LXXXII.
At (at: marks a change of subject and scene.) Romae, postquam Germanici valetudo percrebuit (percrebuit: ‘became widely reported’) cunctaque ut ex longinquo aucta in deterius adferebantur, (cuncta ut ex longinquo aucta in deterius adferebantur: ‘all details made worse by exaggeration as [happens with news] from faraway.’ aucta in deterius: ‘enlarged for the worse’; ex longinquo: abl. of separation, ‘from a long way off’) dolor ira, et erumpebant questus. (erumpebant questus: ‘indignation’ or ‘protests flared up’: the phrase opens indir. speech, that continues down to agitaverint.) ideo nimirum in extremas terras relegatum, (ideo nimirum in extremas terras relegatum: ‘for this reason, no doubt, was he removed so far away.’ Both ideo and nimirum are adverbs.) ideo Pisoni permissam provinciam; hoc egisse secretos Augustae cum Plancina sermones. (hoc egisse secretos Augustae cum Plancina sermones: ‘that had been the intent of the secret talks of Augusta with Plancina’; cf. ch. 43; cum Plancina is abl. of accompaniment.) vera prorsus de Druso seniores locutos: (vera prorsus de Druso seniores locutos: ‘the older men in Rome had spoken exactly (prorsum) the truth about Drusus.’ Drusus (the elder), the brother of Tiberius and father of Germanicus, had made no secret of his republican leanings, hence the rumor that Augustus had him poisoned. Livy says that he died of a fall from his horse. Cf. also Book 1, ch. 33.) displicere regnantibus civilia filiorum ingenia, (displicere regnantibus civilia filiorum ingenia: ‘that the liberal spirit of their sons were displeasing to the current rulers’; Drusus (the elder) was the stepson of Augustus, Germanicus the adopted son of Tiberius.) neque ob aliud interceptos quam quia populum Romanum aequo iure complecti reddita libertate agitaverint. (neque ob aliud interceptos quam quia populum Romanum aequo iure complecti reddita libertate agitaverint: lit. ‘that they were eliminated for no other reason than because they conceived the dream to include [all] the Roman people in a system founded on equal laws and restored freedom’; complecti is present infinitive of complector, ‘to embrace’; agitaverint is subjunctive after quia in oratio obliqua. the perfect is in place of agitavissent required by the sequence of tenses after a historical verb of saying, an example of repraesentatio. Cf. A.G. 585, b. and Note.) hos vulgi sermones audita mors adeo incendit ut ante edictum magistratuum, ante senatus consultum sumpto iustitio (sumpto iustitio: iustitium is a general suspension of activities in response to some extraordinary event; usually metonymy for a public period of mourning. Thus, the abl. abs. sumpto iustitio may mean ‘an official suspension of business being declared’ or ‘clothes of mourning being worn’.) desererentur fora, clauderentur (mors adeo incendit ut … desererentur …, clauderentur …: consecutive clause with correlative pair adeo …ut and subjunctive in the dependent clause.) domus. passim silentia et gemitus, nihil compositum in ostentationem; et quamquam neque insignibus lugentium abstinerent, altius animis maerebant. (quamquam neque insignibus lugentium abstinerent, altius animis maerebant: ‘even though they did not refrain from [wearing] the conventional apparel of mourners, they grieved more deeply in their hearts.’ In Tacitus, the subjunctive after quamquam is almost de rigueur and so is after donec near the end of the chapter.) forte negotiatores vivente adhuc Germanico Syria egressi laetiora de valetudine eius attulere. statim credita, statim vulgata sunt: ut quisque obvius, quamvis leviter audita in alios atque illi in plures cumulata gaudio transferunt. (ut quisque obvius [erat], quamvis leviter audita in alios atque illi in plures cumulata gaudio transferunt: lit. ‘each time they met anyone, they passed on to others the unsubstantiated rumors received, and those men passed them on, exaggerated from joy, to many {others].’ ut quisque obvius [erat]: ut is very probably temporal: ‘when anyone came up, they …’; quamvis, a concessive conjunction normally introducing a dependent clause, is here with a perfect participle, audita. Cf. G. 609, Note 1. transferunt is historical present, as are cursant, moliuntur, and iuvat next.) cursant per urbem, molinutur templorum foris; iuvat credulitatem nox et promptior inter tenebras adfirmatio. nec obstitit falsis Tiberius (nec obstitit falsis Tiberius: falsis is dative with obsistere: lit. ‘Tiberius did not oppose himself to these fictitious rumours.’) donec tempore ac spatio vanescerent: et populus quasi rursum ereptum acrius doluit. (quasi rursum ereptum acrius doluit: ‘[the people] mourned him more bitterly as if taken away from them a second time.’ quasi, a conditional conjunction of comparison, is here without a finite verb in combination with a perfect participle, ereptum.)