XXXIV.
Crebra post haec fama fuit, inter diversas principis voces, cum modo incusaret flagitia uxoris, aliquando ad memoriam coniugii et infantiam liberorum revolveretur, non aliud prolocutum Vitellium quam ïo facinus! o scelus!’ (crebra post haec fama fuit, inter diversas principis voces, cum modo incusaret flagitia uxoris, aliquando ad memoriam coniugii et infantiam liberorum revolveretur, non aliud prolocutum Vitellium quam ïo facinus! o scelus!’: ‘the rumor was frequent afterwards that among the disconnected phrases of the prince (since at one moment he railed against the misconduct of the wife and sometimes he was drawn back to the memory of their marriage and to the childhood of their offspring) Vitellius did not utter anything but “O crime! O villainy!”’; cum … incusaret, … revolveretur: causal cum + subjunctive; modo … aliquando: Tacitus’ variation on the more usual modo … modo) instabat quidem Narcissus aperire ambages et veri copiam facere: (instabat quidem Narcissus aperire ambages et veri copiam facere: ‘Narcissuss actually pressured [him] to make understandable his riddles and give free way to his true thought.’ copiam facere is idiom, ‘to give a chance to … ‘) sed non ideo pervicit quin suspensa et quo ducerentur inclinatura responderet (non ideo pervicit quin suspensa et quo ducerentur inclinatura responderet: lit. ‘he did not for that reason succeed, so that Vitellius should not give doubtful answers that would be appropriate (inclinatura) anywhere (quo) they might be adduced.’ non pervicit quin … responderet: consecutive clause with quin after a negative main clause. Cf. G. 552 and 556. See also Vibidiam depellere nequivit … quin below.) exemploque eius Largus Caecina uteretur. et iam erat in aspectu Messalina clamitabatque audiret Octaviae et Britannici matrem, cum obstrepere accusator, Silium et nuptias referens; (clamitabatque audiret Octaviae et Britannici matrem, cum obstrepere accusator, Silium et nuptias referens: ‘she was loudly complaining that he should hear the mother of Octavia and Britannicus, when suddenly the accuser (Narcissus) shouted her down, bringing up Silius and her marriage.’ cum obstrepere: inverse cum clause, so called for two reasons, (a) the cum clause is placed after the main clause, (b) the cum clause appears more important in advancing the narrative than the main clause. See G. 581. obstrepere is historical infinitive, replacing perfect indicative. Rarely found in subordinate clauses with other writers, it is occasionally relied on by Tacitus as one way to liven up his prose. For example, it occurs twice in a cum clause in Book 2, ch. 31 and 40; once in Book 4, ch. 50; once in Book 6, ch. 44.) simul codicillos libidinum indices tradidit, quis visus Caesaris averteret. (simul codicillos libidinum indices tradidit, quis visus Caesaris averteret: ‘at the sane time he handed a document, exposing her adulteries, to Claudius, in order to deflect his eyes by it.’ the instrumental quis, for quibus, agrees in number with the antecedent codicillos, plural, in the sense of ‘a set of writing tablets’. quis … averteret: subjunctive in relative clause replacing a purpose clause.) nec multo post urbem ingredienti offerebantur communes liberi, nisi Narcissus amoveri eos iussisset. (urbem ingredienti offerebantur communes liberi, nisi Narcissus amoveri eos iussisset: lit. ‘to him entering the city, the children were about to be presented, had Narcissus not ordered that they (eos) be removed.’ ingredienti is dative of reference or of relation with a participle; cf. G. 553. offerebantur … nisi iussisset: contrary to fact (type III) conditional sentence; pluperfect subjunctive in protasis for action anterior to that of the apodosis; the imperfect indicative in the apodosis is for action interrupted. See G. 597, Remark 2.) Vibidiam depellere nequivit quin multa cum invidia flagitaret ne indefensa coniunx exitio daretur. (Vibidiam depellere nequivit quin multa cum invidia flagitaret ne indefensa coniunx exitio daretur: ‘he could not drive away Vibidia so that she should not remonstrate with such indignation that a spouse must not be given a death sentence undefended.’ nequivit quin … flagitaret: see note for non pervicit quin … responderet above; ne … daretur is command in indirect discourse; it corresponds to noli dare or ne dederis of direct speech. See A.G. 588 and Note 2. cum invidia is abl. of manner.) igitur auditurum principem et fore diluendi criminis facultatem respondit: iret interim virgo et sacra capesseret. (igitur auditurum principem et fore diluendi criminis facultatem respondit: iret interim virgo et sacra capesseret: ‘he answered that the prince would listen [to her], and that there would be (fore) an opportunity of attenuating the crime; meanwhile, she, a virgin vestal, must go and attend to her holy duties.’ diluendi criminis facultatem: objective genitive gerundive after a noun, lit. ‘an opportunity of the crime to be diminished’; iret, capesseret are commands in oratio obliqua, corresponding to the imperatives i and capesse of direct speech.)