut libri Sibyllini adirentur: for Asinius Gallus see ch. 17: ‘Asinius Gallus proposed that the Sibylline books should be consulted for help.’ The books were a collection of prophecies by the sibyl (Greek for prophetess) at Cumae near Naples. Originally nine, six of them were burned by the sibyl herself when the king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, refused to pay the price she asked for them. He then, giving in to her demands, bought the remaining three. These were in turn destroyed in the fire that burned down the temple of Jupiter in 83 B.C., but were replaced by others books from all around the Roman world containing similar prophecies.) Renuit Tiberius, perinde divina humanaque obtegens; sed remedium coercendi fluminis Ateio Calpitoni et L. Arruntio mandatum. (remedium coercendi fluminis Ateio Calpitoni et L. Arruntio mandatum: Ateius Capito was curator aquarum et alvei Tiberis (‘superintendent of the river Tiber waters and bed’) for a number of years; his death is described in Book 3, ch. 75. For Lucius Arruntius see ch. 13. remedium coercendi fluminis: ‘the means of keeping the river in check’; coercendi fluminis is objective gen. gerundive supplementing the meaning of remedium; lit. ‘of the river to be contained’. Tiberius shows a modern disregard for prophecies and faith in the advice of experts.) Achaiam ac Macedoniam onera deprecantis levari in praesens proconsulari imperio tradique Caesari placuit. (Achaiam ac Macedoniam onera deprecantis levari in praesens proconsulari imperio tradique Caesari placuit: the province of Achaia comprised Greece proper, Thessaly to the north towards the Aegean sea, and Epirus also to the north but towards the Ionian sea. Macedonia bordered Achaia on the south, Dalmatia on the west, Moesia and Thrace on the north and northeast. Lit. ‘it was decided that Achaia and Macedonia, both complaining of their tax burden, be relieved for the time being from proconsular government and be given to the emperor.’ The two provinces were senatorial and in fact returned to senate control under Claudius in 44 A.D. Unlike the legati of imperial provinces, who were in the emperor’s pay, proconsular administrators of senatorial provinces lived at the expense of the governed, one good reason for the province to prefer imperial status.) edendis gladiatoribus, quos Germanici fratris ac suo nomine obtulerat, Drusus praesedit, (edendis gladiatoribus … Drusus praesedit: edendis gladiatoribus is dative with praesideo : ‘Drusus presided over the gladiatorial show to be exhibited.’ By the plural gladiatores a gladiatorial show is meant.) quamquam vili sanguine nimis gaudens; quod [in] vu]gus formidolosum et pater arguisse dicebatur. (quamquam vili sanguine nimis gaudens; quod [in] vu]gus formidolosum et pater arguisse dicebatur: ‘deriving excessive pleasure from [the shedding of] blood, however vile [the source], a fact that (quod), it was said, even his father had censured as shocking to the people’; [in] + acc. indicates here the persons towards whom a certain behaviour is directed. quamquam vili sanguine: i.e., even though the blood was only that of slaves; the sanguinary streak in Drusus’ character was already mentioned in ch. 29.) cur abstinuerit spectaculo ipse, varie trahebant; (cur abstinuerit spectaculo ipse, varie trahebant: trahebant is here with the sense of ‘to draw conclusions’, ‘to interpret’: ‘why he abstained from attending the spectacle, people ascribed to various reasons.’ cur ushers in an indirect question governed by trahebant, a historical tense, thus the perfect abstinuerit is in place of the more remote pluperfect abstinuisset, required by the sequence of tenses. Tacitus often ignores the rule to lend liveliness to the narrative by bringing the action closer to the reader, a rhetorical device called repraesentatio. Cf. G. 654 and Note, 656, Note 1.) alii taedio coetus, quidam tristitia ingenii et metu conparationis, quia Augustus comiter interfuisset. (quia Augustus comiter interfuisset: the clause is in oratio obliqua after trahebant, which explains the use of subjunctive with quia, normally with indicative.) non crediderim ad ostentandam saevitiam movendasque populi offensiones concessam filio materiem, (non crediderim ad ostentandam saevitiam movendasque populi offensiones concessam [esse] filio materiem: potential perfect subjunctives such as crediderim are often found expressing attenuated affirmations or modest statements, a use originally limited to verbs of saying and thinking, later extended in imperial times to other verbs for marking simple possibility (Ernout): ‘I could not believe that the circumstances were furnished [by him] to the son for displaying his brutality and for stirring up the people’s revulsion.’ materiem is here used in the abstract sense of ‘opportunity’, ‘chance’, ‘occasion’.) quamquam id quoque dictum est. (quamquam id quoque dictum est: rather unusual case in Tacitus of quamquam followed by indicative. The gradual shift towards the subjunctive began in classical times, perhaps because of the analogy between quamquam and quamvis.)