XXII.
Per idem tempus Plautius Silvanus praetor incertis causis Aproniam coniugem in praeceps iecit, (Plautius Silvanus praetor incertis causis Aproniam coniugem in praeceps iecit: ‘the praetor Plautius Silvanus for reasons unknown threw his wife Apronia down [from his bedchamber].’ Silvanus was praetor urbanus whose main function was to administer the law. in praeceps iacere: idiom, ‘to push straight downward, headforemost’) tractusque ad Caesarem ab L. Apronio socero turbata mente respondit, tamquam ipse somno gravis atque eo ignarus, (turbata mente respondit, tamquam ipse somno gravis atque eo ignarus: ‘he answered incoherently, offering as an excuse being himself deep in sleep, therefore (eo) unaware.’ tamquam, here qualifying gravis, alleges a circumstance, ‘just as if’; turbata mente is either abl. of manner or of attendant circumstance, both without cum since an adjective is present.) et uxor sponte mortem sumpsisset. non cunctanter Tiberius pergit in domum, visit cubiculum, in quo reluctantis et impulsae vestigia cernebantur. (in quo reluctantis et impulsae vestigia cernebantur: ‘where (i.e. in cubiculo) could be seen traces of her resisting and being pushed’) refert ad senatum, datisque iudicibus Vrgulania Silvani avia pugionem nepoti misit. quod perinde creditum quasi principis monitu ob amicitiam Augustae cum Vrgulania. reus frustra temptato ferro venas praebuit exolvendas. (reus frustra temptato ferro venas praebuit exolvendas: ‘the suspect offered his veins to be opened, after fruitless attempts to use the steel.’ frusta temptato ferro is abl. abs.: ‘the dagger having been tried in vain.’ venas exolvendas: use of gerundive to express necessity) mox Numantina, prior uxor eius, accusata iniecisse carminibus et veneficiis vaecordiam marito, (Numantina, prior uxor eius, accusata iniecisse … vaecordiam marito …: lit. ‘Numantina, his previous wife, accused of having caused the madness to the husband, …’; Numantina, …uxor …, accusata iniecisse: nominative subject in infinitive clause after the passive accusata (with accuso as the verb of saying), a case of personal construction; cf. G. 528 and note for conscientia belli Sacrovir diu dissimulatus in ch. 19. ) insons iudicatur.