LVII.
Praeceperant animis orationem patres quo quaesitior adulatio fuit. (praeceperant animis orationem patres quo quaesitior adulatio fuit: ‘the senators had anticipated such message in their hearts, to the end that their adulation should be all the more studied.’ quo replaces ut in a final clause if a comparative is present.) nec tamen repertum nisi ut effigies principum, aras deum, templa et arcus aliaque solita censerent, (nec tamen repertum nisi ut … solita censerent: repertum [est] is impersonal use of the passive: lit. ‘however, it was not contrived except so as they should vote the usual things’; freely, ‘nothing was devised other than voting the usual things’; nisi is used as a mere adverb in various conjunctional phrases such as nisi quod, nisi quia, nisi si, nisi ut, especially after negative expressions (cf. G. 591, 2.); nisi ut introduces a clause of consecutive sense (Ernout), hence the subjunctive censerent.) nisi quod M. Silanus ex contumelia consulatus honorem principibus petivit dixitque pro sententia ut publicis privatisve monimentis ad memoriam temporum non consulum nomina praecriberentur, sed eorum qui tribuniciam potestatem gererent. (nisi quod M. Silanus ex contumelia consulatus honorem principibus petivit dixitque pro sententia ut publicis privatisve monimentis ad memoriam temporum non consulum nomina praecriberentur, sed eorum qui tribuniciam potestatem gererent: for nisi quod, ‘save that‘, cf. also previous note: lit. ‘save that Marcus Silanus sought glory for the princes from the abasement of the consulate and gave as his opinion that (ut) on all public and private documents the names not of the consuls but of those who held tribunicial authority be inscribed in remembrance of the times.’ Marcus Silanus, an orator of note and the future father-in-law of Caligula, was mentioned earlier in ch. 24. ex contumelia consulatus: abl. of the source, ‘from the belittlement of the consulate’; dixit pro sententia ut …: ‘proposed in the senate that …’; ut introduces a complementary final clause serving as object of the main verb dixit (see G. 646). qui …gererent: in indir. discourse after dixit, hence the subjunctive. monimentis or monumentis includes anything that keeps the past alive, such as monuments, graves, written records, etc. ad memoriam temporum: ad + acc. denotes purpose, ‘for record of the times’, i.e. ‘to record the date’.) at Q. Haterius cum eius diei senatus consulta aureis litteris figenda in curia censuisset deridiculo fuit senex foedissimae adulationis tantum infamia usurus. (at Q. Haterius cum eius diei senatus consulta aureis litteris figenda [esse] in curia censuisset deridiculo fuit senex foedissimae adulationis tantum infamia usurus: ‘but Quintus Haterius became an object of ridicule for having proposed that the senate decree of that day should be engraved in golden letters in the curia, a dotard going to derive only (tantum) scorn from his most repulsive adulation.’ Quintus Haterius, a vigorous orator in his prime and a servile flatterer at all times, appeared in Book 1, ch. 13 and in Book 2 ch. 33. His death in 26 A.D. is recorded in Book 4, ch. 61. cum …censuisset: causal cum requires subjunctive; infamia usurus: use of the future participle as an ordinary adjective became common only in post-classical times; infamia is abl. with utor; deridiculo fuit: dat. of purpose, ‘was for derision’)