XXXIV.
Inter quae L. Piso (L. Piso: for Lucius Calpurnius Piso see ch. 32. He may also have been the brother of Cn. Piso. His death is told in Book 4, ch, 21.) ambitum fori, (ambitum fori: ‘the corrupt practices of the courts’) corrupta iudicia, saevitiam oratorum accusationes minitantium increpans, abire se et cedere urbe, victurum in aliquo abdito et longinquo rure testabatur; simul curiam relinquebat. commotus est Tiberius, et quamquam mitibus verbis Pisonem permulsisset, propinquos quoque eius impulit ut abeuntem auctoritate vel precibus tenerent. (impulit ut abeuntem auctoritate vel precibus tenerent: ‘[Tiberius] urged that they ought to prevent the departing Piso from leaving by using their influence or by pleading with him.’ Verbs of compelling like impello are followed by complementary final clauses with ut; auctoritate and precibus are ablatives of instrument.) haud minus liberi doloris documentum idem Piso mox dedit (haud minus liberi doloris documentum idem Piso mox dedit: lit. ‘Piso gave soon proof of a not less courageous disapproval’) vocata in ius Vrgulania, (vocata in ius Vrgulania: ‘cited to appear in court’; not much is known about this Urgulania other that what Tacitus says of her. She may have been the grandmother of Plautia Urgulanilla, first wife of the emperor Claudius.) quam supra leges amicitia Augustae extulerat. nec aut Vrgulania optemperavit, in domum Caesaris spreto Pisone (spreto Pisone: ‘Piso being ignored with scorn’; spreto is from sperno.) vecta, aut ille abscessit, (nec aut Vrgulania optemperavit … aut ille abscessit: nec aut …aut = ‘neither …nor’, alternative of neque … neque: ‘neither did Urgulania comply, nor Piso desist.’) quamquam Augusta se violari et imminui quereretur. (quamquam Augusta se violari et imminui quereretur: ‘even though Augusta complained she was being insulted and belittled’; the second time quamquam + subjunctive occurs in this chapter, the other being quamquam …permulsisset above.) Tiberius hactenus indulgere matri civile ratus, ut se iturum ad praetoris tribunal, adfuturum Vrgulaniae diceret, (Tiberius hactenus indulgere matri civile [esse] ratus, ut se iturum ad praetoris tribunal, adfuturum Vrgulaniae diceret: hactenus is correlative with ut in a consecutive sentence: ‘Tiberius having decided that it would not be despotic of him to indulge his mother so far and no farther as to promise (diceret) that he would go to the tribunal of the praetor and support Urgulania, ….’ civile [esse]: ‘to be of such nature as not to infringe the principle of equality of all citizens before the laws’.) processit Palatio, (processit Palatio: Palatio is abl. of the Place whence, normally with ex, de, or ab (G. 390).) procul sequi iussis militibus. spectabatur occursante populo (occursante populo: abl. abs, ‘the people [in the streets] running up to see the emperor’) compositus ore et sermonibus variis tempus atque iter ducens, (tempus atque iter ducens: ‘passing the time while walking’; Tiberius’ intention was to demonstrate to all and sundry that the verdict in the court was not going to be influenced by his presence.) donec propinquis Pisonem frustra coercentibus (propinquis Pisonem frustra coercentibus: abl. abs., ‘Piso’s relatives trying in vain to hold him back’) deferri Augusta pecuniam quae petebatur iuberet. (donec …iuberet: donec is almost regularly with subjunctive in Tacitus.) isque finis rei, ex qua neque Piso inglorius et Caesar maiore fama fuit. ceterum (ceterum: originally an acc. of relation (‘as to the rest’), with Sallust and later writers ceterum became a competitor of sed, ‘but’, ‘however’, ‘be that as it may’.) Vrgulaniae potentia adeo nimia civitati erat ut testis in causa quadam, quae apud senatum tractabatur, venire dedignaretur: (Vrgulaniae potentia adeo nimia civitati erat ut testis in causa quadam …venire dedignaretur: consecutive sentence with the correlative pair adeo …ut introducing the main and subordinate parts : ‘Urgulania’s power was so excessive for a state [ruled by laws], that, being a witness in a certain case, she spurned to appear in court.’) missus est praetor qui domi interrogaret, (qui domi interrogaret: subjunctive in rel. clause replacing a final clause with ut) cum virgines Vestales in foro et iudicio audiri, quotiens testimonium dicerent, vetus mos fuerit. (cum virgines Vestales in foro et iudicio audiri, quotiens testimonium dicerent, vetus mos fuerit: cum is here adversative (G. 587), but the construction is the same as for narrative cum: ‘whereas the ancient practice was that [even] the vestal virgins were heard in the Forum and before the tribunal whenever they gave evidence’; quotiens …dicerent: the subjunctive of repetition began to appear at the end of the republican period (Ernout).)