XLI.
Rursum Seianus non iam de matrimonio sed altius metuens tacita suspicionum, (altius metuens: ‘fearing more seriously’) vulgi rumorem, ingruentem invidiam deprecatur. (rursum … tacita suspicionum …deprecatur: ‘entreated release from the hushed promptings of suspicion’; Tacitus is fond of using the neuter plural or sing. of adjectives as nouns followed by genitive, a poetic device that is highly suggestive, but which is hard to approximate in other words. See also secreto loci below.) ac ne adsiduos in domum coetus arcendo infringeret potentiam aut receptando facultatem criminantibus praeberet, huc flexit ut (ne adsiduos in domum coetus arcendo infringeret potentiam aut receptando facultatem criminantibus praeberet, huc flexit ut …: ‘to avoid either impairing his influence by keeping the throngs of petitioners away or further empowering his accusers by receiving them, he had recourse to …’; huc flexit ut …: lit. ‘he turned in this direction, namely to …’; arcendo …receptando: instrumental use of abl. gerund) Tiberium ad vitam procul Roma amoenis locis degendam (ad vitam … degendam: use of ad + acc. gerundive to denote purpose or intention: ‘to pass one’s life’; dego is a defective verb with only present and infinitive (dego, degere).) impelleret. multa quippe providebat: (multa quippe providebat: ‘indeed, he expected many benefits.’) sua in manu aditus litterarumque magna ex parte se arbitrum fore, cum per milites commearent; (cum per milites commearent: causal cum + subjunctive: ‘since [correspondence] was conveyed by soldiers’; commeare, ‘to come and go’, is normally said of people.) mox Caesarem vergente iam senecta secretoque loci mollitum (vergente iam senecta secretoque loci mollitum: abl. abs. followed by participial phrase in indirect discourse after provideo: ‘his old age already sinking, and he softened by the seclusion of his retreat, …’) munia imperii facilius tramissurum: et minui sibi invidiam adempta salutantum turba sublatisque inanibus (adempta salutantum turba sublatisque inanibus: two ablatives abs.: ‘the throng of visitors being removed and the superfluities [of power] being discarded, …’) veram potentiam augeri. igitur paulatim negotia urbis, populi adcursus, multitudinem adfluentium increpat, extollens laudibus quietem et solitudinem quis abesse taedia et offensiones ac praecipua rerum maxime agitari. (quis abesse taedia et offensiones ac praecipua rerum maxime agitari: quis is for quibus: ‘on account of which the drudgery and irritation were absent and mainly (maxime) questions of the greatest importance were meditated upon’; quibus … abesse …agitare: the infinitive for relative clause in indirect discourse, in place of subjunctive, occurs where the writer views the clause as equivalent to a main clause, i.e. where the need for subordination is weak or only apparent. See L. 2316, 2317. See also Book 2, ch. 33 near the end.)