LXXVI.
Et Iunia (Iunia: her praenomen was Tertula, diminutive of Tertia.) sexagesimo quarto post Philippensem aciem (Philippensem aciem: the battle of Philippi (42 B.C. in Macedonia, Greece) was between the assassins of Julius Caesar and the forces of Marc Antony and Octavian, later Augustus.) anno supremum diem explevit, Catone avunculo genita, (Catone avunculo genita: lit. ‘born of her uncle Cato’; genita is not to be taken literally, more in the sense of ‘closely related by blood’. The Cato here is Marcus Porcius Cato, also known as Cato the Younger or Cato Uticensis because he killed himself in Utica, near Carthage (in modern Tunisia), as a gesture of protest against the tyranny of Julius Caesar.) C. Cassii uxor, M. Bruti (C. Cassii … M. Bruti: Caius Cassius and Marcus Brutus, the two most important organizers of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.) soror. testamentum eius multo apud vulgum rumore fuit, (testamentum eius multo apud vulgum rumore fuit: ‘her will was the subject of much talk among the people.’ multo rumore: abl. of quality) quia in magnis opibus cum ferme cunctos proceres cum honore nominavisset Caesarem omisit. (quia in magnis opibus cum ferme cunctos proceres cum honore nominavisset Caesarem omisit: quia goes with omisit and cum (concessive) with nominavisset: ‘she did not include Tiberius, even though, given her great wealth, she had named [as heirs] almost all the leading men [of Rome], adding expressions of esteem.’ in magnis opibus: in + abl. explains the circumstances under which something is done (Oxford Lat. Diction.) cum honore is abl. of manner.) quod civiliter acceptum neque prohibuit quo minus laudatione pro rostris ceterisque sollemnibus funus cohonestaretur. (neque prohibuit quo minus laudatione pro rostris ceterisque sollemnibus funus cohonestaretur: quo minus or quominus replaces ut in final or consecutive clauses after verbs of hindering, like prohibeo (cf. G. 547): ‘he did not forbid that her funeral should be honored by a panegyric from the rostra and by all the other observances.’ pro rostris: ‘on or from the front of the rostra, a raised platform in the Roman Forum, decorated with the armored beaks of captured enemy ships. From the platform speeches, orations, addresses, warnings were delivered.) viginti clarissimarum familiarum imagines antelatae sunt, Manlii, Quinctii (Manlii, Quinctii: some of the most ancient of the patrician families: Manlius Torquatus, for example, three times consul and as many times dictator from whom the Manlii were descended, went back to the fourth century B.C.) aliaque eiusdem nobilitatis nomina. sed praefulgebant Cassius atque Brutus eo ipso quod effigies eorum non visebantur. (praefulgebant Cassius atque Brutus eo ipso quod effigies eorum non visebantur: ‘Cassius and Brutus shone most conspicuously for the very reason that (eo ipso quod) their statues were nowhere in sight.’ In imperial times it was not thought safe to display images of famous republicans, even though everyone was keenly aware of their absence.)