XXXV.
Non attingo Graecos, (non attingo Graecos: lit. ‘I do not touch the Greeks’) quorum non modo libertas, etiam libido impunita; aut si quis advertit, dictis dicta ultus est. (si quis advertit, dictis dicta ultus est: for the type of conditional sentence being used, see last note in previous chapter: ‘if anyone took exception [to this], he punished words with words.’ advertit …ultus est: examples of gnomic perfects: though the tense refers to the past, the action may occur at any time, present, past, or future. Cf. G. 236, Note, and A.G. 475 and Note; advertit is for animadvertit, another of Tacitus’ mannerisms, namely a noticeable bias against the compound forms of verbs.) sed maxime solutum et sine obtrectatore fuit prodere de iis quos mors odio aut gratiae exemisset. (sed maxime solutum et sine obtrectatore fuit prodere de iis quos mors odio aut gratiae exemisset: ‘but most importantly it was perfectly free and devoid of censor to hand down to memory [one’s views] about those whom death had delivered from hatred or favor.’ prodere …quos mors …exemisset: modal attraction, subjunctive in rel. clause depending on an infinitive clause; cf. A.G. 593.) num enim armatis Cassio et Bruto ac Philippensis campos optinentibus (armatis Cassio et Bruto ac Philippensis campos optinentibus: abl. abs.: ‘Cassius and Brutus being under arms and possessing the field of battle at Philippi’) belli civilis causa populum per contiones incendo? an illi quidem septuagesimum ante annum perempti, (septuagesimum ante annum perempti: ‘both dead for seventy years’; the Latin way to express extent of time before or after something is with acc. of the extent of time preceded or followed by ante or post; the ordinal septuagesimum is a convenient approximation, the exact figure being 67 years, from 42 B.C. to 25 A.D.) quo modo imaginibus suis noscuntur, quas ne victor quidem abolevit, sic partem me, moriae apud scriptores retinent? (num enim … populum per contiones incendo? an illi … quo modo imaginibus suis noscuntur, … sic partem memoriae apud scriptores retinent?: double direct question with num and an introducing the first an second part of the question: ‘am I actually inflaming the people by my speeches? In the same way (quo modo) they (illi = Brutus and Cassius) are known [to us] by their statues, so (sic) do they not also retain a part of their memory in the writings of the historians (apud scriptores)?’ num suggests a negative answer, an a positive one. The second part of the question is presented in the form of a comparative sentence, of which the correlatives quo modo …sic introduce the dependent and the main clause respectively.) suum cuique decus posteritas rependit; (suum cuique decus posteritas rependit: ‘to every man posterity gives the honor that is due to him.’ lit. ‘posterity pays back to every man his own honor’; for use of suus and quisque see G. 309, 318.) nec deerunt, si damnatio ingruit, qui non modo Cassii et Bruti set etiam mei meminerint.’ (nec deerunt, si damnatio ingruit, qui non modo Cassii et Bruti set etiam mei meminerint: ‘nor will there be men lacking, if my condemnation is near, who would remember not only Cassius and Brutus but also me.’ nec deerunt …qui introduces a rel. clause of characteristic (cf. G. 631), thus meminerint is perfect subjunctive, not future perfect. Cassii, Bruti, mei are genitives with the verb memini.) egressus dein senatu vitam abstinentia finivit. libros per aedilis cremandos censuere patres: set manserunt, occultati et editi. quo magis socordiam eorum inridere libet qui praesenti potentia credunt extingui posse etiam sequentis aevi memoriam. (quo magis socordiam eorum inridere libet qui praesenti potentia credunt extingui posse etiam sequentis aevi memoriam: ’for which reason the more (quo magis) it is pleasing to mock the stupidity of those who, because of present mastery, think that the remembrance of future generations can also be extinguished.’ libet or lubet is impersonal verb: it can only be used in the third person singular.) nam contra punitis ingeniis gliscit auctoritas, (contra punitis ingeniis gliscit auctoritas: contra is here adverb, not prep: ‘quite the contrary, genius being repressed, its authority grows’ punitis ingeniis is abl. abs.) neque aliud externi reges aut qui eadem saevitia usi sunt nisi dedecus sibi atque illis gloriam peperere. (qui eadem saevitia usi sunt nisi dedecus sibi atque illis gloriam peperere: ‘those who have used the same cruelty reaped but (nisi) infamy for themselves and honor for their victims.’ peperere = pepererunt, perfect of pario.)