XXI.
De origine Curtii Rufi, quem gladiatore genitum quidam prodidere, neque falsa prompserim et vera exequi pudet. (de origine Curtii Rufi, … neque falsa prompserim et vera exequi pudet: ‘on the origin of Curtius Rufus I would not like to promote a lie and I have qualms about revealing the truth.’ Quintus Curtius Rufus may well be either the author or the father of the author of the Historiae Alaxandri Magni, a famous work that has survived to this day. Tacitus, always the class-conscious aristocrat, has little good to say about him for no other reasons than Rufus’ humble birth, an unpardonable sin in his eyes if one attempts to break through class barriers. Even Tiberius, no second-rate judge of character, and after him Caligula, Claudius, and others, had helped him succeed, in recognition of his merits. To ascribe most of Rufus’ success to his scraping and kowtowing is simply not credible. prompserim is use of potential subjunctive in the first person singular for modest, cautious statements; cf. A.G. 447, 1.; vera exequi pudet: pudet is short for pudet me, lit. ‘it shames me’; see B. 209 and 327.) postquam adolevit, sectator quaestoris, cui Africa obtigerat, (postquam adolevit, sectator quaestoris, cui Africa obtigerat: ‘after he grew up, [he was] the assistant of the questor to whom the province of Africa had been assigned by lot.’ A quaestor, called quaestor provincialis was attached to a provincial governor mainly for the collection of the imposts and, in the absence of the governor, to act in his stead.) dum in oppido Adrumeto (in oppido Adrumeto: Adrumetum, today’s Sousse, is on the Tunisian eastern coast, about halfway between Tunis to the north and Sfax to the south.) vacuis per medium diei porticibus secretus agitat, oblata ei species muliebris ultra modum humanum (vacuis per medium diei porticibus secretus agitat, oblata ei species muliebris ultra modum humanum: ‘he was strolling alone under the deserted porticoes during the midday hours [and] the figure of a woman beyond human size offered itself to his view.’ oblata [est] ei: the passive oblata [est] is passive and ei is dat. of agent, in reality the person for whose sake the action is done.) et audita est vox ‘tu es, Rufe, qui in hanc provinciam pro consule venies.’ tali omine in spem sublatus degressusque in urbem largitione amicorum, simul acri ingenio quaesturam et mox nobilis inter candidatos praeturam principis suffragio adsequitur, (tali omine in spem sublatus degressusque in urbem largitione amicorum, simul acri ingenio quaesturam et mox … praeturam principis suffragio adsequitur: ‘lifted in his hopes by the vision, and having returned to Rome, he obtained the quaestorship and soon after the praetorship, thanks to the generous help of friends, to his own enterprising spirit, and to the protection of Tiberius.’ largitione, acri ingenio, suffragio are ablatives of cause.) cum hisce verbis Tiberius dedecus natalium eius velavisset: ‘Curtius Rufus videtur mihi ex se natus.’ (cum hisce verbis Tiberius dedecus natalium eius velavisset: ‘Curtius Rufus videtur mihi ex se natus.’: lit. ‘Tiberius had veiled the disgrace of his birth with these very words: “Curtius Rufus appears to me born from himself”. hisce verbis: the enclitic -ce reinforces his.) longa post haec senecta, et adversus superiores tristi adulatione, adrogans minoribus, inter pares difficilis, consulare imperium, triumphi insignia ac postremo Africam obtinuit; (adversus superiores tristi adulatione, adrogans minoribus, inter pares difficilis, consulare imperium, … postremo Africam obtinuit: ‘he gained the office of consul and in the end the governorship of Africa, through abject cringing in dealing with (adversus) his superiors, being domineering towards his inferiors, and difficult with his equals.’) atque ibi defunctus fatale praesagium implevit.