LXII.
Proximi hos (proximi hos: ‘next to the Ephesians’: the adverb proxime is found sometimes followed by acc. and so is, but more rarely, the adj. proximus; cf. L. 1201.) Magnetes L. Scipionis et L. Sullae constitutis nitebantur, quorum ille Antiocho, hic Mithridate pulsis fidem atque virtutem Magnetum decoravere, uti Dianae Leucophrynae perfugium inviolabile foret. (Magnetes L. Scipionis et L. Sullae constitutis nitebantur, quorum ille Antiocho, hic Mithridate pulsis fidem atque virtutem Magnetum decoravere, uti Dianae Leucophrynae perfugium inviolabile foret: Magnesia on the Maeander (not to be confused with Magnesia a Sypilo, for which see Book 2, ch. 47) was located a little north of the river Maeander and about 12 miles (19 km.) SE of Ephesus on the southwestern coast of Turkey. Magnetes is a word derived from magnes, a loadstone very common in Magnesia: ‘the Magnesians were depending [for their claims] on the provisions of L. Scipio and of L. Sulla, both of whom, the one after the defeat of Antiochus, the other of Mithridates, paid homage to the fidelity and valor of the Magnesians, to the end that the sanctuary of Diana Leucophryne should become inviolable.’ Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus won the battle of Magnesia in 190 B.C. against Antiochus III, the ruler of the Seleucid empire in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeated Mithridates VI Eupator, ruler of the Hellenistic kingdom of Pontus in northeastern Anatolia (Turkey), at the end of the first Mithridatic was in 89-85 B.C. ille …hic: ‘that (Scipio), this (Sulla)’; Antiocho …Mithridate pulsis: abl. abs. of temporal sense; the literal ‘Antiochus and Mithridates having been defeated’ is equivalent to ‘after A. and M. were defeated’; pulsis is in place of the sing. pulso applied separately to both A. and M. Leucophrynae: Leucophrys is the name of the ancient town that preceded Magnesia on the same site.) Aphrodisienses posthac et Strationicenses dictatoris Caesaris ob vetusta in partis merita et recens divi Augusti decretum adtulere, laudati quod Parthorum inruptionem nihil mutata in populum Romanum constantia pertulissent. (Aphrodisienses posthac et Strationicenses dictatoris Caesaris ob vetusta in partis merita et recens divi Augusti decretum adtulere, laudati quod Parthorum inruptionem nihil mutata in populum Romanum constantia pertulissent: ‘after them, the people of Aphrodisia and of Stratonicea produced, [the first], a decree of the dictator Caesar for their past services to his cause, [the latter] one more recent of Augustus in appreciation (laudati: ‘being extolled’) for having sustained a violent Parthian inroad with unwavering loyalty towards the Roman People.’ Aphrodisia was on the border between Phrygia and Caria in the SW corner of Asia Minor, Stratonicea was near the coast of Caria, SE of modern Milas. adtulere is historical infinitive, as the verb lacks all tenses derived from the perfect indicative. quod …pertulissent: subjunctive for causal clause in oratio obliqua after adtulere.) sed (sed: here marks resumption after a digression.) Aphrodisiensium civitas Veneris, Stratonicensium Iovis et Triviae religionem (Triviae religionem: ‘the cult of Trivia’, another name for Diana, beside Artemis and Hecate; it derives from trivium, ‘the meeting of three roads’, a reference to her three aspects as the moon, the goddess of hunting, and the princess of the underworld.) tuebantur. altius Hierocaesarienses exposuere, Persicam apud se Dianam, delubrum rege Cyro dicatum; (altius Hierocaesarienses exposuere, Persicam apud se Dianam, delubrum rege Cyro dicatum: when referring to time altius, the comparative of alte, adverb, means ‘further back in time’: ‘the representatives of Hierocaesarea set forth [claims] from a more ancient past and told that they had in their territory a Persian Diana, a temple consecrated when Cyrus was king.’ Hierocaesarea or Hieraccome was a town of Lydia, a region of western Asia Minor between Mysia to the north and Caria to the south, with Sardis as its main center. The town was located between Smyrna on the coast and Sardis farther inland. rege Cyro is abl. abs., lit. ‘Cyrus being king’ or ‘when Cyrus was king’.) et memorabantur Perpennae, Isaurici (Perpennae, Isaurici: Marcus Perpenna or Perperna was consul in 130 B.C.; as a general he defeated and captured Aristonicus of Pergamum. Publius Isauricus was consul with Caesar in 48 B.C. and became proconsul of Asia two years later. Cf. Book 4, ch. 55.) multaque alia imperatorum nomina qui non modo templo sed duobus milibus passuum eandem sanctitatem tribuerant. exim Cyprii tribus [de] delubris, quorum vetustissimum Paphiae Veneri auctor Aerias, post filius eius Amathus Veneri Amathusiae et Iovi Salaminio Teucer, Telamonis patris ira profugus, posuissent. (exim Cyprii tribus [de] delubris, quorum vetustissimum Paphiae Veneri auctor Aerias, post filius eius Amathus Veneri Amathusiae et Iovi Salaminio Teucer, Telamonis patris ira profugus, posuissent: the main verb is left implied and is probably exposuere used previously: ‘subsequently, the Cyprian tribes argued in defense of three shrines, [saying that] of these the founder Aerias had erected the oldest to the Paphian Venus, then (post, adverb) his son Amathus [the one] to the Amathusian Venus, and Teucer, a fugitive from the anger of his father Telamon, [the one] to Jupiter of Salamis.’ For Titus’ visit in 69 A.D. to the shrine of Venus at Paphos see Historiae, Book 2, ch. 3. Paphiae Veneri … Veneri Amathusiae … Iovi Salaminio: Paphos is on the western coast of the island, Amathus in the south, and Salamis in the east (Holbrooke). Aerias is mentioned only in Tacitus, here and in the Historiae, Book 2, ch. 3, as the founder of the temple to Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus and the father of Amathus, the founder of the second largest sanctuary on that island. Teucer was the son of Telamon, king of the island of Salamis, west of Athens. Disowned by his father for not bringing back from the war of Troy the body of his dead brother Ajax and forced into exile, he built the city of Salamis in Cyprus. quorum …posuissent: the rel. clause is in indirect speech as part of the information furnished by the Cyprian envoys, hence the subjunctive.)