XXIV.
Inlustrium domuum adversa (etenim haud multum distanti tempore (haud multum distanti tempore: ‘within a short time’; note the abl. in i in distanti, required when a present participle is used as an adjective; another example is agenti in gratis agenti Silano below.) Calpurnii Pisonem, Aemilii Lepidam amiserant) solacio adfecit D. Silanus Iuniae familiae redditus. (inlustrium domuum adversa … solacio adfecit D. Silanus Iuniae familiae redditus: lit. ‘Decimus Silanus being restored to the Junian family affected the misfortunes of illustrious houses with relief.’ afficio is found with abl. of the thing that causes the effect mentioned.) casum eius paucis repetam. ut valida divo Augusto in rem publicam fortuna ita domi improspera fuit (ut valida divo Augusto in rem publicam fortuna ita domi improspera fuit: consecutive sentence with the ut clause preceding the ita main clause: ‘just as fortune was propitious to the divine Augustus in relation to his public life, to the same extent it was unhelpful at home.’) ob impudicitiam filiae ac neptis (filiae ac neptis: for the elder Julia, cf. note in Book 1, ch. 53; for her homonymous daughter, cf. Book 4, ch. 71.) quas urbe depulit, adulterosque earum morte aut fuga punivit. nam culpam inter viros ac feminas vulgatam gravi nomine laesarum religionum ac violatae maiestatis appellando clementiam maiorum suasque ipse leges egrediebatur. (culpam inter viros ac feminas vulgatam gravi nomine laesarum religionum ac violatae maiestatis appellando …suasque ipse leges egrediebatur: ‘by calling the offence so common between men and women by the sinister name of sacrilege and treason, he himself overstepped the authority of his own laws.’ The law in question is the lex iulia de adulteriis, mentioned in Book 2, ch. 50, promulgated by Augustus in 18 B.C. culpam …appellando: the abl. gerund, without preposition, is the only gerund case beside the genitive that admits a direct object.) sed aliorum exitus simul cetera illius aetatis memorabo si effectis in quae tetendi plures ad curas vitam produxero. (aliorum exitus … memorabo si effectis [eis] in quae tetendi plures ad curas vitam produxero: lit., word for word: ‘I shall record the death of others, if, the things towards which I have been exerting myself being completed, I will have prolonged my life for other endeavors.’ si effectis [eis] in quae tetendi: abl. abs. followed by rel. clause: si, or other subordinating conjunction, in combination with the participle of an abl. abs., is post-classical usage. See also nec nisi Tiberio imperitante below. tetendi is the perfect of tendo: the Latin perfect may correspond to the English perfect, present perfect, or present perfect progressive tense, depending on sense. plures ad curas: plures is here with the meaning of ’an additional number’, ‘more of the same kind’, ‘others’.) D. Silanus in nepti Augusti adulter, (in nepti Augusti adulter: ‘the illicit lover of Augustus’ granddaughter’; adulter is found with either genitive (i.e. neptis Augusti adulter) or in + abl.) quamquam non ultra foret saevitum quam ut amicitia Caesaris prohiberetur, (quamquam non ultra foret saevitum quam ut amicitia Caesaris prohiberetur: ‘even though nothing more violent had been done to him than to exclude him from the friendship of the emperor, …’; quam ut prhiberetur: quam ut, ‘other than’, is used to express dissimilarity as a result, thus the sense is consecutive: lit. ‘other than (= such that) he should be debarred from Caesar’s friendship’; quamquam …foret saevitum: Tacitus consistently uses subjunctive with quamquam; foret saevitum is impersonal use of passive.) exilium sibi demonstrari intellexit, nec nisi Tiberio imperitante (nec nisi Tiberio imperitante: abl. abs.: lit. ‘not unless (or ‘not until’) Tiberius being emperor’; see note above for si effectis [eis] in quae tetendi.) deprecari senatum ac principem ausus est M. Silani fratris potentia, (M. Silani fratris potentia: ‘because of the strong influence of his brother Marcus Silanus’; Marcus is the future father-in-law of Caligula.) qui per insignem nobilitatem et eloquentiam praecellebat. sed Tiberius gratis agenti Silano (gratis agenti Silano: abl. abs.: ‘Silanus rendering thanks’, i.e. ‘when Silanus was offering thanks, …’) patribus coram respondit se quoque laetari quod frater eius e peregrinatione longinqua revertisset, (quod … revertisset: subjunctive for relative clause in oratio obliqua after respondit) idque iure licitum quia non senatus consulto non lege pulsus foret: (idque iure licitum quia non senatus consulto non lege pulsus foret: ‘and that his return (idque) was lawful, since he had not been expelled by a decree of the senate or under any law’; quia …pulsus foret: subjunctive after quia in indirect discourse; iure licitum: ‘permitted by law’) sibi tamen adversus eum integras parentis sui offensiones neque reditu Silani dissoluta quae Augustus voluisset. (sibi tamen adversus eum integras [esse] parentis sui offensiones neque reditu Silani dissoluta [esse] quae Augustus voluisset: ‘but that, as for himself, intact was the disfavor of his father against Silanus and that what Augustus had intended had not been cancelled by his return’, i.e. that exclusion from the emperor’s friendship was still in force. quae Augustus voluisset: cf. note for quod … revertisset above; sibi is dative of interest.) fuit posthac in urbe neque honores adeptus est.