XIV.
Defensio in ceteris trepidavit; (defensio in ceteris trepidavit: ‘in all the rest the defence faltered’: the narrative makes clear a little later what the exception to in ceteris is, namely the charge of poisoning.) nam neque ambitionem militarem (ambitionem militarem: ‘the quest of popularity with the soldiers’) neque provinciam pessimo cuique obnoxiam, ne contumelias quidem adversum imperatorem infitiari poterat: (neque provinciam pessimo cuique obnoxiam … infitiari poterat: the subject of poterat is defensio: ‘neither could the defense deny the province at the mercy of the worst scoundrels’; for Piso’s influence on the army and administration of Syria, cf. Book 2, ch. 55.) solum veneni crimen visus est diluisse, (solum veneni crimen visus est diluisse: the singular subject of visus est may well be Piso himself, though it could also be one of the defense lawyer: ‘the charge of poisoning alone he seemed to have caused to melt away.’) quod ne accusatores quidem satis firmabant, in convivio Germanici, cum super eum Piso discumberet, (cum super eum Piso discumberet: temporal clause with historical or narrative cum + subjunctive (cf. G. 585): ‘when Piso was reclining at table above him, …’, that is, in the place of honor, partly behind Germanicus) infectos manibus eius cibos arguentes. ([accusatores] infectos manibus eius cibos arguentes: ‘the accusers contending that Germanicus’ (eius) food had been poisoned (infectos [esse]) by [Piso’s] hands’) quippe absurdum videbatur inter aliena servitia et tot adstantium visu, ipso Germanico coram, id ausum; (quippe absurdum videbatur … [reum] id ausum: quippe, originally interrogative, is here coordinating conjunction with mild causal sense, like nam or enim, ‘for’, ‘in fact’: ‘indeed, it seemed absurd that the accused had dared this’; videor is often followed by object clause with acc. + infinitive. Cf. G. 527.) offerebatque familiam reus et ministros in tormenta flagitabat. sed iudices per diversa implacabiles erant, Caesar ob bellum provinciae inlatum, senatus numquam satis credito sine fraude Germanicum interisse. * * scripsissent expostulantes, quod haud minus Tiberius quam Piso abnuere. (* * scripsissent expostulantes, quod haud minus Tiberius quam Piso abnuere: a break of some length occurs at this point, caused by a damaged page in the original manuscript. The words within square brackets in the translation represent the most common surmise of commentators; lit. ‘…demanding what they had written, but they refused, Tiberius not less than Piso’.) simul populi ante curiam voces audiebantur: non temperaturos manibus si patrum sententias evasisset. (non temperaturos manibus si patrum sententias evasisset: conditional sentence in indir. discourse after voces audiebantur: ‘that they were not going to use moderation in using their hands [on Piso], if he would have escaped the sentence of the senators.’ The condition is potential (type II) requiring plup. subjunctive in the protasis for future action in the past and future infinitive (temperaturos esse) in the apodosis. Cf. B. 320. tempero is here with dative (manibus), though it may be found with other cases such as abl., gen., and even acc.; cf. G. 346. ) effigiesque Pisonis traxerant in Gemonias ac divellebant, ni iussu principis protectae repositaeque forent. (effigiesque Pisonis traxerant in Gemonias ac divellebant, ni iussu principis protectae repositaeque forent: ‘they had dragged Piso’s statues to the Gemonian staircase and were breaking them to pieces, had the statues not been saved and repositioned on Tiberius’ order.’ Conditional sentence of the unreal (type III) kind with plup. subjunctive in the protasis for past action contrary to fact (preceding in time the action of the apodosis), and plup. and imperfect indicative in the apodosis for action interrupted; cf. G. 597, Remark 2. The Gemonian stairs were a set of steps carved in the steep slope of the western part of the Capitol and leading to the Forum; the bodies of convicted criminals were precipitated down the steps and left to rot before being thrown into the Tiber.) igitur inditus lecticae (inditus lecticae: lecticae is dative with indo: lit. ‘placed to a chair’) et a tribuno praetoriae cohortis deductus est vario rumore custos saluti an mortis exactor sequeretur. (vario rumore custos saluti an mortis exactor sequeretur: vario rumore introduces a disjunctive indir. question + subjunctive with, an interrogative particle only in the second part of the question (an), as is the fashion with Tacitus: lit. ‘public opinion being divergent whether [the tribune] was following as guarantor of Piso’s safety or his dispenser of death.’ saluti is dat. of purpose.)