XXXI.
His tam adsiduis tamque maestis modica laetitia intericitur, (his tam adsiduis tamque maestis modica laetitia intericitur: ‘a modest joy was inserted among events so incessant and deplorable.’ adsiduis and maestis are dat. plur. (with intericitur) of adsidua and maesta used as nouns; intericitur, or interjicitur or interjacitur is historical present.) quod C. Cominium equitem Romanum, probrosi in se carminis convictum, (probrosi in se carminis convictum: ‘convicted of [writing] a slanderous poem against himself’; in se refers to Tiberius, the subject in the sentence; probosi carminis is genitive of the crime. ) Caesar precibus fratris qui senator erat concessit. (quod C. Cominium … Caesar … concessit: ‘because Caesar pardoned Gaius Cominius’; He was the brother of T. Cominius, proconsul of Cyprus under Claudius, according to an inscription found on coins (Furneaux).) quo magis mirum habebatur gnarum meliorum et quae fama clementiam sequeretur tristiora malle. (quo magis mirum habebatur gnarum meliorum et quae fama clementiam sequeretur tristiora malle: ‘for this reason (quo) it was considered more surprising that, conscious of better policies and [knowing] what popularity (quae fama) would accompany clemency, he preferred more rigorous alternatives.’ gnarum is followed by genitive first, then by indirect question with subjunctive, headed by quae fama, which is partly exclamative (Oxf. Lat. Dict.).) neque enim socordia peccabat; (neque socordia peccabat: ‘he did not blunder for lack of insight.’ socordia is abl. of respect or specification.) nec occultum est, quando ex veritate, quando adumbrata laetitia facta imperatorum celebrentur. (nec occultum est, quando ex veritate, quando adumbrata laetitia facta imperatorum celebrentur: ‘it is not difficult [to discern] when the actions of the emperor is approved from sincerity (ex veritate) and when from feigned enthusiasm.’ celebrentur is subjunctive of repetition after quando, ubi, ut, quotiens, i.e. when the meaning of these conjunctions is ‘whenever’. The usage developed fully at the end of the republican period (Ernout).) quin ipse, compositus alias et velut eluctantium verborum, (quin ipse, compositus alias et velut eluctantium verborum …: ‘nay, [Tiberius] himself, on other occasions (alias) circumspect [with words] and his speech seemingly resisting utterance, …’; velut eluctantium verborum: lit. ‘as if of words forcing their way out’, genitive of quality, preferable to abl. if the quality tends to be abstract. quin: ‘nay’, ‘not only so but’) solutius promptiusque eloquebatur quotiens subveniret. (quotiens subveniret: see note above on the use of quando.) at P. Suillium quaestorem quondam Germanici, (P. Suillium: Publius Suillius Rufus was the half-brother of Corbulo (a famous general during Nero’s reign) and the husband of the stepdaughter of the poet Ovid. As quaestor he served under Germanicus, being his personal aide or deputy. Later accused of accepting bribes, he was confined to an island under Tiberius. Recalled to Rome upon Claudius becoming emperor, he prosecuted a number of people on behalf of the new prince and in the process made himself very unpopular.) cum Italia arceretur convictus pecuniam ob rem iudicandam cepisse, amovendum in insulam censuit, (cum Italia arceretur convictus pecuniam ob rem iudicandam cepisse, amovendum [esse] in insulam censuit: lit. ‘when he was being expelled from Italy, found guilty that he had accepted money because of a trial to be judged, [Tiberius] argued that he ought to be confined to an island.’ cum Italia arceretur: for use of narrative cum, see note for cum …censeret in previous chapter; Italia is abl. with arceo; iudicandam …amovendum: the passive gerundive is widely used in Latin to express obligation, need, suitability, and related abstract concepts. It is strange that so useful a linguistic tool has not survived in any of the Romanic languages, not to mention the Germanic branch of languages, including English.) tanta contentione animi ut iure iurando obstringeret e re publica id esse. (tanta contentione animi ut iure iurando obstringeret e re publica id esse: consecutive sentence with the correlatives tanta …ut; the main clause with tanta lacks a finite verb in this case and the ut clause has subjunctive, as expected: ‘…with such animosity as to bind himself by an oath that the measure (id) was for the safety of the state’; e re publica …esse: idiom, ‘was for the protection of the country’; iure iurando is instrumental use of the abl. gerund.) quod aspere acceptum ad praesens mox in laudem vertit regresso Suillio; (quod aspere acceptum ad praesens mox in laudem vertit regresso Suillio: ‘which [judgement], unfavorably received at the time, turned to his honor later, when Sullius came back from confinement’; ad praesens: ‘at that moment’; regresso Suillius: abl. abs. of temporal sense, ‘Suillius having returned’: regredior being deponent, regressus has active sense, ‘having returned’) quem vidit sequens aetas praepotentem, venalem et Claudii principis amicitia diu prospere, numquam bene usum. eadem poena in Catum Firmium (Catum Firmium: mentioned in Book 2, ch. 27-29 as the man who caused Libo’s ruin.) senatorem statuitur, tamquam falsis maiestatis criminibus sororem petivisset. (tamquam maiestatis petivisset: ‘because he had accused of treason …’: in Tacitus tamquam, a conditional conjunction of comparison, ‘as if’, is found used like quod with subjunctive, to give an assumed reason. See G. 602, Note 4.) Catus, ut rettuli, Libonem inlexerat insidiis, (inlexerat insidiis: ‘he had entangled in his snares.’) deinde indicio perculerat. eius operae memor Tiberius sed alia praetendens exilium deprecatus est: (exilium deprecatus est: ‘he had warded off the exile.’) quo minus senatu pelleretur non obstitit. (quo minus senatu pelleretur non obstitit: quominus or quo minus is found replacing a negative purpose clause with ne after verbs of preventing and refusing: ‘he did not oppose that Catus be expelled from the senate.’)