XVI.
Audire me memini ex senioribus (audire me memini ex senioribus: memini is normally followed by acc. + infinitive: ‘I remember that I heard from older men that …’) visum saepius inter manus Pisonis libellum quem ipse non vulgaverit; sed amicos eius dictitavisse, litteras Tiberii et mandata in Germanicum contineri, (amicos eius dictitavisse, litteras … et mandata in Germanicum contineri: in indir. discourse after audire me memini: ‘that his supporters had often said that [the document] contained a letter with instructions against Germanicus’; dictito is the frequentative form of dico.) ac destinatum promere apud patres principemque arguere, ni elusus a Seiano per vana promissa foret; (destinatum [fuisse] promere apud patres principemque arguere, ni elusus a Seiano per vana promissa foret: ‘[they said] that his intention had been to disclose the letter in the senate and accuse the prince, if he had not been frustrated by Sejanus with false promises.’ The sentence is conditional, contrary to fact (type III), and in oratio obliqua: in direct speech the protasis would be the same and the apodosis would have plup. indicative for action interrupted (cf. G. 597, Remark 2). destinatum is noun = ‘intent’, ‘plan’; for Sejanus, see Book 1, ch. 24 and 69.) nec illum sponte extinctum verum immisso percussore. quorum neutrum adseveraverim: neque tamen occulere debui narratum ab iis qui nostram ad iuventam duraverunt. (quorum neutrum adseveraverim: neque tamen occulere debui narratum ab iis qui nostram ad iuventam duraverunt: quorum neutrum, ‘neither of the two’, refers to Piso’s decision to publish Tiberius’ letter in the senate and to Piso’s alleged murder: ‘I could not confirm either of the two, yet I should not have suppressed a narrative from those who had lived until my younger years.’ adseveraverim is use of potential subjunctive to express modest, attenuated assertions in the first person; both present and perfect are found, but the latter seems to be more frequent; neque …occulere debui: the indicative with debeo and other modal verbs (possum, oportet, licet, necesse est, etc.) designates an action that would be convenient or proper to do but is not done. Modern languages use the conditional mood or other modal constructions, such as recourse to ‘would’, ‘should’, or ‘ought to’ in English, to express a non-occurrent action. The Latin perfect debui indicates what should have been done, but was not (Ernout). occulere: the present infinitive with debui is normally replaced in English by the much-preferred perfect infinitive; cf. A.G. 486, a.; nostram …iuventam is example of enallage or royal we.) Caesar flexo in maestitiam ore (flexo in maestitiam … ore: abl. abs.: ‘the features of his face being adjusted to express sadness’) suam invidiam tali morte quaesitam apud senatum (Caesar … suam invidiam tali morte quaesitam apud senatum [conquestus]: ‘Caesar complained in the senate that with that kind of death his own unpopularity had been set as a goal’ conquestus has been proposed by a commentator to fill a gap in the text occasioned by damage to a page of the original manuscript, the same damage responsible for the lacuna in ch. 14. The remainder of the supplemented words is given within square brackets in the next annotation.) * * crebrisque interrogationibus exquirit qualem Piso diem supremum noctemque exegisset. (* * crebrisque interrogationibus exquirit qualem Piso diem supremum noctemque exegisset: [M. Pisonem vocari iubet]: ‘[he ordered Marcus Piso to be summoned] and with repeated questionings he inquired what kind of last day and night Piso had undergone.’ The pronominal qualem brings in an indirect question with subjunctive) atque illo pleraque sapienter quaedam inconsultius respondente, (atque illo pleraque sapienter quaedam inconsultius respondente: abl. abs.: ‘and he (illo) answering wisely most of the questions and certain things rather unadvisedly’; quaedam is the neuter plural of quidam.) recitat codicillos a Pisone in hunc ferme modum compositos: ‘conspiratione inimicorum et invidia falsi criminis oppressus, quatenus (quatenus: an antiquated causal conjunction found mainly in poetry, of similar meaning as quia or quoniam) veritati et innocentiae meae nusquam locus est, deos inmortalis testor vixisse me, Caesar, cum fide adversum te (cum fide adversum te: cum fide is abl. of manner; the adverb adversum or adversus can be used in a friendly or hostile sense. Here adversum te = ‘on your behalf’) neque alia in matrem tuam pietate; vosque oro liberis meis consulatis, ex quibus Cn. Piso qualicumque fortunae meae non est adiunctus, (qualicumque fortunae meae non est adiunctus: ‘he was not connected to my political plans, be they as they may.’ qualicumque fortunae meae: dative with adiungo, which is also found with ad + acc.) cum omne hoc tempus in urbe egerit, (cum … egerit: cum is here causal, hence with subjunctive; egerit is in place of egisset after the historical main verb adiunctus est, a case of repraesentatio, for which cf. A.G. 469, Note and 585, b. N.) M. Piso repetere Syriam dehortatus est. (M. Piso repetere Syriam dehortatus est: ‘Marcus Piso dissuaded [me] to re-enter Syria.’ The few examples of the use of dehortor show the verb followed by either infinitive or ne + subjunctive.) atque utinam ego potius filio iuveni quam ille patri seni cessisset. (atque utinam ego potius filio iuveni quam ille patri seni cessisset: atque here adds emphasis to the idea of a more important word added to the preceding one: ‘and indeed would that I had yielded to my young son, rather than (potius quam) he to his old father!’ utinam …cessisset: use of optative subjunctive; cf. G. 261; cessisset agrees in person with the nearer ille, rather than with ego. Unlike English, the use of personal pronouns with verbs is rare in Latin except for emphasis. filio and seni are dat. with cedo.) eo impensius precor ne meae pravitatis poenas innoxius luat. (eo impensius precor ne meae pravitatis poenas innoxius luat: ‘all the more warmly I beg you not to let the innocent pay the penalty of my faults’; eo by itself is adverb meaning ‘for that reason’, ‘therefore’; followed by a comparative, it becomes abl. of degree of difference; cf. A.G. 414. ne …luat: neg. purpose clause) per quinque et quadraginta annorum obsequium, per collegium consulatus (per collegium consulatus: ‘in the name of the colleagueship of the consulate’: Piso and Tiberius had been consuls together in 7 B.C..) quondam divo Augusto parenti tuo probatus et tibi amicus nec quicquam post haec rogaturus salutem infelicis filii rogo.’ (quondam divo Augusto parenti tuo probatus et tibi amicus nec quicquam post haec rogaturus salutem infelicis filii rogo: ‘[as a man] once esteemed by your father, the divine Augustus, as your friend [that] is never going to ask you anything at all after this, I plead with you (rogo) for the safety of my unlucky son.’ divo Augusto: use of dative of agent with the passive probatus, a construction found in poetry and often in Tacitus in place of a or ab + abl.; tibi is dat. of interest; quicquam: an alternate form of quidquam, the neuter of the indefinite pronoun quisquam; rogaturus: until imperial times, the future participle was almost exclusively used to form the active periphrasis with the indicative, infinite, and subjunctive tenses of esse. Later, its role progressively expanded to that of an ordinary adjective qualifying subjects and complements. Here rogaturus relates to the subject, Piso. Cf. A.G. 498-499.) de Plancina nihil addidit.