LXV.
Nihil aeque Tiberium anxium habebat quam ne composita turbarentur. (nihil aeque Tiberium anxium habebat quam ne composita turbarentur: ‘nothing made Tiberius so (aeque) anxious as the fear that arrangements once made should be disturbed’, or ‘…so solicitous that arrangements once made should not be disturbed.’ ne turarentur: negative purpose clause) deligit centurionem qui nuntiaret (qui nuntiaret: relative clause replacing a purpose clause with ut) regibus ne armis disceptarent; (ne armis disceptarent: negative exhortation or command in indirect speech: ‘that they should not dispute with recourse to arms’; cf. A.G. 439 and 588.) statimque a Cotye dimissa sunt quae paraverat auxilia. Rhescuporis ficta modestia postulat eundem in locum coiretur: posse de controvensiis conloquio transigi. (postulat eundem in locum coiretur: posse de controvensiis conloquio transigi: ‘postulo is usually followed by infinitive or final ut + subjunctive, here by subjunctive alone: lit. ‘he requested that it should be gone together to the same place, [saying] that it was possible to be transacted on the subject of their differences in an interview.’ Freely, ‘he requested a meeting to settle their differences.’ It is a rare thing to find Tacitus lacking conciseness, unless the text is corrupt.) nec diu dubitatum de tempore, loco, dein condicionibus, cum alter facilitate, alter fraude cuncta inter se concederent acciperentque. (cum alter facilitate, alter fraude cuncta inter se concederent acciperentque: causal cum + subjunctive: ‘since one with his easygoing temper, the other with his devious scheming conceded and accepted all between themselves’; alter …alter: ‘one …the other’) Rhescuporis sanciendo, ut dictitabat, foederi convivium adicit, (Rhescuporis sanciendo, ut dictitabat, foederi convivium adicit: ‘Rhescuporis added a banquet for their pact to be sealed, as he kept saying.’ sanciendo …foederi: use of dat. gerundive to express purpose, in place of ad + acc., a usage that spread from Livy on. See G. 429, 2.) tractaque in multam noctem laetitia (tractaque in multam noctem laetitia: abl. abs. ‘revelling having ben prolonged deep into the night’; in multam noctem is acc. of time duration.) per epulas ac vinolentiam incautum Cotyn postquam dolum intellexerat, sacra regni, eiusdem familiae deos et hospitalis mensas obtestantem catenis onerat. Thraeciaque omni potitus (Thraeciaque omni potitus: ‘having taken possession of the entire country’; abl. with potior) scripsit ad Tiberium structas sibi insidias, (structas [esse] sibi insidias: ‘that a snare had been set for him’. The reflexive sibi is dative of interest.) praeventum insidiatorem; simul bellum adversus Bastarnas Scythasque (Bastarnas Scythasque: the Bastarnae probably resided near or around the mouth of the Danube; a part may have lived in Moesia, as we know from Ovid, who was exiled to Tomi (modern Constantza). In Germania (ch. 46) Tacitus writes that they were a German tribe, also known as the Peucini. The Scythae, a Slavic nation, were settled beyond the Danube, probably in what today is Moldova or SW Ukraine.) praetendens novis peditum et equitum copiis sese firmabat. molliter rescriptum, si fraus abesset, posse eum innocentiae fidere; (si fraus abesset, posse eum innocentiae fidere: ‘if no treachery was involved, he could rely on his innocence’: conditional sentence in indirect speech: the condition is logical (type I), the imperfect subjunctive abesset in the protasis is required by the consecutio temporum, when the verb of saying is historical (responsum [est]). The verb of the apodosis is here posse, which lacks future infinitive. Cf. G. 656, 1., 2., 3. and Rescigni.) ceterum (ceterum: here with the original meaning of accusative of relation, ‘as for the rest’) neque se neque senatum nisi cognita causa ius et iniuriam discreturos: (neque …nisi cognita causa ius et iniuriam discreturos [esse]: negative conditional sentence in indirect speech in which the protasis has no finite verb, with nisi preceding the abl. abs. cognita causa: lit. ‘that unless the cause being known, they would not determine the right and the wrong’; discreturos is from discerno.) proinde tradito Cotye veniret transferretque invidiam criminis. (proinde tradito Cotye veniret transferretque invidiam criminis: veniret and transferret are hortative subjunctives or imperatives in indirect discourse: ‘accordingly, Cotys having been surrendered, he should come [to Rome] and deflect the blame of the crime from himself. Some interpret transferretque invidiam criminis to mean ‘and transfer to others the ungrateful task of prosecution’.)