XXVII.
Haud sum ignarus fabulosum visum iri tantum ullis mortalium securitatis fuisse in civitate omnium gnara et nihil reticente, (haud sum ignarus fabulosum visum iri tantum ullis mortalium securitatis fuisse in civitate omnium gnara et nihil reticente: lit. ‘I am not unaware that it is going to be seen incredible that any persons had had so much boldness in a city informed of everything and keeping nothing secret.’ fabulosum visum iri: visum iri is future passive infinitive, where visum is acc. supine of video and iri is the passive infinitive of the verb eo used impersonally; ullis mortalium is dat. plural of possessors with fuisse; this dative becomes in English the subject of a clause with ‘to have’, as shown in the translation; mortalium is partitive gen. after an indefinite pronoun; another partitive gen. is securitatis after the neuter tantum.) nedum consulem designatum cum uxore principis, praedicta die, adhibitis qui obsignarent, (adhibitis qui obsignarent: abl. abs. with dependent relative clause: ‘those having been sent for who would co-sign the contract’; obsignarent is subjunctive in rel. clause expressing purpose.) velut suscipiendorum liberorum causa convenisse, (nedum consulem designatum cum uxore principis, praedicta die, … velut suscipiendorum liberorum causa convenisse: ‘still less credible is that (nedum) a consul designate with the wife of an emperor, on a set day, had met presumably for the purpose of bringing children into the world’; nedum, ‘much less’, is subordinating conjunction, usually followed by subjunctive, here with infinitive in indirect speech, therefore with indicative in direct speech; praedicta die: dies is feminine to indicate a fixed time. suscipiendorum liberorum causa: the words were part of the marriage formula; causa and gratia, ‘for the sake of’, take genitive.) atque illam audisse auspicum verba, subisse “flammeum” , sacrificasse apud deos; discubitum inter convivas, oscula complexus, noctem denique actam licentia coniugali. (atque illam audisse auspicum verba, subisse “flammeum” , sacrificasse apud deos; discubitum inter convivas, oscula complexus, noctem denique actam licentia coniugali: ‘and that she had listened to the words of the diviners, put on the nuptial veil, made sacrifice to the gods, taken her place at table among the guests, given and received kisses and embraces, and finally had spent the night in the license of marriage’; flammeum, not in the original manuscript, has been added to complement subisse.) sed nihil compositum miraculi causa, verum audita scriptaque senioribus tradam. (sed nihil compositum miraculi causa, verum audita scriptaque senioribus tradam: ‘but nothing having been invented for the sake of vulgar amazement, I will pass on what was really heard from and written by our elders.’ senioribus is dative of agent with passive verbs often found in Tacitus in place od a or ab + abl.)