XLVII.
Tum demum (tum demum: ‘then finally’) Tiberius ortum patratumque bellum senatu scripsit; neque dempsit aut addidit vero, sed fide ac virtute legatos, se consiliis superfuisse. (fide ac virtute legatos, se consiliis superfuisse: ‘that his generals, because of their loyalty and pluck, and he himself with his strategy had easily prevailed’) simul causas cur non ipse, non Drusus profecti ad id bellum forent, (cur non ipse, non Drusus profecti ad id bellum forent: subjunctive for indirect question after cur: ‘why neither he nor Drusus had left [Rome] for the war’) adiunxit, magnitudinem imperii extollens, neque decorum principibus, si una alterave civitas turbet * * omissa urbe, unde in omnia regimem. (neque decorum principibus [proficisci], si una alterave civitas turbet, omissa urbe, unde in omnia regimem: one infinitive verb seems to be missing in the original text to complete the meaning of neque decorum principibus, but, as it has been justly observed, proficisci can be easily understood from the near profecti …forent that precedes: ‘that it [was] not dignified for princes to leave Rome, whence the world was governed, and start on a journey (proficisci), if one or two districts should revolt’; una alterve: ‘one or at most two’; turbet: subjunctive for conditional clause in indirect discourse; the present is repraesentatio for the imperfect turbaret after adiunxit, a historical verb of saying. Cf. A.G. 585, b. and N. The same applies to ducatur below. omissa urbe: abl. abs., ‘the city having been left behind’) nunc quia non metu ducatur iturum ut praesentia spectaret componeretque. (nunc quia non metu ducatur iturum [esse] ut praesentia spectaret componeretque: ‘since now he was no longer [considered] motivated by fear, he would go to see the situation and correct any problems.’ In spite of his promise here and elsewhere (Book 1, ch. 47 and Book 4, ch. 4) that he would go and make a tour of the provinces, Tiberius never left Italy while emperor. quia non metu ducatur: quia is with subjunctive in indirect discourse; metu is abl. of efficient cause, which replaces a or ab +abl. when the agent is a thing.) decrevere patres vota pro reditu eius supplicationesque et alia decora. solus Dolabella Cornelius (Dolabella Cornelius: he had been consul earlier and later became proconsul of Africa (book 4, ch. 23). He will be mentioned again also in ch. 69 ahead and in Book 4, ch. 66.) dum antire ceteros parat (dum antire ceteros parat: dum, ‘while’, requires present indicative: ‘while he contrives to outdo the others’) absurdam in adulationem progressus, censuit ut ovans e Campania urbem introiret. (censuit ut … introiret: ‘he recommended that [Tiberius] should re-enter …’; censeo is one of the verba declarandi which may be followed by either an object clause with acc. and infinitive or a complementary final clause with ut. The latter construction is more common when a certain course of action is advised.) igitur secutae Caesaris litterae quibus se non tam vacuum gloria praedicabat ut post ferocissimas gentis perdomitas, tot receptos in iuventa aut spretos triumphos, (tot receptos in iuventa aut spretos triumphos: it appears that Tiberius had accepted three triumphs for his victories over the Germans and for containing a serious revolt in Illyricum, but had refused four more.) iam senior peregrinationis suburbanae inane praemium peteret. (se non tam vacuum gloria [esse] praedicabat ut … inane praemium peteret: the correlatives tam and ut introduce the main and the dependent clause of a consecutive sentence in indirect discourse: ‘he declared that he was not so devoid of glory as to seek a meaningless honor.’ vacuum gloria: abl. of specification, ‘poor in respect to glory’)