XLII.
Ceterum (ceterum: the original sense of this adverbial accusative was ‘as for the rest’, acc. of relation. Later it acquired the meaning of ‘but’ and related adversative conjunctions, plus other meanings such as ‘in addition’, ‘actually’, ‘in fact’, ‘truly’ and others.) Tiberius nomine Germanici trecenos plebi sestertios viritim dedit seque collegam consulatui eius destinavit. nec ideo sincerae caritatis fidem adsecutus (nec ideo sincerae caritatis fidem adsecutus: lit. ‘not having for that reason acquired credibility of sincere attachment’) amoliri iuvenem specie honoris statuit (amoliri iuvenem specie honoris statuit: ‘he resolved to drive him away with honorable pretexts.’) struxitque causas aut forte oblatas arripuit. rex Archelaus quinquagesimum annum Cappadocia (Cappadocia: an inland kingdom in the central-east part of Turkey, between Pontus to the north and Cilicia to the south) potiebatur, invisus Tiberio quod eum Rhodi agentem (Rhodi agentem: ‘during Tiberius’ stay in the island of Rhodes’; see Book 1, ch. 4.) nullo officio coluisset. nec id Archelaus per superbiam omiserat, sed ab intimis Augusti monitus, quia florente Gaio Caesare missoque ad res Orientis (florente Gaio Caesare missoque ad res Orientis: abl. abs.: lit. ‘Gaius Caesar, being flourishing and having been sent to [see to] the affairs of the Orient, …’; for Gaius’ mission to the orient, see ch. 4. Gaius Caesar was the son of Marcus Agrippa and of Augustus’ daughter Julia; he died in 4 A.D. aged 23. His brother Lucius had died two years earlier in 2 A.D., aged 18. The death of the two brothers left the way open for Tiberius, previously excluded from succession.) intuta Tiberii amicitia credebatur. (quod … coluisset … quia … credebatur: both quod and quia are normally with the indicative, except when the reason given is presumed, i.e. not one assigned by the author himself; in the first clause quod is followed by subjunctive in that the reason is merely Tiberius’ conjecture. See also quia regibus aequa, nedum infima insolita sunt below.) ut versa Caesarum subole imperium adeptus est, (ut versa Caesarum subole imperium adeptus est: temporal ut (’as soon as’) has the verb in the indicative: ‘the line of succession of the Caesars having been upset, as soon as Tiberius obtained supreme power, he …’; versa is for eversa: Tacitus prefers the simple form of verbs, without prefixes or suffixes.) elicit Archelaum matris litteris, quae non dissimulatis filii offensionibus clementiam offerebat , si ad precandum veniret. (clementiam offerebat, si ad precandum veniret: ‘she promised clemency if he would come to plead [forgiveness]’. si veniret: the use of the imperfect subjunctive, normally reserved for unreal conditions in the present, expresses potential (i.e. future) action in the past. Cf. G. 596, 2.) ille ignarus doli vel, si intellegere crederetur, (si intellegere crederetur: a si clause without expressed apodosis, where si = ‘in case that …’, ‘on the off-chance that …’ (Oxford Lat. Dictionary); crederetur is potential subjunctive: ‘in case Archelaus might be believed that he saw through the ploy’) vim metuens in urbem properat; exceptusque immiti a principe et mox accusatus in senatu, non ob crimina quae fingebantur sed angore, simul fessus senio et quia regibus aequa, nedum infima insolita sunt, (quia regibus aequa, nedum infima insolita sunt: ‘because for kings equality, let alone outright disrespect, is highly unusual’; aequa, infima, insolita are neuter plural of adjectives used as nouns.) finem vitae sponte an fato implevit. (finem vitae sponte an fato implevit: the particle an is occasionally found replacing aut or vel: ‘a death, natural or perhaps voluntary, put an end to his days.’ finem vitae … implevit: to maintain variety, Tacitus never uses an expressions synonymous with dying that he has used before.) regnum in provinciam redactum est, fructibusque eius levari posse centesimae vectigal professus Caesar ducentesimam in posterum statuit. (levari posse centesimae vectigal professus Caesar ducentesimam [esse] in posterum statuit: Tiberius, having announced that the tax of one percent could be lightened, proclaimed that in future it would be one two-hundredth part.’ 1/200 = .5/100 = half a percentage point.) per idem tempus Antiocho Commagenorum, Philopatore Cilicum regibus defunctis (Antiocho Commagenorum, Philopatore Cilicum regibus defunctis: abl. abs.: ‘Antiochus, king of Commagene, Philopater, king of Cilicia being dead’; Commagene was a small landlocked kingdom hemmed in between Syria, Cilicia, Osrhoene, Sophene, and Cappadocia; its main center was Samosata. Cilicia was on the coast in southern Turkey, bordering Syria along its east side, with Tarsus as its largest city. Antiocho …, Philopatore: Antiochus III and Philopator II respectively) turbabantur nationes, plerisque Romanum, aliis regium imperium cupientibus; et provinciae Syria atque Iudaea, fessae oneribus, deminutionem tributi orabant.