XXXIII.
Proximo senatus die multa in luxum civitatis dicta a Q. Haterio consulari, Octavio Frontone praetura functo; (Q. Haterio consulari, Octavio Frontone praetura functo: Quintus Haterius was mentioned once before in Book 1, ch. 13. Octavius Fronto is not otherwise known. consularis and praetura functus were said of anyone who had actually been consul or praetor; praetorius, on the other hand, included many who were awarded the rank but not the officer. To a certain extent this was true also of consularis, that is, to have consular powers without being a consul or an ex-consul.) decretumque ne vasa auro solida ministrandis cibis fierent, ne vestis serica viros foedaret. (ne vasa auro solida ministrandis cibis fierent, ne vestis serica viros foedaret: ‘that vessels of pure gold, for food to be served at table, should not be made, that no silken clothing should discredit men’; vasa auro solida: ‘vessels made exclusively of gold’; auro is abl. of material; vestis serica: the Seres were the inhabitants of China, so the lit. meaning is ‘Chinese fabric’, i.e. ‘fabric made of silk’; ministrandis cibis: abl. gerundive expressing purpose: vessels of pure gold were to be reserved for religious sacrifices.) excessit Fronto ac postulavit modum argento, supellectili, familiae: erat quippe adhuc frequens senatoribus, (erat quippe adhuc frequens senatoribus, …: ‘indeed, it was still a common thing for senators to …’; senatoribus is dativus commodi or dat. of advantage.) si quid e re publica crederent, loco sententiae promere. (erat … frequens …, si quid e re publica crederent, loco sententiae promere: the conditional sentence completes the meaning of erat …frequens, in fact the infinitive apodosis is the subject of erat: ‘if they believed anything to be in accordance with the public good, it was common practice to bring it out in the open, when it was their turn to speak.’ e re publica: cf. ex re publica facere, ‘to act according to the public interest’) contra Gallus Asinius disseruit: auctu imperii (auctu imperii: ‘because of the expansion of the empire’) adolevisse etiam privatas opes, idque non novum, sed e vetustissimis moribus: aliam apud Fabricios, aliam apud Scipiones (Fabricios, … Scipiones: the plurals are for the sing. Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, censor in 276 B.C., and Publius Cornelis Scipio Africanus, who defeated Hannibal in 202 B.C. Affluence was measured differently in Fabricius’ time, when Rome was still essentially a city state, from the times of Scipio, when foreign conquest was well underway.) pecuniam; et cuncta ad rem publicam referri, qua tenui (qua tenui: abl. abs., the antecedent of qua is rem publicam: ‘which being modest, …’) civium domos, postquam eo magnificentiae venerit, (postquam eo magnificentiae venerit: in writers like Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus, the adverb eo is found followed by the genitive of abstract nouns: ‘once the state reached such a pitch of affluence, …’; cf. L 1254. venerit is subjunctive in indirect speech, the perfect representing the perfect indicative venit normally associated with postquam in direct speech.) gliscere singulos. neque in familia et argento quaeque ad usum parentur nimium aliquid aut modicum nisi ex fortuna possidentis. (neque … nimium aliquid aut modicum [esse] nisi ex fortuna possidentis: ‘that nothing was excessive or frugal except from its relation to the wealth of the possessor’) distinctos senatus et equitum census, non quia diversi natura, sed ut locis ordinibus dignationibus antistent, ita iis quae ad requiem animi aut salubritatem corporum parentur, (ut locis ordinibus dignationibus antistent, ita iis quae ad requiem animi aut salubritatem corporum parentur: comparative sentence in indir. speech with subjunctive in both the ut or subordinate clause and in the dependent rel. clause. The verb of the main or ita clause, here understood, would be infinitive if expressed: ‘just as they have precedence of place [in the theatre], of rank, and of honor, so [they also have precedence] in the things that are provided for peace of mind or bodily wellbeing.’ locis, ordinibus, dignationibus, and the pronoun iis are ablatives of respect.) nisi forte clarissimo cuique pluris curas, maiora pericula subeunda, delenimentis curarum et periculorum carendum esse. (nisi forte clarissimo cuique pluris curas, maiora pericula subeunda, delenimentis curarum et periculorum carendum esse: the quotation is meant to be sarcastic: lit. ‘unless perhaps the more numerous anxieties and the greater perils were to be borne by the greatest men, [yet] it was to be denied solace of those anxieties and perils’: the hypothetical clause with nisi forte, in indir. discourse, is put in the accusative + infinitive, possibly a Greek usage; Lane (2316, 2317) says the clause, regardless of nisi, is to be regarded as independent, therefore infinitive in oratio obliqua. Though clauses introduced by subordinating particles are occasionally found followed by infinitive, this is the only case with nisi forte. carendum esse is impersonal use of the passive periphrastic conjugation, ‘it was to be gone without’; clarissimo cuique is dative of agent with the gerundive construction; delenimentis is abl. with careo. The property qualifications of the census were fixed at one million sesterces for senators and four hundred thousand for members of the equestrian class.) facilem adsensum Gallo sub nominibus honesti s confessio vitiorum et similitudo audientium dedit. adiecerat (facilem adsensum Gallo sub nominibus honestis confessio vitiorum et similitudo audientium dedit: lit. ‘this open admission of vices under the cover of honest words and the similarity [in spirit] of the listeners gave Gallus easy approval.’) et Tiberius non id tempus censurae nec, si quid in moribus labaret, defuturum corrigendi auctorem. (nec, si quid in moribus labaret, defuturum [esse] corrigendi auctorem: the conditional sentence (of type II or potential) is in oratio obliqua in that it expresses Tiberius’ thought: ‘if anything should break down in moral standards, someone capable of correcting should not be wanting.’ Cf, G. 658, A.G, 589.)