XXX.
Accesserant praeter Trionem et Catum accusatory es Fonteius Agrippa et C. Vibius, (Fonteius Agrippa et C. Vibius: Fonteius Agrippa appears here and in ch. 86, C. Vibius (Serenus) here and in Book 4, ch. 13, 28.) certabantque cui ius perorandi in reum daretur, (certabantque cui ius perorandi in reum daretur: ‘they disagreed as to whom should be given the right of conducting the prosecution.’ daretur is subjunctive in indirect question introduced by the interrogative cui; perorandi is objective genitive gerund after a noun.) donec Vibius, quia nec ipsi inter se concederent et Libo sine patrono introisset, (quia nec ipsi inter se concederent et Libo sine patrono introisset: ‘because they did not give way to one another and Libo had come without defense layer, …’; quia is followed by subjunctive whenever the reasons given are presumed by a third party, rather than assigned by the writer himself.) singillatim se crimina obiecturum professus, (singillatim se crimina obiecturum professus: ‘having declared that he (se) was going to present the charges one at the time’; the idea was to avoid long perorations that lasted forever.) protulit libellos vaecordes adeo ut consultaverit Libo an habiturus foret opes quis pecunia operiret. (donec Vibius … protulit libellos vaecordes adeo ut consultaverit Libo an habiturus foret opes quis viam Appiam Brundisium usque pecunia operiret: lit. ‘until Vibius produced evidence so insensate as to claim that Libo had consulted the astrologers whether he would ever have enough riches, with which to cover the Appian way with money until Brundisium’; adeo and ut introduce the main and dependent clause of a consecutive sentence; adeo ut consultaverit Libo: elliptic for something like adeo ut diceret Libo consultavisse, ‘so as to assert that Libo had consulted …’; consultaverit: in consecutive clauses the perfect subjunctive is often used to mirror the perfect indicative the clause would have if it were independent. an habiturus foret: use of the active periphrastic locution as replacement for the future tenses lacking in the subjunctive mood, here required by the indirect question brought in by an.; quis is an archaic form of quibus; viam Appiam Brundisium usque: the Appian way, 360 mile long and still in use today, joined Rome with Brundisium (Brindisi) on the Adriatic coast in the heel of Italy. At first sight, the charge directed at Libo appears childish, but in order to fulfil such an impossible wish Libo must have dreamed of becoming emperor, a treasonable intent. quis …operiret: subjunctive in rel. clause substituting for a purpose clause.) inerant et alia huiusce modi stolida vana, si mollius acciperes, miseranda. (si mollius acciperes, miseranda: ‘pitiable nonsense, if one views it rather forgivingly’; acciperes is potential subjunctive, more precisely the use of the indefinite second person singular with the imperfect of verbs of saying, thinking, or believing; it occurs in a limited number of expressions denoting possible action as something merely entertained by the mind. Cf. L. 1559, (b) and A.G. 447, 2.) uni tamen libello manu Libonis nominibus Caesarum aut senatorum additas atrocis vel occultas notas accusator arguebat. (uni …libello manu Libonis nominibus Caesarum aut senatorum additas atrocis vel occultas notas accusator arguebat: both uni …libello and nominibus are dative with additas: ‘the accuser claimed that to one of the papers [found in Libo’s possession] had been added (addita [esse]) damning or mysterious notes in his handwriting to the names of the Caesars and of senators.’) negante reo adgnoscentis servos per tormenta interrogari placuit. (negante reo adgnoscentis servos per tormenta interrogari placuit: ‘since the accused denied the charge, it was decided that the slaves who knew [his handwriting] be questioned using torture.’ The testimony of slaves was not valid without torture (Allen). negante reo is abl. abs. of causal sense.) et quia vetere senatus consulto quaestio in caput domini prohibebatur, callidus et novi iuris repertor Tiberius mancipari singulos actori publico iubet, (callidus et novi iuris repertor Tiberius mancipari singulos actori publico iubet: a sarcastic taunt aimed at Tiberius: ‘Tiberius, this crafty inventor of a novel jurisprudence, orders each of the slaves to be sold to the agent of the public treasury.’ By means of this expedient the slaves became servi publici, thus could be interrogated. In point of fact, we are told by the historian Cassius Dio that Augustus, not Tiberius, was the first to employ the same trick more than twenty years earlier. ) scilicet ut in Libonem ex servis salvo senatus consulto quaereretur. (scilicet ut in Libonem ex servis salvo senatus consulto quaereretur: the particle scilicet suggests irony: lit. ‘that is to say, so that answers against Libo might be sought from his slaves, the senate decree not being invalidated; scilicet is often followed by infinitive clause, here by ut clause.) ob quae posterum diem reus petivit (ob quae posterum diem reus petivit: ‘on account of such decision, the accused asked a delay of one day.’ Apparently, such temporary suspensions of the proceedings were allowed to make it possible for the accused to go into exile or to commit suicide.) domumque digressus extremas preces P. Quirinio (P. Quirinio: see also Book 3, ch. 22, 23, and 48.) propinquo suo ad principem mandavit.