VII.
Quae cuncta non quidem comi via sed horridus ac plerumque formidatus retinebat tamen, donec morte Drusi verterentur: (quae cuncta non quidem comi via sed horridus ac plerumque formidatus retinebat tamen, donec morte Drusi verterentur: ‘which exemplary tendencies he retained, yet not indeed in an amiable manner, but gruff and usually forbidding, until they were reversed at the death of Drusus.’ donec …verterentur: donec usually takes subjunctive in Tacitus, regardless of whether a fact or an intention is stated. comi via is abl. of manner, morte Drusi is abl. of time.) nam dum superfuit (dum superfuit: ‘so long as he lived’; dum meaning ‘for as long as’ is found with all tenses of the indicative.) mansere, quia Seianus incipiente adhuc potentia bonis consiliis notescere volebat, (quia …volebat: causal quia regularly takes indicative.) et ultor metuebatur non occultus odii set crebro querens (non occultus odii set crebro querens: ‘not making a secret of his hatred, but frequently complaining’) incolumi filio (incolumi filio: ‘abl. abs., ‘a son being alive and well’; the sense is concessive.) adiutorem imperii alium vocari. et quantum superesse ut collega dicatur? (quantum superesse ut collega dicatur?: ‘how much time still remained [for him] to be proclaimed the emperor’s colleague?’ superesse: an indirect question with infinitive indicates that the question is rhetorical, i.e. equivalent to a statement, thus infinitive in indirect discourse after metuebatur. dicatur is in place of diceretur as required by the sequence of tenses after a historical main verb. Cf. note for si quid subitum ingruat, maiore auxilio pariter subveniri in ch. 2. Similarly sis below is in place of essses or fores.) primas dominandi spes in arduo: ubi sis ingressus, adesse studia et ministros. (primas dominandi spes in arduo: ubi sis ingressus, adesse studia et ministros: still in indirect discourse, as are also the next two selections: ‘that the first hopes of domination are uphill work: once you have entered that road, supporters and collaborators come forward’; dominandi is objective genitive gerund after a noun; ubi sis ingressus: use of the indefinite second person singular, as often in English. Like all dependent clauses, the ubi clause is subjunctive in oratio obliqua) extructa iam sponte praefecti castra, (extructa iam sponte praefecti castra: ‘that a camp had already been built on the initiative of the praefect’ sponte is not adverb, but the causal abl. of spons.) datos in manum milites; cerni effgiem eius in monimentis Cn. Pompei; communis is illi cum familia Drusorum fore nepotes: (communis is illi cum familia Drusorum fore nepotes: ‘that he (is) was going to have (illi fore) descendants common with the family of the Drusi’; illi is dative of possessor with fore. A daughter of Sejanus was promised in marriage to Drusus, the son of Claudius, the future emperor. The marriage never occurred, the future groom having died prematurely.) precandam post haec modestiam ut contentus esset. (precandam [esse] post haec modestiam ut contentus esset: ‘that after all these distinctions his sense of measure must be implored to rest content’ praecor is found followed by acc. + infinitive, ut or ne + subjunctive, or subjunctive alone.) neque raro neque apud paucos talia iaciebat, et secreta quoque eius corrupta uxore prodebantur.