XV.
Ser. Galba L. Sulla consulibus (Ser. Galba L. Sulla consulibus: the consuls for 33 A.D., Servius Galba, the future successor of emperor Nero, and Lucius Sulla, perhaps a descendant of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, 138-78 B.C.) diu quaesito quos neptibus suis maritos destinaret (diu quaesito quos neptibus suis maritos destinaret: abl. abs. with dependent indirect question with interrogative quos: lit. ‘it being long debated [within himself] which husbands he should destine for his granddaughters.’ quaesito is one of the participles ending in -to (auspicato, pugnato, consulto, dato, intestato, cognito, demonsstrato, and the like) used alone impersonally, a survival of an ancient usage (Ernout). Tiberius’ granddaughters by adoption were Drusilla, aged 16, and Julia, aged 15, two of Germanicus’ daughters.) Caesar, postquam instabat virginum aetas, L. Cassium, M. Vinicium legit. (postquam instabat virginum aetas, L. Cassium, M. Vinicium legit: ‘seeing that the age of the maidens demanded a decision, he chose Lucius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Vinicius.’ Both had been consuls for 30 A.D. Cassius was later put to death by Caligula in 41 A.D. and Vinicius was poisoned by Messalina (the wife od emperor Claudius) in 46 A.D. postquam can be seen as having the somewhat causal sense of ‘now that’ or ‘since’, in the way quando and quoniam have, which in origin were temporal conjunctions and later assumed causal meaning. See G. 564.) Vinicio oppidanum genus: Calibus ortus, patre atque avo consularibus, cetera equestri familia (patre atque avo consularibus, cetera equestri familia: abl. abs.: ‘[Vinicius’] father and grandfather having been consuls, the rest of the family being of equestrian rank’; patre atque avo cosularibus: the father, Publius Vinicius, was consul in 2 A.D., the grandfather, Marcus Vinicius, in 19 B.C. cetera: originally an acc. of relation, later adverb, ‘as to the rest [of the family]’) erat, (Vinicio oppidanum genus: Calibus ortus … erat: Vinicio is dat. of possessor with erat, ‘Vinicius had municipal origins, born at Cales’. Cales is an ancient town in Campania, Italy; today it is within the municipality of Calvi Risorta, 40 km. (25 miles) NNW of Naples.) mitis ingenio et comptae facundiae. (mitis ingenio et comptae facundiae: Tacitus varies constructions whenever he can: here personal traits are expressed first by an abl. of relation then by a gen. of quality: ‘mild as to temperament and of polished speech’) Cassius plebeii Romae generis, verum antiqui honoratique, (Cassius plebeii Romae generis, verum antiqui honoratique: ‘Cassius [was] of plebeian descent, truly ancient and honorable, at Rome.’ verum is adverb.) et severa patris disciplina eductus facilitate saepius quam industria commendabatur. huic Drusillam, Vinicio Iuliam Germanico genitas coniungit superque ea re senatui scribit levi cum honore iuvenum. (super ea re senatui scribit levi cum honore iuvenum: ‘he wrote about the matter to the senate, with mild praise of the young men.’ super ea re: as prep., super takes abl. when motion is absent; levi cum honore: abl. of manner with cum placed between the adjective and the noun) dein admodum vagis flexit ad graviora et offensiones ob rem publicam coeptas, (dein redditis absentiae causis admodum vagis flexit ad graviora et offensiones ob rem publicam coeptas: ‘then, very (admodum) vague reasons for his absence having been added, he turned to more important matters and to the ill will incurred on account of the state.’ redditis absentiae causis: abl. abs.) utque Macro praefectus tribunorumque et centurionum pauci secum introirent quoties curiam ingrederetur petivit. (utque Macro praefectus tribunorumque et centurionum pauci secum introirent quoties curiam ingrederetur petivit: ‘he asked that Macro, the prefect [of the praetorian guard] and few of the officers and centurions, should accompany him each time he entered the curia.’ ut … introirent … petivit: verbs of asking, pleading, commanding, etc. are usually complemented by a ut or ne clause, though the infinitive construction is anything but rare. quoties …ingredieretur: subjunctive of repetition after quoties, here relative, not interrogative, adverb. See note for quoties …ingrueret in ch. 10. Macro: Naevius Sertorius Macro, the man replacing Sejanus. His name appears here for the first time in the surviving Annals.) factoque large et sine praescriptione generis aut numeri senatus consulto (factoque large et sine praescriptione generis aut numeri senatus consulto: abl. abs.: ‘a comprehensive decree of the senate being passed, but without recommendations of the composition and number [of the escort]’; et: the copulative conjunction may be found where English would use the adversative ‘but’ instead. See L. 1655.) ne tecta quidem urbis, adeo publicum consilium numquam adiit, (ne tecta quidem urbis, adeo publicum consilium numquam adiit: ‘he did not even get close to the roofs of Rome, still less [he was ever near] the national council.’ adeo: adverb, here with the sense of ‘so true is it that he never …’) deviis plerumque itineribus ambiens patriam et declinans. (deviis plerumque itineribus ambiens patriam et declinans: ‘often circling his native city by obscure byways and withdrawing.’)