II.
Post finem Phraatis et sequentium regum ob internas caedis (post finem Phraatis et sequentium regum ob internas caedis: ‘after the death of Phraates and of the succeeding kings because of intestine assassinations, …’. As noted in previous chapter, Phraates was murdered by his natural son and successor Phraataces, who was forced out of the way by Orodes, also a member of the Arsacid family. The latter was killed in 7 A.D. and was replaced by Vonones the following year.) venere in urbem legati a primoribus Parthis, qui Vononem vetustissimum liberorum eius (vetustissimum liberorum eius: not the eldest of the four sons, says the Jewish historian Josephus, but the one held to be the fittest) accirent. magnificum id sibi credidit Caesar auxitque opibus. et accepere barbari laetantes, ut ferme ad nova imperia. (ut ferme ad nova imperia: ‘as usually is the case at the arrival of new masters’; ut is here comparative to introduce an example; ad + acc. in this case signifies ‘at’, ‘on the occasion of’, ‘in relation to’, ‘as a result of’, etc.; ferme is an alternate form of fere, ‘as a rule’) mox subiit pudor degeneravisse Parthos: petitum alio ex orbe regem, (petitum alio ex orbe regem: in oratio obliqua after pudor subiit: ‘that a new king had been sought from another world’) hostium artibus infectum; iam inter provincias Romanas solium Arsacidarum haberi darique. (iam inter provincias Romanas haberi darique: ‘that now the throne of the Arsacids was possessed and disposed of among the provinces of Rome’; haberi darique: may also mean ‘was considered and treated.’) ubi illam gloriam trucidantium Crassum, exturbantium Antonium, si mancipium Caesaris, tot per annos servitutem perpessum, Parthis imperitet? (ubi illam gloriam trucidantium Crassum, exturbantium Antonium, si mancipium Caesaris, tot per annos servitutem perpessum, Parthis imperitet?: interrogative ubi introduces a rhetorical question in indirect speech, hence the acc. subject with implied esse (B. 315, 2.): ‘where was the shining glory of those who killed Crassus, repulsed Antony, if one of Caesar’s slaves, having experienced so many years of servitude, were to rule over Parthians?’ The conditional sentence, in oratio obliqua, has the apodosis in the form of a question with ubi and the protasis with present subjunctive, in place of imperfect, for greater immediacy. For the defeats suffered by Crassus and Antony, see note for obses Augusto datus a Phraate in previous chapter. Parthis is dat. with imperitet; illam is emphatic, ‘that famous victory’).) accendebat dedignantis et ipse diversus a maiorum institutis, (accendebat dedignantis et ipse diversus a maiorum institutis: the subject of accendebat is Vonones (ipse): ‘in addition (et), Vonones himself provoked those who disdained him, being estranged from the customs of his ancestors.’ instituta: ‘the established practices’) raro venatu, segni equorum cura; quotiens per urbes incederet, (quotiens per urbes incederet: ‘whenever he made a public appearance in any of their towns.’ The preference for the subjunctive (called subjunctive of repetition) after quotiens (‘each time that …’), or ubi, ut, or even si, began at the end of the republican period, perhaps by analogy with narrative cum (Ernout).) lecticae gestamine fastuque erga patrias epulas. (raro venatu, segni equorum cura, … lecticae gestamine fastuque: four ablatives of instrument: ‘by rarely going hunting, by his lukewarm interest in horses, by his use of a litter as a mode of conveyance, by his disregard of the national festivities’) inridebantur et Graeci comites (Graeci comites: Greek men of culture included in his retinue; Tiberius also surrounded himself with such men.) ac vilissima utensilium anulo clausa. (vilissima utensilium anulo clausa: utensiles are stores of food, here partitive genitive after the neuter plural vilissima: ‘the most ordinary articles of food kept sealed up with his signet ring’; an allusion to the Roman practice of using an embossed symbol on a ring with which to impress paper, wax, lead or other substances to prevent theft of food items and the like by household slaves.) sed prompti aditus, obvia comitas, ignotae Parthis virtutes, nova vitia; et quia ipsorum moribus aliena perinde odium pravis et honestis. (quia ipsorum moribus aliena perinde odium pravis et honestis: aliena goes with virtutes; lit. ‘because they [were] alien to their customs, their odium [was] equally for all his virtues, both bad and good’. Tacitus systematically omits all forms of esse if meaning is not affected)