XIII.
Isdem consulibus gravitate annonae iuxta seditionem ventum (gravitate annonae iuxta seditionem ventum: lit. ‘it was gone almost close to an insurrection because of the crippling effect of high corn prices.’ ventum [est] is impersonal use of the passive of an intransitive verb; iuxta is here prep. with acc.; annona, ‘the supply of corn’, is used here with special reference to price.) multaque et pluris per dies in theatro licentius efflagitata quam solitum adversum imperatorem. quis commotus (quis commotus: quis is an ancient form of quibus: ‘provoked by these [riots], Tiberius …’; as noted for quae Seiano fuisse nemo negaverit in ch. 8, a rel. pronoun placed at the head of a clause is rendered into English with a demonstrative pronoun.) incusavit magistratus patresque quod non publica auctoritate populum coercuissent (quod non publica auctoritate populum coercuissent: ‘because they had not repressed the people using their civil authority’; causal quod + subjunctive in indirect discourse.) addiditque quibus ex provinciis et quanto maiorem quam Augustus rei frumentariae copiam advectaret. (addiditque quibus ex provinciis et quanto maiorem quam Augustus rei frumentariae copiam advectaret: lit. ‘he also mentioned from which provinces and by how much greater the quantity of grain he was importing (advectaret) than Augustus.’ quibus ex provinciis et quanto …advectaret: subjunctive for indirect question introduced by the interrogative quibus and quanto. Cf. A.G. 574. quibus ex provinciis is abl. of source.) ita castigandae plebi compositum senatus consultum prisca severitate (castigandae plebi compositum senatus consultum prisca severitate: ‘an ordinance of the senate of ancient severity was drafted to castigate the people.’ castigandae plebi: use of dat. gerundive to denote purpose; cf. B. 191. 3.; lit. ‘for the people to be castigated’, since the gerundive is a verbal adjective of passive meaning.) neque segnius consules edixere. silentium ipsius non civile, ut crediderat, sed in superbiam accipiebatur. (silentium ipsius non civile … sed in superbiam accipiebatur: ‘the silence of [Tiberius] himself was not seen as a sign of non-interfering tolerance but of scornful disdain.’ in superbiam: in implies tendency, movement towards: ‘in the direction of’, pointing to’, ‘to the side of’, etc. silentium ipsius: since Tiberius is not the subject of the clause and the direct reflexive suum cannot be used, possession is expressed by the genitive ipsius, more emphatic than eius.)