XI.
Isdem consulibus ludi saeculares octingentesimo post Romam conditam, quarto et sexagesimo quam Augustus ediderat, spectati sunt. (isdem consulibus ludi saeculares octingentesimo [anno] post Romam conditam, quarto et sexagesimo [post] quam Augustus ediderat, spectati sunt: ‘during the same consulate [of Claudius and Vitellius in 47 A.D.] the secular games were seen, eight hundred years after Rome [was] founded and sixty-four years after Augustus had celebrated them.’ post is prep. with accusative, [post] quam temporal conjunction with perfect indicative. According to myth Rome was founded in 753 B.C., thus 753 + 47 = 800. The secular games, instituted in 348 B.C. were so called to mark the end of one saeculum and the beginning of another. isdem consulibus is abl. of time when; for octingentesimo [anno] post … and quarto et sexagesimo anno [post] … see last note in ch. 9.) utriusque principis rationes praetermitto, satis narratas libris quibus res imperatoris Domitiani composui. (utriusque principis rationes praetermitto, satis narratas libris quibus res imperatoris Domitiani composui: ‘I skip the computations of both princes (Augustus and Claudius), sufficiently elucidated in the books in which I wrote the history of emperor Domitian.’ The interval (saeculum) between successive secular games was not always a century, but was based on an estimate of the longest possible duration of human life, which was usually set at 100 or 110 years. Even then, an emperor might decide to advance or delay the date by a few years depending on other reasons or whims of his own, as did Domitian in 88 A.D. Tacitus had explained all this in his second major work, the Historiae, most of which has been lost.) nam is quoque edidit ludos saecularis iisque intentius adfui sacerdotio quindecimvirali praeditus ac tunc praetor; (is quoque edidit ludos saecularis iisque intentius adfui sacerdotio quindecimvirali praeditus ac tunc praetor: ‘he (Domitian) also held the secular games, and in these I participated in a rather active way (intentius), being endowed with the priesthood of the College of Fifteen and a praetor at the time.’ quindecimviri sacris faciundis was a board of fifteen priests, initially in charge of the Sibylline books. In time, they were assigned the task of supervisors of the secular games and of all foreign cults in Rome.) quod non iactantia refero sed quia collegio quindecimvirum antiquitus ea cura et magistratus potissimum exequebantur officia caerimoniarum. (quod non iactantia refero sed quia collegio quindecimvirum antiquitus ea cura et magistratus potissimum exequebantur officia caerimoniarum: ‘this I do not mention from vanity, but because from ancient times this responsibility belonged to the Board of Fifteen and the praetors (magistratus) among them performed the religious duties in preference to all others (potissimum, adverb).’ Tacitus is saying that if one was both one of the fifteen and also a magistrate, as he himself was, he was given preference in the performance of religious duties. iactantia is abl. of cause. quia … exequebantur: quia takes regularly the indicative.) sedente Claudio circensibus ludis, cum pueri nobiles equis ludicrum Troiae inirent interque eos Britannicus imperatore genitus et L. Domitius adoptione mox in imperium et cognomentum Neronis adscitus, (sedente Claudio circensibus ludis, cum pueri nobiles equis ludicrum Troiae inirent interque eos Britannicus imperatore genitus et L. Domitius adoptione mox in imperium et cognomentum Neronis adscitus, … : the passage lacks a main verb, which is adeptus est below: lit. ‘during the equestrian part of the games, at the circus and with Claudius attending, when noble young boys on hor4seback, among them Britannicus, the emperor’s son and Luciuu Domitius, soon by adoption admitted to the throne and to the surname of Nero, entered into the performance of the pageantry of ancient Troy, … ‘; sedente Claudio is abl abs., ‘Claudius watching the show from his seat’; circencibus ludis: abl. of time when; cum … inirent: historical or narrative cum + subjunctive; cf. A.G. 546 and Note 1. At this point in time, Britannicus was six years old, Nero nine. This is the first mention of Nero’s name in the Annals. He will become the central figure in the books ahead, just as Tiberius was central in Book 1 to 6.) favor plebis acrior in Domitium loco praesagii acceptus est. (favor plebis acrior in Domitium loco praesagii acceptus est: ‘ … the more enthusiastic favor towards Domitius was taken for a sign of future things.’ loco: ‘by way of’, ‘as’) vulgabaturque adfuisse infantiae eius dracones in modum custodum, fabulosa et externis miraculis adsimilata: (vulgabaturque adfuisse infantiae eius dracones in modum custodum, fabulosa et externis miraculis adsimilata: ‘It was rumored also that snakes had attended his infancy in the manner of guardians, invented tales made to resemble foreign fables.) nam ipse, haudquaquam sui detractor, unam omnino anguem in cubiculo visam narrare solitus est. (ipse, haudquaquam sui detractor, unam omnino anguem in cubiculo visam narrare solitus est: ‘he himself, in no way his own disparager, used to say that, in all, a single snake was seen in his bedchamber.’ sui detractor: ‘the detractor of himself’: the reflexive genitive sui in the infinitive clause can still refer to the subject of the main clause if the subordinate and the main clause are closely linked together. If not, eius must be used.)