XXI.
Actum dehinc de Calpurnio Pisone, nobili ac feroci viro. is namque, ut rettuli, (ut rettuli: for both Calpurio Piso and Urgulania see Book 2, ch. 34.) cessurum se urbe ob factiones accusatorum in senatu clamitaverat (cessurum se urbe ob factiones accusatorum in senatu clamitaverat: ‘he cried out in the senate that he was going to retire from Rome on account of all the scheming of the informers.’) et spreta potentia Augustae trahere in ius Vrgulaniam domoque principis excire ausus erat. (spreta potentia Augustae trahere in ius Vrgulaniam domoque principis excire ausus erat: ‘defying the excessive influence of the Augusta, he had not been afraid to drag Urgulania to court, and to compel her to go from the imperial palace itself.’ spreta potential Augustae: abl abs., ‘the Augusta’s power having been defied,’) quae in praesens Tiberius civiliter habuit: (quae in praesens Tiberius civiliter habuit: ‘which [affront] Tiberius bore for the moment quite reasonably’; in praesens or ad praesens: ‘for the present’, ‘temporarily’; civiliter habuit: ‘handled’ or ‘managed in a manner of an ordinary person’) sed in animo revolvente iras, etiam si impetus offensionis languerat, memoria valebat. Pisonem Q. Granius secreti sermonis incusavit adversum maiestatem habiti, (Q. Granius secreti sermonis incusavit adversum maiestatem habiti: ‘Quintus Granius accused him of having had private talks against majesty.’ No other information on Q. Granius could be traced: it may be, as someone has suggested, that a praenomen is missing from the name. secreti sermonis …habiti is genitive of the charge and penalty (A.G. 352); habiti, gen. of the perfect participle of habeo, has passive sense, unlike its active English equivalent, hence lit. ‘of a secret talk having been had’.) adiecitque in domo eius venenum esse eumque gladio accinctum (gladio accinctum: lit. ‘girt with a sword’, or ‘wearing a sword’) introire curiam. quod ut atrocius vero tramissum; (quod ut atrocius vero tramissum [est]: lit. ‘which was passed over as more monstruous than the truth’ or ‘too monstruous to be true’; vero, abl. of verum, is abl. of comparison; cf. A.G. 406.) ceterorum, quae multa cumulabantur, receptus est reus neque peractus ob mortem opportunam. (ceterorum, quae multa cumulabantur, receptus est reus neque peractus ob mortem opportunam: ‘he was arraigned on the other charges that kept piling up, [but] was not tried because of his timely death.’ ceterorum is again genitive of the charge and penalty (see above); multa is here adjective with the sense of ‘numerous’.) relatum et de Cassio Severo exule, (relatum [est] et de Cassio Severo exule: ‘it was reported also on the exile Cassius Severus.’ For Cassius Severus see Book 1, ch. 72. relatum est is impersonal use of the passive.) qui sordidae originis, maleficae vitae, sed orandi validus, (orandi validus: orandi is objective genitive gerund after an adjective, ‘capable of speaking’, ‘a gifted speaker’; Quintilian says of Cassius Severus that, as an orator, ‘he had more bile than blood.’) per immodicas inimicitias ut iudicio iurati senatus Cretam amoveretur effecerat; (per immodicas inimicitias ut iudicio iurati senatus Cretam amoveretur effecerat: ‘through excessive enmities he had managed to bring it about that (effecerat ut) he was banished to Crete by a verdict of the senate under oath.’ iurati senatus: ‘of the senate having been sworn’: he had offended so many people that the senate had to take an oath to give fair judgement in arriving at a verdict. effecerat ut: efficio is normally followed by a ut or ne complementary clause.) atque illic eadem actitando recentia veteraque odia advertit, bonisque exutus, interdicto igni atque aqua, saxo Seripho consenuit. (illic eadem actitando …, bonisque exutus, interdicto igni atque aqua, saxo Seripho consenuit: ‘there, persisting in doing the same things, despoiled of his property, forbidden from fire and water, he wasted away on the rocky islet of Seriphos.’ actito is the frequentative form of ago; exutus is from exuo; consenuit is from consenesco; igni atque aqua interdicere meant that a banished man was denied all the essentials of life on Roman soil; Seriphos is a small island in the group of the Cyclades in the Aegean sea, west of the larger Paros and Naxos. It was mentioned earlier in Book 2, ch. 85 as the place of exile for Vistilia.)