XXX.
Fine anni (fine anni: we are now at the end of 20 A.D.) concessere vita (concessere vita: lit. ‘they departed from life’; vita is abl. of separation.) insignes viri L. Volusius et Sallustius Crispus. Volusio vetus familia neque tamen praeturam egressa: ipse consulatum intulit, censoria etiam potestate legendis equitum decuriis functus, (censoria etiam potestate legendis equitum decuriis functus: ‘he also discharged the duties of censor for the selection of the decuries of knights.’ Judges were chosen from among the knights and organized in groups of ten.) opumque quis domus illa immensum viguit primus adcumulator. (opumque quis domus illa immensum viguit primus adcumulator: ‘[he was] the foremost hoarder of the wealth by means of which (quis = quibus) that famous house flourished to such a degree.’ illa is emphatic use of the pronoun; immensum is adverb of manner.) Crispum equestri ortum loco C. Sallustius, (C. Sallustius: Gaius Sallustius Crispus, 86 – 34 B.C., Roman historian, whose surviving works are the Bellum Catilinae and the Bellum Jugurthinum. His epigrammatic style of writing had great influence on Tacitus, his fervent admirer. Many place him on a par with Thucydides. While governor of Africa he amassed an enormous fortune, clearly by illicit means. The garden of Sallust in the NE section of Rome, the visible expression of such wealth, was perhaps the most beautiful of the pleasure gardens in the city.) rerum Romanarum florentissimus auctor, sororis nepotem in nomen adscivit. atque ille, quamquam prompto ad capessendos honores aditu, (quamquam prompto ad capessendos honores aditu: example of post-classical use of a subordinating conjunction in combination with the perfect participle of an abl. abs.: ‘although access to a political career being easily obtainable’; ad capessendos honores: acc. gerundive with ad to express purpose, ‘for high office to be obtained’, an alternative to dative gerundive as in legendis equitum decuriis above, or in Cn. Pompeius, tertium consul corrigendis moribus delectus in ch. 28.) Maecenatem (Maecenatem: Gaius Maecenas, 68 – 8 B.C., personal friend and adviser of Augustus, but most famous for his support of the arts and of promising artists. His name has become synonymous with ‘patron of the arts’.) aemulatus sine dignitate senatoria multos triumphalium consulariumque potentia antiit, diversus a veterum instituto per cultum et munditias copiaque et affluentia luxu propior. (diversus a veterum instituto per cultum et munditias copiaque et affluentia luxu propior: ‘opposite in thinking to the ways of the ancients in his refinement, distinguished bearing, and display of opulence bordering on luxury’; institutum means ‘mode of life’, ‘customs’, ‘trsdition’, etc.) suberat tamen vigor animi ingentibus negotiis par, eo acrior quo somnum et inertiam magis ostentabat. (eo acrior quo somnum et inertiam magis ostentabat: ‘all the more engaged the more he put on the semblance of torpor and idleness’; eo acrior quo …magis …: lit. ‘by that degree more keen, by which the more he …’; the correlatives eo and quo establish a comparison.) igitur incolumi Maecenate proximus, mox praecipuus, cui secreta imperatorum inniterentur, (igitur incolumi Maecenate proximus, mox praecipuus, cui secreta imperatorum inniterentur: lit. ‘thus, {he was] second while Maecenas was still alive, then foremost to whom the secrets of emperors would be given in trust.’ cui …inniterentur is rel. clause of tendency or characteristic requiring subjunctive in that the sense is consecutive. Cf. G. 631. incolumi Maecenate is an abl. abs. equivalent to a clause with dum.) et interficiendi Postumi Agrippae (Postumi Agrippae: for the role of Sallustius Crispus in the murder of Postumus Agrippa cf. Book 1, ch. 6.) conscius, aetate provecta speciem magis in amicitia principis quam vim tenuit. (aetate provecta speciem magis in amicitia principis quam vim tenuit: ‘late in his life he retained more the appearance than any real leverage in the friendship of the prince.’ aetate provecta is abl. of time when, rather than abl. abs., ‘in his advanced age’ rather than ‘his age being advanced’.) idque et Maecenati acciderat, fato potentiae raro sempiternae, (fato potentiae raro sempiternae: fato …raro is abl. abs. of causal sense: ‘the occurrence of lasting influence being rare’ or, freely, ‘because influence rarely lasts forever’: for Tacitus, fate is a force (or inscrutable deity), which shapes events.) an satias capit aut illos cum omnia tribuerunt aut hos cum iam nihil reliquum est quod cupiant. (an satias capit aut illos cum omnia tribuerunt aut hos cum iam nihil reliquum est quod cupiant: the use of an is not restricted to questions; its role here is disjunctive with clauses that express doubt: it denotes uncertainty by itself, without a verb of doubting; the closest English equivalent of an in such cases is ‘perhaps’, thus: ‘perhaps disgust overcomes either [the princes] (illos), when they have given all, or [their confidants] (hos), when nothing is left for them to hanker after.’ cum …tribuerunt, cum …reliquum [est]: iterative cum (cum = ‘every time that …’) is followed by perfect indicative if the main verb (here capit) is primary, by plup. indicative if the main verb is historical. The rule has exceptions: cf. A.G. 542 and G. 566-567. quod cupiant: potential subjunctive in rel. clause, ‘what they may wish’. satias: perhaps a short form of satietas; this is the only use of the word in Tacitus.)