II.
Neque data senatus copia: (neque data senatus copia: lit. ‘not being given the option of the senate’, that is ‘the opportunity of being heard in the senate’; senatus is objective genitive after a noun. Emperors could bypass the senate and try a man in the palace. Though this was not a frequent occurrence, it was done at least once under Tiberius in the case of Piso, the man suspected of poisoning Germanicus; later it became practically the norm during the reign of Claudius.) intra cubiculum auditur, Messalina coram et Suillio corruptionem militum, quos pecunia et stupro in omne flagitum obstrictos (in omne flagitum obstrictus: ‘bound [to his service] in every infamy’) arguebat, exim adulterium Poppaeae, postremum mollitiam corporis obiectante. (postremum mollitiam corporis obiectante: ‘in the end flinging at him his unmanliness’) ad quod victo silentio (victo silentio: abl. abs.: ’his silence being broken’; Asiaticus had kept silent during Sillius’ peroration.) prorupit reus et ‘interroga’ inquit, ‘Suilli, filios tuos: virum esse me fatebuntur.’ ingressusque defensionem, commoto maiorem in modum Claudio, (ingressusque defensionem, commoto maiorem in modum Claudio: ‘[Asiaticus] having embarked on his defence, Claudius was deeply affected.’ commoto Caludio is abl. abs., lit. ‘he was affected in a major way’) Messalinae quoque lacrimas excivit. (Messalinae quoque lacrimas excivit: ‘he even wrested tears from Messalina.’ Messalinae is dat. with excio, the pattern being excire lacrimas alicui.) quibus abluendis cubiculo egrediens monet Vitellium ne elabi reum sineret: (quibus abluendis cubiculo egrediens monet Vitellium ne elabi reum sineret: lit. ‘which [tears] to be washed away, on going out of the room, she warned Vitellius not to allow the accused to escape free.’ quibus abluendis: dat. gerundive of purpose: lit. ‘for which to be washed away’; cf. opprimendo bello in previous chapter. ne … sineret: jussive subjunctive; cf. A.G. 439, Note 2.) ipsa ad perniciem Poppaeae festinat, subditis qui terrore carceris ad voluntariam mortem propellerent, (subditis qui terrore carceris ad voluntariam mortem propellerent: abl. abs. with dependent relative clause: ‘those having been instigated who were to push [Poppaea] to suicide by the terror of imprisonment, … ‘; qui … propellerent: subjunctive in rel. clause expressing purpose) adeo ignaro Caesare ut paucos post dies epulantem apud se maritum eius Scipionem percontaretur cur sine uxore discubuisset, atque ille functam fato responderet. (adeo ignaro Caesare ut paucos post dies epulantem apud se maritum eius Scipionem percontaretur cur sine uxore discubuisset, atque ille functam fato responderet: adeo … ut introduces the main and dependent part of a comparative sentence; here the main clause is an abl. abs.: ‘so unaware [of the fact] being Claudius, that a few days later he asked her husband Scipio, dining with him, why he had lain at table without his wife, and he answered that she had complied with the limit set by fate’, a poetic way to say that she had died. ut … percontaretur: normally both parts of a comparative sentence have indicative, but in later Latin the tendency developed to have all ut clauses with subjunctive (Ernout). cur … discubuisset: subjunctive in indirect question; responderet is modal attraction, being dependent on percontaretur. See G. 663.)