XVII.
Post quae Tiberius adulescentem crimine civilis belli purgavit, patris quippe iussa nec potuisse filium detrectare, (patris quippe iussa nec potuisse filium detrectare: ‘[saying] that the son could obviously not decline to obey the orders of his father’) simul nobilitatem domus, etiam ipsius quoquo modo meriti gravem cacum miseratus. (ipsius quoquo modo meriti gravem casum miseratus: meriti, adjective, agrees in case with ipsius: ‘he commiserated the tragic fall of Piso himself, howsoever deserving [it]’; quoquo modo is adverb, ‘in what way soever’) pro Plancina cum pudore et flagitio disseruit, matris preces obtendens, in quam optimi cuiusque secreti questus magis ardescebant. id ergo fas aviae interfectricem nepotis adspicere, adloqui, eripere senatui. (id ergo fas aviae interfectricem nepotis adspicere, adloqui, eripere senatui: in indir. speech reflecting the thoughts of the people and carrying on down to exsatiaret: ‘this, then, was the justice of a grandmother, to look on the woman who had poisoned her grandson, to chat amiably with her, and to rescue her from the senate.’) quod pro omnibus civibus leges obtineant uni Germanico non contigisse. (quod pro omnibus civibus leges obtineant uni Germanico non contigisse: ‘that what the laws secured on behalf of all citizens had not been extended to Germanicus alone’; the relative clause quod … obtineant is subjunctive in oratio obliqua; obtineant is in place of obtinerent required by consecution temporum, a set of rules Tacitus does not appear, for different reasons, to follow regularly (A.G. 485, 585). The right denied to Germanicus alone was of course the punishment of his murderess.) Vitellii et Veranii voce defletum Caesarem, ab imperatore et Augusta defensam Plancinam. proinde venena et artes tam feliciter expertas verteret in Agrippinam, in liberos eius, egregiamque aviam ac patruum sanguine miserrimae domus exsatiaret. (proinde venena et artes tam feliciter expertas verteret in Agrippinam … egregiamque aviam ac patruum sanguine miserrimae domus exsatiaret: ‘in the same manner let her turn her poisons and skills, so successfully tried out, against Agrippina, let her sate with the blood of a most unhappy house the estimable grandmother and uncle.’ egregiam agrees in gender with the nearer noun; verteret and exsatiaret are hortative subjunctives.) biduum super hac imagine cognitionis absumptum (biduum super hac imagine cognitionis absumptum: ‘two days were spent on this parody of a judicial process’) urgente Tiberio liberos Pisonis matrem uti tuerentur. et cum accusatores ac testes certatim perorarent respondente nullo, (cum accusatores ac testes certatim perorarent respondente nullo: cum is here causal, hence with subjunctive: ‘since the prosecutors an the witnesses were emulously bringing their charges to bear with no rebuttal from the defense’; nullo respondente: abl. abs.: ‘no one refuting’) miseratio quam invidia augebatur. primus sententiam rogatus Aurelius Cotta consul (nam referente Caesare magistratus eo etiam munere fungebantur) nomen Pisonis radendum fastis censuit, partem bonorum publicandam, pars ut Cn. Pisoni filio concederetur isque praenomen mutaret; M. Piso exuta dignitate et accepto quinquagies sestertio in decem annos relegaretur, (Aurelius Cotta consul nomen Pisonis radendum fastis censuit, partem bonorum publicandam, pars ut Cn. Pisoni filio concederetur isque praenomen mutaret; M. Piso exuta dignitate … relegaretur: ‘the consul Aurelius Cotta proposed that the name of Piso be erased from the records, that one half of Piso’s property be confiscated and the other half be made over to his son Gnaeus Piso, and that the latter (is) should change his name; as to Marcus Piso, that he be banished after being stripped of his consular dignity’ Aurelius Cotta is perhaps the same person as Cotta Messalinus mentioned in Book 2, ch. 32.; fastis: short for fasti consulares, official chronicles, kept by the consuls, of the main events during their year in office. These notes came to be regarded as annals or yearly historical records, each year bearing the name of the consuls. nomen …radendum [esse] …partem bonorum publicandam [esse}: use of the passive periphrasis (in oratio obliqua after censuit) to denote purpose combined with duty, necessity, suitability; radendum is in place of eradendum, an example of Tacitus’ preference for the simple rather than the compound form of verbs. partem bonorum publicandam: publico is here with the sense of ‘to confiscate’, i.e. ‘to turn to public use’; ut …concederetur …mutaret …relegaretur: as a concession to variety, Tacitus often changes construction in mid course, here from passive periphrasis to a final clause with ut, both constructions ultimately expressing purpose. Gnaeus Piso changed his name to Lucius and became L. Calpurnius Piso, who was consul in 27 A.D.; cf. Book 4, ch. 62.) concessa Plancinae incolumitate ob preces Augustae.