LXXIII.
Funus sine imaginibus et pompa (imaginibus et pompa: possibly hendiadys, ‘the procession of the images’; the wax masks of the ancestors of the dead man, normally displayed in the house, were worn by individuals taking part in the funeral procession. Such pomp was reserved for men of high rank.) per laudes ac memoriam virtutum eius celebre fuit. et erant qui formam, aetatem, genus mortis ob propinquitatem etiam locorum in quibus interiit, (ob propinquitatem etiam locorum in quibus interiit: ‘also on account of the vicinity of the places in which each died’; the understood subject of the singular interiit is uterque, ‘each of the two’. Alexander died at Babylon, hundreds of miles from Antioch, but still in the Orient.) magni Alexandri fatis adaequarent. (erant qui …magni Alexandri fatis adaequarent: erant qui introduces a rel. clause of characteristic having consecutive sense, hence with subjunctive (cf. B. 283, A.G. 534-535): ‘there were some who would compare [his life] with the destiny of Alexander the Great.’ adaequarent opens indirect discourse that continues down to corpus antequam cremaretur.) nam utrumque corpore decoro, genere insigni, haud multum triginta annos egressum, suorum insidiis externas inter gentis occidisse: (utrumque … haud multum triginta annos egressum, suorum insidiis externas inter gentis occidisse: ‘both had not much surpassed thirty years, had come to grief among foreign people by the treachery of those close to them.’ Plutarch says that poisoning was suspected in Alexander’s case also.) sed hunc mitem erga amicos, modicum voluptatum, uno matrimonio, certis liberis egisse, (mitem erga amicos, modicum voluptatum, uno matrimonio, certis liberis egisse: ‘Germanicus was gentle towards friends, sparing of pleasures, [lived] with but one wife and children borne in wedlock.’ Alexander was the exact opposite: in a fit of rage he killed his best friend Clitus, had many wives, and, one may presume, a number of illegitimate children.) neque minus proeliatorem, (proeliatorem: = bellatorem, ‘fighter’) etiam si temeritas afuerit praepeditusque sit perculsas tot victoriis Germanias servitio premere. (etiam si temeritas afuerit praepeditusque sit perculsas tot victoriis Germanias servitio premere: ‘even if overboldness was absent in him and he was prevented from forcing the German nations (beaten by so many [Roman] victories) into subjection.’ Tacitus seems to imply that Alexander took unnecessary risks in his wars, a charge, historians say, without foundation. etiam si or etiamsi follows the same rules as si, although afuerit and praepeditus sit are here in place of afuisset and praepeditus esset, if the sequence of tenses were respected (Tacitus often ignores it ), since the clause is governed by a historical verb of saying, the imperfect adaequarent above. servitio premere: ‘to oppress with bondage’) quod si solus arbiter rerum, si iure et nomine regio fuisset, tanto promptius adsecuturum gloriam militiae quantum clementia, temperantia, ceteris bonis artibus praestitisset. (quod si solus arbiter rerum … fuisset, tanto promptius adsecuturum [fuisse] gloriam militiae quantum clementia, temperantia … praestitisset: conditional sentence contrary to fact (type III) in indirect discourse: ‘but if he had been sole master of the world, he would have attained the military glory [of Alexander] as much more readily as he had surpassed him in clemency and temperance.’ fuisset in the protasis is for unreal condition referred to past time; the apodosis is the main clause of a comparative sentence and has the infinitive form obtained by combining the future participle in -urus with fuisse (see A.G. 589, b. 2.). praestitisset, being the verb of the subordinate quantum clause in the comparative sentence, is subjunctive according to the rules governing indirect discourse and pluperfect for action in the past. The quod in quod si has no other function than to mark the liaison with what was said in precedence. It is often ignored in translation (cf. G. 610, Remark 2).) corpus antequam cremaretur nudatum in foro Antiochensium, (nudatum [esse] in foro Antiochensium: ‘he was stripped bare in the central square of Antrioch.’) qui locus sepulturae destinabatur, praetuleritne veneficii signa parum constitit; (praetuleritne veneficii signa parum constitit: ‘it was uncertain whether [the body] showed signs of poisoning’; subjunctive for indirect question introduced by the particle -ne, which is used when the answer is not known) nam ut quis misericordia in Germanicum et praesumpta suspicione aut favore in Pisonem pronior, diversi interpretabantur. (nam ut quis misericordia in Germanicum et praesumpta suspicione aut favore in Pisonem pronior, diversi interpretabantur: ‘since people conjectured differently from one another, according as one (quis) sided more with Germanicus, from pity of him and biased suspicion of Piso, or with the latter from partiality’; pronior [in]: ‘inclined more to …’; misericordia, suspicione, favore are ablatives of cause.)