XII.
Verum inclinatio populi supererat ex memoria Germanici, cuius illa reliqua suboles virilis; (verum inclinatio populi supererat ex memoria Germanici, cuius illa reliqua suboles virilis: ‘the populace’ preference [for Nero], however, was a legacy from the memory of Germanicus, whose only surviving male progeny Nero [was].’ illa agrees with suboles, but stands for Nero, the grandson of Germanicus and his sole male descendant left alive. verum, short for verum est, indicates agreement with what has just bee said, but adds an objection, ‘true, but …’. ex memoria is abl. of the source.) et matri Agrippinae miseratio augebatur ob saevitiam Messalinae, quae semper infesta et tunc commotior quo minus strueret crimina et accusatores novo et furori proximo amore distinebatur. (quae semper infesta et tunc commotior quo minus strueret crimina et accusatores novo et furori proximo amore distinebatur: ‘[Messalina] who always hostile [to Agrippina] and at this time even more adversarial [than ever] was kept back (distinebatur) from (quominus) finding charges and accusers [against her] by a new and nearly demonic love affair.’ distinebatur quo minus strueret: quominus, unlike quin, can introduce a complementary clause of consecutive or final sense with subjunctive after a positive main clause, as in this case, whereas quin is used only after a negative main clause. furori proximo amore: ‘by a love next to madness’) nam in C. Silium, iuventutis Romanae pulcherrimum, ita exarserat ut Iuniam Silanam, nobilem feminam, matrimonio eius exturbaret vacuoque adultero potiretur. (in C. Silium, iuventutis Romanae pulcherrimum, ita exarserat ut Iuniam Silanam, nobilem feminam, matrimonio eius exturbaret vacuoque adultero potiretur: ‘she had blazed with such passion for Gaius Silium, the handsomest man in Rome, that she drove Junia Silana from her (eius) marriage [with Silius] and took possession of the free adulterer.’ ita exarserat ut … exturbaret … potiretur: the correlatives ita … ut precede a consecutive clause with subjunctive. For Gaius Silius see ch. 5.) neque Silius flagitii aut periculi nescius erat: sed certo si abnueret exitio et non nulla fallendi spe, simul magnis praemiis, operire futura et praesentibus frui pro solacio habebat. (certo si abnueret exitio et non nulla fallendi spe, simul magnis praemiis, operire futura et praesentibus frui pro solacio habebat: certo … exitio, non nulla … spe, and mgnis premiis are tree separate ablatives abs: ‘if he refused, death being certain, some hope being there of not being exposed, at the same time the rewards being great; he had for consolation to avoid thinking of the future and to enjoy the present.’ certo si abnueret exitio: conditional sentence with abl. absolute in the apodosis and potential condition in the protasis; praesentibus frui: fruor takes abl.) illa non furtim sed multo comitatu ventitare domum, egressibus adhaerescere, largiri opes honores; (egressibus adhaerescere, largiri opes honores: ‘she stuck to him whenever he went out, she bestowed [on him] wealth and honors.’ egressibus adhaerescere: lit. ‘she clung to his goings out’, from egressus, -us, noun; adhaerescere and largiri are historical infinitives.) postremo, velut translata iam fortuna, (postremo, velut translata iam fortuna: ‘in the end, just as if the empire had already changed hands, … ‘) servi liberti paratus principis apud adulterum visebantur.