XIII.
At Claudius matrimonii sui ignarus et munia censoria usurpans, (at Claudius matrimonii sui ignarus et munia censoria usurpans: ‘meanwhile, Claudius, blind to his own marriage, was performing the duties of a censor.’ A sarcastic scoff at a prince engrossed in curbing the morals of Rome while oblivious to the scandalous capers of his own wife. at signals a change of focus in the narrative. matrimonii sui ignarus: genitive of relation (or of the thing concerned) with ignarus) theatralem populi lasciviam severis edictis increpuit, quod in Publium Pomponium consularem (is carmina scaenae dabat) inque feminas inlustris probra iecerat. (theatralem populi lasciviam severis edictis increpuit, quod in Publium Pomponium consularem (is carmina scaenae dabat) inque feminas inlustris probra iecerat: ‘he attacked the people’s scurrility in the theater with severe edicts, because they had directed outrage at Publius Pomponius (he composed poems for the stage) and at women of rank.’ For P. Pomponius see Book 5, ch. V. 8.) et lege lata saevitiam creditorum coercuit, ne in mortem parentum pecunias filiis familiarum faenori darent. (lege lata saevitiam creditorum coercuit, ne in mortem parentum pecunias filiis familiarum faenori darent: ‘he repressed the serious abuses of money lenders by a sweeping law, forbidding them to give money at interest (faenori, ‘for interest’, ‘for profit’) to dependent sons, payable at the death of the fathers’ ne darent, ‘that they should not give’, is prohibition in indirect discourse after the historical coercuit (or verb of saying implied by it). In direct discourse: ne dederint. See A.G. 588, Note 2 , and A.G. 450. in mortem parentum: ‘in expectation of the death of the fathers’; filiis familiarum: within a family, a man was not master of himself as long as the father lived. The phrase occurs also in Book 1, ch. 26.) fontisque aquarum Simbruinis collibus deductos urbi intulit. (fontisque aquarum Simbruinis collibus deductos urbi intulit: lit. ‘and he brought to the city the sources of water channeled down from the hills of Simbruvium’, a district in the Sabine hills east of Rome along the Anio river. The arches of the aqueduct are still in fair condition today and two of them form Porta Maggiore, one of the main ways into Rome.) ac novas litterarum formas addidit vulgavitque, comperto Graecam quoque litteraturam non simul coeptam absolutamque. (comperto Graecam quoque litteraturam non simul coeptam absolutamque: ‘having found out that even the Greek alphabet had not been undertaken and completed [all] at the same time.’ comperto is abl. abs. See note for certato in ch. 10.)