XV.
Idem annus alio quoque luctu Caesarem adficit alterum ex geminis Drusi liberis extinguendo, (alterum ex geminis Drusi liberis extinguendo: ‘by snuffing out the life of one of Drusus’ twins’; his name was Germanicus and his age four, being born in 19 A.D.; cf. Book 2, ch. 84.) neque minus morte amici. is fuit Lucilius Longus, omnium illi tristium laetorumque socius unusque e senatoribus Rhodii secessus comes. (omnium illi tristium laetorumque socius unusque e senatoribus Rhodii secessus comes: ’[he was] for him the partner of all his sorrows and joys and the only companion from among the senators of his Rhodian retreat’; illi is dative of interest; Rhodii is gen. sing. of Rhodius, adj., ‘ of Rhodes’, the island off the southwestern coast of Turkey or Asia Minor. Tiberius voluntary retirement lasted eight years, from 6 B.C. to 2 A.D. He returned to Rome at the death of Lucius Caesar, Augustus’ grandson.) ita quamquam novo homini (quamquam novo homini: ‘though he was a new man’, i.e. from a family devoid of distinction; abl. abs. with quamquam expressing concession; such use of quamquam as adverb to qualify an adj. reached its culmination in Tacitus. See G. 609, 666.) censorium funus, (censorium funus: for publicum funus; censorium refers to the fact that at one time state funerals came under the jurisdiction of the censor.) effigiem apud forum Augusti publica pecunia patres decrevere, apud quos etiam tum cuncta tractabantur, adeo ut procurator Asiae Lucilius Capito accusante provincia causam dixerit, (apud quos etiam tum cuncta tractabantur, adeo ut procurator Asiae Lucilius Capito accusante provincia causam dixerit: ‘before whom even then all affairs were conducted, so much so that the procurator of Asia Lucilius Capito pleaded his own cause [before the senate], the province accusing him’; the passage is meant to illustrate the independence of the senate by showing that even a provincial procurator, one of the emperor’s persons of trust, could be brought to trial before the senate. In Tiberius’ later years such cases were tried by the prince himself. adeo ut … dixerit: the dependent clause of a consecutive sentence is not bound by the sequence of tenses, which would require dixisset after the historical main verb tractabantur. Instead, its tense in the subjunctive usually corresponds to the indicative tense the clause would have if it were independent, i.e., in this case, dixit. accusante provincia is abl. abs. procurator: an administrator commissioned by the emperor to oversee the imperial possessions in the provinces and collect the revenues for the imperial treasury or fiscus. One other unofficial function he had, namely to keep an eye on the governor of the province, normally a pro-praetor or a proconsul. Rarely did a procurator and the governor work in harmony: Tacitus mentions the wrangles between the two in ch. 9 of Agricola.) magna cum adseveratione principis non se ius nisi in servitia et pecunias familiares dedisse: (magna cum adseveratione principis non se ius nisi in servitia et pecunias familiares dedisse: ‘with the emphatic declaration of the prince that he had not given Capito any authority except over the slaves and the revenues of the imperial household’; nisi without verb is usually found after a negative clause, here non se dedisse.) quod si vim praetoris usurpasset manibusque militum usus foret, spreta in eo mandata sua: audirent socios. (quod si vim praetoris usurpasset manibusque militum usus foret, spreta in eo mandata sua: audirent socios: quodsi or quod si may be found in place of si alone, or at times meaning ‘and if’ to continue an argument, or sometimes replacing sin ‘but if’: ‘and if he had usurped the powers of a praetor and had used military force, in this (in eo) his orders would have been disregarded and the senate must hear the provincial allies.’ quod si …usurpasset …usus foret, spreta [esse] …: conditional sentence in indirect discourse after ius …dedisse; the condition is of the logical kind (type I) with plup. subjunctive in the protasis for condition in the past and perfect infinitive in the apodosis; sua: the possessive adj. suus always refers to the subject of the clause, in this case Capito; audirent socios: jussive subjunctive in indirect discourse, corresponding to the imperative audite in direct address) ita reus cognito negotio damnatur. (reus cognito negotio damnatur: ‘the case having being heard, the defendant was condemned.’) ob quam ultionem et quia priore anno in C. Silanum vindicatum erat, decrevere Asiae urbes templum Tiberio (ob quam ultionem et quia priore anno in C. Silanum vindicatum erat, decrevere Asiae urbes templum …: ‘in view of this redress of justice and also because the previous year Gaius Silanus had been punished, the cities of Asia decreed a temple to …’; for Silanus’ trial see Book 3, ch. 66ff.) matrique eius ac senatui. et permissum statuere; (permissum [est] statuere: ‘it was permitted to build.’) egitque Nero grates ea causa patribus atque avo, (egitque Nero grates ea causa patribus atque avo: ‘for that reason Nero extended thanks to the members of the senate and to his grandfather.’ ea causa: abl. of cause, ‘for that concession’, ‘on that score’; Nero was Germanicus’ eldest son; Drusus and Caligula were younger.) laetas inter audientium adfectiones qui recenti memoria Germanici illum aspici, illum audiri rebantur. aderantque iuveni modestia ac forma principe viro digna, notis in eum Seiani odiis ob periculum gratiora. (aderantque iuveni modestia ac forma principe viro digna, notis in eum Seiani odiis ob periculum gratiora: iuveni is dat. of possessor with aderant which in English becomes the subject with forms of the verb ‘to have’: ‘the youth had a modesty and beauty worthy of a princely man, qualities more endearing on account of danger, Sejanus’ aversion to him being well-known.)