LVI.
Tiberius, fama moderationis parta quod ingruentis accusatores represserat, (fama moderationis parta quod ingruentis accusatores represserat: abl. abs. with dependent causal clause: ‘having acquired fame of moderation because he had stemmed the swelling horde of informers’; Tiberius’ refusal to enact new sumptuary laws gained him popularity.) mittit litteras ad senatum quis potestatem tribuniciam Druso petebat. id summi fastigii vocabulum Augustus repperit, ne regis aut dictatoris nomen adsumeret ac tamen appellatione aliqua cetera imperia praemineret. (ne regis aut dictatoris nomen adsumeret ac tamen appellatione aliqua cetera imperia praemineret: ‘…in order to avoid assuming the name of king or dictator, and yet (tamen) that he might stand above other authorities by means of some title’; the negative purpose clause introduced by ne ends with adsumeret; praemineret stands separate as potential subjunctive.) Marcum deinde Agrippam socium eius potestatis, quo defuncto Tiberium Neronem delegit ne successor in incerto foret. (Marcum deinde Agrippam socium [delegit] eius potestatis, quo defuncto Tiberium Neronem delegit ne successor in incerto foret: lit. ‘he later chose Marcus Agrippa as the sharer of that power; who being dead, he chose Tiberius Nero, lest a successor should be in doubt.’ Augustus received the title of tribune in 23 B.C.; in 28 B.C. he extended it to Agrippa, who held it until his death in 12 B.C. Tiberius received it in 6 B.C. (some say 9 B.C.) for five years, and permanently in 4 A.D. on the death of Augustus’ grandson Gaius Caesar. ne …foret is also a negative final clause; quo defuncto: Tacitus has little patience with the rule of total autonomy of the abl. abs. from any part of the sentence it is found in and violates it liberally. Here the antecedent of quo is Agrippam in the main clause. Gildersleeve says that such violations make the narrative less stiff and more vigorous. Cf. G. 410, R. 3.) sic cohiberi pravas aliorum spes rebatur; simul modestiae Neronis et suae magnitudini fidebat. quo tunc exemplo Tiberius Drusum summae rei admovit, cum incolumi Germanico integrum inter duos iudicium tenuisset. (quo tunc exemplo Tiberius Drusum summae rei admovit, cum incolumi Germanico integrum inter duos iudicium tenuisset: tunc implies here a consequence, ‘then’: ‘on this precedent, then, Tiberius moved Drusus to the apex of power, after he had kept the choice between him and Germanicus undecided while the latter lived.’ cum tenuisset: use of narrative cum + subjunctive to describe an action or state coextensive with another, here the duration of Germanicus’ life; cf. A.G. 546. incolumi Germanico: abl. abs. of temporal force, ‘while Germanicus lived’, lit. ‘Germanicus being still alive’) sed (sed: sed here dismisses one subject and passes to a new one; translators either ignore it or try to find an acceptable equivalent.) principio litterarum veneratus deos ut consilia sua rei publicae prosperarent, modica de moribus adulescentis neque in falsum aucta rettulit. esse illi coniugem et tres liberos eamque aetatem qua ipse quondam a divo Augusto ad capessendum hoc munus vocatus sit. (esse illi coniugem et tres liberos eamque aetatem qua ipse quondam a divo Augusto ad capessendum hoc munus vocatus sit: indirect discourse after rettulit: ‘that he had a wife, three children, and the same age he (Tiberius) himself [had], when (qua = ‘in which’) he was called to assume his new functions’; illi is dat. of possessor with esse; eam aetatem: thirty-five or thirty-six years of age for both; qua …vocatus sit: subjunctive for rel. clause in indirect discourse) neque nunc propere (neque nunc propere: ‘not premature, in the face of what has just been said’) sed per octo annos capto experimento, compressis seditionibus, compositis bellis, triumphalem et bis consulem (per octo annos capto experimento, compressis seditionibus, compositis bellis, triumphalem et bis consulem: abl. abs., except for triumphalem et bis consulem, left accusative in indirect discourse for love of variety: ‘proof [of competence] having been obtained during eight years, mutinies having been suppresses (cf. Book 1, ch. 24 ff.), wars having been brought to a conclusion (cf. Book 2, ch, 44 – 46, 62), distinguished by a triumph (cf. ch. 19) and twice consul (in 15 A.D., cf. Book 1, ch. 55, and in 21 A.D., cf. ch. 31)’) noti laboris participem sumi.