V.
Continuus inde et saevus accusandis reis Suillius multique audaciae eius aemuli; (continuus inde et saevus accusandis reis Suillius multique audaciae eius aemuli: ‘from then on Suillius [was] at work without pause or pity in prosecuting defendants, and many [were] the imitators of his brazenness.) nam cuncta legum et magistratuum munia in se trahens princeps materiam praedandi patefecerat. (nam cuncta legum et magistratuum munia in se trahens princeps materiam praedandi patefecerat: ‘for the prince drawing to himself all the powers of the laws and of the magistrates had furnished opportunities (materiam) of easy gains by fleecing the public.’ materiam praedandi: objective genitive gerund after a noun, ‘scope for preying’; praedandi complements and defines materiam. Genitives of this kind are recognizable by the fact that they can be replaced by a construction with a preposition, e.g., materiam ad praedandum. Cf. A.G. 347-348.) nec quicquam publicae mercis tam venale fuit quam advocatorum perfidia, adeo ut Samius, insignis eques Romanus, quadringentis nummorum milibus Suillio datis et cognita praevaricatione ferro in domo eius incubuerit. (nec quicquam publicae mercis tam venale fuit quam advocatorum perfidia, adeo ut Samius, insignis eques Romanus, quadringentis nummorum milibus Suillio datis et cognita praevaricatione ferro in domo eius incubuerit: comparative sentence wit tam … quam + indicative, followed by a consecutive sentence with adeo ut + subjunctive in the dependent clause: ‘no market commodity whatsoever was so salable as the fraudulent sophistry of advocates, to such an extent that Samius, a Roman knight of note, four hundred thousand sesterces having been given to Suillius and his treachery having been discovered, fell forward on his sword in the lawyer’s (eius) own house.’ nec quicquam publicae mercis: the forms quidquam and quicquam are the neuter of quisquam; nec quicquam is used as a stronger or more emphatic alternative of nihil, the meaning here being ‘none whatsoever among the items in the market …’; mercis is the gen. of merx; quadringentis nummorum milibus Suillio datis et cognita praevaricatione is abl. abs. of causal force. nummus means ‘sesterce’ when in combination with mille or milia. adeo ut incubuerit: in consecutive clauses the perfect subjunctive is preferred to the pluperfect in that it reflects the perfect indicative that would be used if the clause was not dependent.) igitur incipiente C. Silio consule designato, cuius de potentia et exitio in tempore memorabo, consurgunt patres legemque Cinciam flagitant, qua cavetur antiquitus ne quis ob causam orandam pecuniam donumve accipiat. (incipiente C. Silio … consurgunt patres legemque Cinciam flagitant, qua cavetur antiquitus ne quis ob causam orandam pecuniam donumve accipiat: ‘Gaius Silius setting the example, the senators rose and demanded [the application of] the Cincian law, by which, of old, it was warned that no one was to receive money or gifts for a cause to be pleaded.’ The lex Cincia was passed by the tribune of the plebs M. Cincius Alimentus in 204 B.C. Silius is the son of C. Silius, the Roman commander famous especially for his victory over Sacrovir in Gaul (cf. Book 1, ch. 31, Book 3, ch. 42ff., Book 4, ch. 18-19. Tacitus’ promise to talk more about the junior C. Silius is kept in ch. 12 and 26ff. ahead. consurgunt, the main verb, is historical present, which here functions as a primary verb with regard to the tenses of the two dependent verbs cavetur and accipiat (respectively present indicative and present subjunctive, in place of imperfect); cavetur … ne quis ob causam orandam pecuniam donumve accipiat: cave or cave ne + subjunctive is one of the ways (the legal way) to express prohibitions in Latin, lit. ‘it is warned that no one should accept money or gifts for a cause to be pleaded’ (cf. B. 276, b.). The enclitic -ve is disjunctive, presenting a choice between two options, like vel.)