VIII.
Nihil primo senatus die agi passus [est] (passus [est]: the subject is Tiberius.) nisi de supremis Augusti, cuius testamentum inlatum per virgines Vestae (per virgines Vestae: wills and valuables were entrusted to the Vestals in the temple of Vesta.) Tiberium et Liviam heredes habuit. Livia in familiam Iuliam nomenque Augustum adumebatur; in spem secundam nepotes pronepotesque, (in spem secundam nepotes pronepotesque: whereas Tiberius and Livia are the legal heirs (heredes), all the rest receive legacies (legata), next in expectation (in spem secundam) after the heirs being the two grandsons, Germanicus, the son of Tiberius’ brother Drusus senior, and Drusus junior, the son of Tiberius, and three grand-grandchildren, Caligula, Nero, and Drusus Caesar, Germanicus’ sons.) tertio gradu primores civitatis scripserat, plerosque invisos sibi, (sibi: the reflexive pronoun, and dative of interest, refers to Augustus, the subject in the sentence.) sed iactantia gloriaque (iactantia gloriaque: ablatives of cause) ad posteros. legata non ultra civilem modum, (legata non ultra civilem modum: ‘the legacies were within the limits of a private citizen’, i.e. not excessive.) nisi quod (nisi quod: ‘except that’, ‘but for the fact that’) populo et plebi quadringentiens triciens quinquiens, (populo et plebi quadringentiens triciens quinquiens [dedit]: the suffix -ie(n)s gives a numeral the adverbial sense of ‘how many times?’. In speaking of large amounts of money, it also implies that the number is to be multiplied by 100,000 to find the total in sesterces. Thus: 435 x 100,000 = forty-three million, five hundred thousand sesterces. We know from Suetonius that forty millions went into the aerarium, the state or the people’s treasury (populo) and 3.5 millions were distributed among the thirty-five tribes of the lower classes (plebi).) praetoriarum cohortium militibus singula nummum milia, (singula nummum milia: ‘one thousand sesterces’: nummus stands for ‘sesterce’, especially with mille.) [urbanis quingenos], ([urbanis quingenos]: the information comes again from Suetonius: ‘five hundred sesterces to each member of the urban cohorts’) legionariis aut cohortibus civium Romanorum (cohortibus civium Romanorum: cohorts of Roman volunteers, separate from the legions) trecenos nummos viritim dedit. tum conultatum de honoribus; ex quis [qui] maxime insignes visi, ut porta triumphali duceretur funus, Gallus Asinius, ut legum latarum tituli, victarum ab eo gentium vocabula anteferentur, L. Arruntius censuere. (ex quis [qui] maxime insignes visi, ut …funus …duceretur …, Gallus Asinius, … ut …tituli …anteferentur, L. Arruntius censuere: [qui] was added later to the original Latin text to restore meaning; the antecedent of ex quis is de honoribus: lit. ‘of these [honors], those that were seen to be important, Gallus Asinius and L. Arruntius proposed them, [the former] that the procession be conducted …, [the latter] that the titles…be carried in front …’.) addebat Messalla Valerius renovandum per annos sacramentum (addebat Messalla Valerius renovandum per annos sacramentum: ‘Messalla Valerius suggested also that the oath to Tiberius should be renewed each year’. Messalla had previously been consul and even a successful general in Pannonia, yet he was a man of distinctively servile character. per annos: i.e. ‘once a year every year’) in nomen Tiberii; interrogatusque a Tiberio num se mandante eam sententiam prompsisset, (num se mandante eam sententiam prompsisset: num introduces an indirect question: ‘whether he, Tiberius, had suggested that motion’; se mandante: abl. abs.: ‘he himself having ordered it’; se always refers to the logical subject in a sentence.) sponte dixisse respondit, neque in iis quae ad rem publicam pertinerent consilio nisi suo usurum, vel cum periculo offensionis: (consilio nisi suo usurum, vel cum periculo offensionis: ‘that he would avail himself of nothing but his own judgement, even at the risk of offending’; vel here introduces a notion that to others may appear incredible or unlikely.) ea sola species adulandi supererat. conclamant patres corpus ad rogum umeris senatorum ferendum. remisit Caesar adroganti moderatione, (remisit … adroganti moderatione: the verb remitto is here taken with the meaning of ‘to permit’, ‘to give in’, ‘to allow’. Other interpretations are possible. adroganti moderatione is abl. of manner.) populumque edicto monuit ne, ut quondam nimiis studiis funus divi Iulii turbassent, ita Augustum in foro potius quam in campo Martis, (in campo Martis: at one time a wide open area inside the first westward bend of the Tiber after entering Rome, intended for gymnastic and military exercise; later (first century A.D.) it became crowded with large buildings such as the Pantheon. A section of Augustus’ mausoleum can still be seen today between the Tiber and the Flaminian road.) sede destinata, cremari vellent. (monuit ne, ut quondam …funus divi Iulii turbassent, ita Augustum in foro … cremari vellent: ne is followed by a complementary construction after moneo which in effect is a comparative sentence with ita …ut. In simplified order: monuit ne ita Augustum in foro cremari vellent, ut quondam funus divi Iulii turbassent. For use of moneo see note in ch. 6. As for the unrest at Caesar’s funeral in 44 B.C., the anger of the people, whipped into fury by the funeral eulogy of Antony, led to the burning of the dictator’s body in the Forum with the wood from the platform used for public speaking. Shakespeare recreated the scene, based entirely on information to be found in Plutarch, in his play Julius Caesar.) die funeris milites velut praesidio stetere, multum inridentibus (inridentibus: one-word abl. abs. governing a relative clause: ‘those jeering who …’) qui ipsi viderant quique a parentibus acceperant diem illum crudi adhuc servitii (crudi adhuc servitii: ‘ of a slavery still fresh’, since Julius Caesar was the first to permanently supplant the republic. crudus has other shades of meaning equally applicable, such as ‘still green’, ‘still undigested’, ‘raw’, ‘bitter’.) et libertatis inprospere repetitae, cum occisus dictator Caesar aliis pessimum, aliis pulcherrimum facinus videretur: (cum … videretur: for temporal cum + subjunctive cf. note for nusquam cunctabundus nisi cum in senatu loqueretur in previous chapter.) nunc senem principem, longa potentia, provisis etiam heredum in rem publicam opibus, (longa potentia, provisis etiam heredum in rem publicam opibus: abl. abs.: ‘his domination being long, the resources of his heirs against the republic having also been provided’) auxilio scilicet (scilicet: ‘forsooth’, ‘indeed’: here expressive of indignation) militari tuendum, ut sepultura eius quieta foret.