XII.
Ceterum (ceterum: originally abl. of respect, in time and particularly in Tacitus who uses it regularly, it acquired adversative force: ‘but’, ‘yet’, ‘notwithstanding’, ‘however that may be’ and similar.) laudante filium pro rostris Tiberio (laudante filium pro rostris Tiberio: abl. abs., ‘Tiberius praising his son from the rostra’; rostra refers to a raised platform in the Roman Forum from which speeches were delivered; the name comes from the bronze beaks, or ramming prows, of captured enemy warships with which the platform was decorated.) senatus populusque habitum ac voces dolentum simulatione magis quam libens induebat, (senatus populusque habitum ac voces dolentum … induebat: ‘the senate and the people received the speech with the demeanor and words of those grieving.’ habitum ac voces …induebat: lit. ‘they wore the attire and words’: strictly speaking, an example of zeugma, in that induebat applies to habitum but not to voces; the verb agrees with the nearest subject.) domumque Germanici revirescere occulti laetabantur. quod principium favoris et mater Agrippina spem male tegens perniciem adceleravere. (quod principium favoris et mater Agrippina spem male tegens perniciem adceleravere: lit. ‘which initial signs of popular favor and the mother Agrippina badly concealing her hopes accelerated the ultimate ruin.’ The clause has two subjects, initium and the following noun clause.) nam Seianus ubi videt (ubi videt: ubi, unless with the force of ‘whenever’, is reliably with indicative.) mortem Drusi inultam interfectoribus, sine maerore publico esse, ferox scelerum et, quia prima provenerant, volutare secum quonam modo Germanici liberos perverteret, (ferox scelerum et, quia prima provenerant, volutare secum quonam modo Germanici liberos perverteret: ‘now reckless of crime, because the first steps had been successful, he began to revolve [in his mind] in what way he could eliminate Germanicus’ sons.’ quonam modo: quonam indicates puzzlement, ‘in what possible way’, ‘in what way in the world’; perverteret: subjunctive in indirect question; prima prevenerant: already encountered in Book 1, ch. 19, ubi prima provenissent. ) quorum non dubia successio. neque spargi venenum in tres poterat, egregia custodum fide et pudicitia Agrippinae impenetrabili. igitur contumaciam eius insectari, vetus Augustae odium, recentem Liviae conscientiam exagitare, (igitur contumaciam eius insectari, vetus Augustae odium, recentem Liviae conscientiam exagitare: ‘hence, he began to attack her inflexibility, to exploit the old grudge of the Augusta and Livia’s recent complicity.’ vetus Augustae odium: for the Augusta’ aversion to Agrippina, see also Book 1, ch. 33 and Book 2, ch. 43. insectari …exagitare are historical infinitives, and so is volutare above and perstimulare at the end of the chapter. They replace the imperfect indicative when the action is repeated, persistent, or dramatic.) ut superbam fecunditate, subnixam popularibus studiis inhiare dominationi apud Caesarem arguerent. (ut superbam fecunditate, subnixam popularibus studiis inhiare dominationi apud Caesarem arguerent: lit. ‘for the purpose that they should incriminate her to the emperor as a high-handed woman on account of her many children (fecunditate), counting on the affection of the people to aspire to supreme power.’ dominationi is dative with inhio) atque haec callidis criminatoribus, (atque haec callidis criminatoribus: it is not clear who or what the subject is and interpretations vary, as usual in such cases. In the present translation, the subject is taken to be Sejanus (the logical subject in the larger context), the implied verb is understood to be fecit or egit with haec as its neuter plural object, thus: ‘he attained these designs with the aid of practiced slanderers …’, etc.) inter quos delegerat Iulium Postumum, per adulterium Mutiliae Priscae inter intimos aviae et consiliis suis peridoneum, (inter quos delegerat Iulium Postumum, per adulterium Mutiliae Priscae inter intimos aviae et consiliis suis peridoneum: ‘among whom he had chosen Julius Postumus, one of the close friends of the Augusta (by virtue of his affair with Mutilia Prisca) and a man perfectly suited to his plan’; Julius Postumus: little else is known about him; he may have been prefect of Egypt in 47 A.D. (Furneaux). He appears as one of the minor characters in Ben Jonson’s play The Fall of Sejanus. Mutilia Prisca was the wife of the consul Fufius Geminus, for whom see Book 5, ch. 2. Prisca later stabbed herself with a dagger in the senate chamber.) quia Prisca in animo Augustae valida anum suapte natura potentiae anxiam insociabilem nurui efficiebat. (quia Prisca in animo Augustae valida [erat] anum suapte natura potentiae anxiam insociabilem nurui efficiebat: lit. ‘because Prisca was powerful in the heart of the Augusta and was rendering the old matron — jealous of her own power by her very nature — bitterly hostile to the granddaughter-in-law, Agrippina’; suapte: the enclitic -pte is an emphatic suffix attached to personal pronouns or possessive adjectives, especially in the abl. nurui: nurus is daughter-in-law, but legally the term is sometimes applied to the wife of one’s grandson; pronurus would be more exact, since the Augusta was the mother of Tiberius, who had adopted Germanicus, Agrippina’s husband.) Agrippinae quoque proximi inliciebantur pravis sermonibus tumidos spiritus perstimulare.