XXVIII.
Igitur domus principis inhorruerat, maximeque quos penes potentia et, si res verterentur, formido, (domus principis inhorruerat, maximeque quos penes potentia et, si res verterentur, formido: ‘the palace of the prince has shaken with horror, especially those in whom the power was and [also] the fear, in case there should be a revolution.’ The preposition penes, ‘in the possession of’, takes accusative and is often placed after the noun or pronoun. The power under Claudius was in the hands of freedmen, whose names will be given next chapter. si res verterentur: subjunctive for potential condition.) non iam secretis conloquiis, sed aperte fremere, dum histrio cubiculum principis insultaverit, dedecus quidem inlatum, sed excidium procul afuisse: (dum histrio cubiculum principis insultaverit, dedecus quidem inlatum, sed excidium procul afuisse: ‘as long as an actor was polluting the bedchamber of the prince, disgrace was certainly brought [to the house], but the slaying [of the prince] had been a remote possibility.’ The actor or pantomimist in question is Mnester, mentioned in ch. 4. dum … insultaverit: the original text has the meaningless exultabero; the reading insultaverit, proposed in its place, resists explanation from the standpoint of grammar, although its meaning is clear enough.) nunc iuvenem nobilem dignitate formae, vi mentis ac propinquo consulatu maiorem ad spem accingi; nec enim occultum quid post tale matrimonium superesset. (nec enim occultum quid post tale matrimonium superesset: ‘what was bound to happen in the wake of such a marriage was obvious.’ quid … superesset: subjunctive in indirect question after the interrogative quid.) subibat sine dubio, metus reputantis hebetem Claudium et uxori devinctum multasque mortes iussu Messalinae patratas: (subibat sine dubio, metus reputantis hebetem Claudium et uxori devinctum multasque mortes iussu Messalinae patratas: lit. ‘doubtlessly, anxiety stole in on them reflecting that Claudius was dull-witted, a slave to his wife and that many murders had been committed by order of Messalina.’ The plur. acc. reputamtis is direct object of subibat, used here as transitive verb.) rursus ipsa facilitas imperatoris fiduciam dabat, (rursus ipsa facilitas imperatoris fiduciam dabat: ‘on the other hand, the yielding disposition itself of the emperor gave them hope’; rursus: ‘then again’, ‘on the other hand’; facilitas: Tacitus will use again this word, referred to Claudius with the same sense, in Book 12, ch. 61.) si atrocitate criminis praevaluissent, posse opprimi damnatam ante quam ream; (si atrocitate criminis praevaluissent, posse opprimi damnatam ante quam ream: in indirect discourse, reflecting the words and thoughts of the scheming freedmen: ‘if they would have been able to persuade him by the monstrosity of the crime, it was possible that the culpable woman (damnatam) would be suppressed before being formally accused’; si … praevaluissent, … posse …: conditional sentence in oratio obliqua; the pluperfect subjunctive praevaluissent in the protasis, for potential (type II) condition, corresponds to the future anterior of direct speech (i.e., in this case, ‘we will have been able to persuade’; in the apodosis, with verbs like posse and debere, the infinitive future + esse is not necessary, since the simple infinitives posse, debere already have future force; cf. A.G. 584, b. ante quam ream: ‘before being accused’; antequam is often as two separate words and sometimes without finite verb.) sed in eo discrimen verti, si defensio audiretur, utque clausae aures etiam confitenti forent. (sed in eo discrimen verti, si defensio audiretur, utque clausae aures etiam confitenti forent: lit. ‘but the decisive point was hinged on this, whether her defense would be heard and how his ears should be kept shut even to her confessing.’ Two indirect questions with subjunctive opened respectively by si and ut. Occasionally si is found with indirect questions in the sense of ‘whether’ as is ‘if’ in English; cf. A.G. 576 a.)