XI.
Haec vulgo iactata (haec vulgo iactata: ‘such rumors spread by the populace …’) super id quod nullo auctore certo firmantur (super id quod nullo auctore certo firmantur: ‘apart from the fact that they are confirmed by no credible historian, …’; super id quod: may be replaced by praeterquam quod, the difference being that in the first super is preposition, while praeterquam or praeter quam is conjunction. nullo auctore certo is dative of agent, found in poetry and often in Tacitus with passive verbs, in place of abl. with a or ab.) prompte refutaveris. (haec … prompte refutaveris: ‘such gossip you may easily disprove’: use of potential subjunctive in the second person singular, as in English; both present and perfect can be used interchangeably. See A.G. 446, 447.) quis enim mediocri prudentia, nedum Tiberius tantis rebus exercitus, (nedum Tiberius tantis rebus exercitus: ‘much less Tiberius schooled by so much experience’) inaudito filio exitium offerret, (quis … inaudito filio exitium offerret: lit. ‘what man offers death to a son unheard?’; offerret is potential subjunctive.) idque sua manu et nullo ad paenitendum regressu? (nullo ad paenitendum regressu: abl. abs.: ‘no going back for repentance being left’) quin potius ministrum veneni excruciaret, auctorem exquireret, insita denique etiam in extraneos cunctatione et mora adversum unicum et nullius ante flagitii compertum uteretur? (quin potius ministrum veneni excruciaret, auctorem exquireret, insita denique etiam in extraneos cunctatione et mora adversum unicum et nullius ante flagitii compertum uteretur?: quin is interrogative adverb most often followed by present indicative, but here with potential subjunctive: ‘why would he not rather subject the cup bearer to torture and discover the culprit? [why would he not] use a deferment (mora) towards his only son, until then guilty of no crime, circumspection being indeed (denique) natural to him even with regard to complete strangers?’ adversum is here preposition with acc.; quin …mora …uteretur: mora is abl. with utor; insita cunctatione is abl. abs.) sed quia Seianus facinorum omnium repertor habebatur, ex nimia caritate in eum Caesaris et ceterorum in utrumque odio quamvis fabulosa et immania credebantur, (quia Seianus facinorum omnium repertor habebatur, ex nimia caritate in eum Caesaris et ceterorum in utrumque odio quamvis fabulosa et immania credebantur: lit. ‘since Sejanus was considered the deviser of every crime, in view of Tiberius’ excessive love towards him and, because of everyone’s hatred against both, stories however fabulous and monstruous were given credit.’ ex nimia caritate: abl. of cause; quamvis fabulosa et immania: unlike other subordinating conjunctions, quamvis is often found modifying adjectives just as any ordinary adverb. Cf. G. 609, Note 2.) atrociore semper fama erga dominantium exitus. (atrociore semper fama erga dominantium exitus: ‘rumor always being decidedly shocking in respect to (erga) the death of rulers’; atrociore …fama: abl. abs.; the comparative atrociore is absolute, i.e. lacks a second term of comparison; it is translated by qualifying the adjective with a suitable adverb.) ordo alioqui sceleris per Apicatam Seiani proditus tormentis Eudemi ac Lygdi patefactus est. (ordo alioqui sceleris per Apicatam Seiani proditus tormentis Eudemi ac Lygdi patefactus est: ‘moreover (alioqui) the detailed plan of the crime was revealed by Sejanus’ wife Apicata and extracted also by the torture of Eudemus and Lygdus.’ per Apicatam Seiani: uxor is left understood; cf. Hectoris Andromache in Virgil’s Aeneid. For Eudemus and Lygdus see ch. 3 and 10 respectively.) neque quisquam scriptor tam infensus extitit ut Tiberio obiectaret, cum omnia alia conquirerent intenderentque. (neque quisquam scriptor tam infensus extitit ut Tiberio obiectaret, cum omnia alia conquirerent intenderentque: ‘no credible historian has emerged so ill-disposed as to ascribe [this crime] to Tiberius, although they all go out of their way to scrutinize all his other actions, then attack him [if they find anything improper]’; intendere may also mean ‘to exaggerate’; tam …ut …obiectaret: subjunctive in the subordinate clause of a consecutive sentence with the correlatives tam and ut. cum … conquirerent intenderentque: subjunctive after concessive cum.) mihi tradendi arguendique rumoris causa fuit ut claro sub exemplo falsas auditiones depellerem (mihi tradendi arguendique rumoris causa fuit ut claro sub exemplo falsas auditiones depellerem: ‘for me the reason of reporting and refuting the rumor was to dispel false hearsay by means of a clear example’; mihi is dat. of interest; tradendi arguendique rumoris: use of the gerundive as verbal adjective of passive sense to modify rumoris and at the same time to mark the merit or worthiness of the action: lit. ‘of the rumor to be reported and refuted’; cf. G. 427, L. 2240, 2243 ff. ut …depellerem is substantive (noun) clause of result, subject of est. See A.G. 569. claro sub exemplo: here sub + abl. has the quasi-instrumental sense of ‘at the hand od’, ‘under the impulse of’.) peteremque ab iis quorum in manus cura nostra venerit ne divulgata atque incredibilia avide accepta veris neque in miraculum corruptis antehabeant. (peteremque ab iis quorum in manus cura nostra venerit ne divulgata atque incredibilia avide accepta veris neque in miraculum corruptis antehabeant: (cont. from previous note): ‘…and to require from those into whose hands my work may have come not to prefer (antehabeant) widely circulated and improbable stories, hungrily devoured, to truthful accounts of facts not perverted into sensational occurrences. cura nostra: ‘this work of mine’; cura is with the sense of ‘literary effort’; cf. also plures ad curas vitam produxero in Book 3, ch. 24; nostra is royal plural; venerit is most likely potential perfect subjunctive, ‘may have come’; it could also be future anterior, ‘will have come’, the difference between the two being difficult to distinguish in later Latin (Ernout); in either case venerit is anterior to peterem. ne …antehabeant: jussive subjunctive expressing prohibition (see A.G. 439 and Notes); the present here replaces the imperfect antehaberent, required by the sequence of tenses, as Tacitus usually prefers to bring the action closer in time to the reader for greater immediacy.)