XVIII.
Dein redeunt priores metus postulato maiestatis Considio Proculo; (postulato maiestatis Considio Proculo: abl. abs.: ‘Considius Proculus having been accused of treason’; possibly he same Considius mentioned in Book 5, ch. 8 as the accuser of Pompeius Secundus.) qui nullo pavore diem natalem celebrans raptus in curiam pariterque damnatus interfectusque, et sorori eius Sanciae aqua atque igni interdictum accusante Q. Pomponio. (sorori eius Sanciae aqua atque igni interdictum [est] accusante Q. Pomponio: ‘his sister Sancia was denied the use of fire an water, Quintus Pomponius being the accuser.’ interdictio aqua atque igni or interdictio aquae atque ignis was the legal pronouncement by which one was outlawed and banned from Roman society through exclusion from the necessities of life. Quintus Pomponius would later be consul suffectus in 41 A.D. and afterwards participate in a revolt against emperor Claudius. Cf. Book 13, ch. 43.) is moribus inquies haec et huiusce modi a se factitari praetendebat ut parta apud principem gratia periculis Pomponii Secundi fratris mederetur. (is moribus inquies haec et huiusce modi a se factitari praetendebat ut parta apud principem gratia periculis Pomponii Secundi fratris mederetur: lit. ‘this man, a turbulent character, claimed that these and similar actions were repeated by him in order to alleviate the dangers of his brother Pomponius Secundus, the favor of the prince having been secured.’ moribus inquies: abl. of relation or respect, ‘restless as to his conduct’; cf. A.G. 418. huiusce: the enclitic particle -ce is added sometimes for emphasis to determinative and demonstrative pronouns, often reduces to -c, as in hic, illic, illuc. parta …gratia is abl. abs. Pomponii Secundi: a scholarly man, later consul in 44 A.D. See also Book 5, ch. V. 8.) etiam in Pompeiam Macrinam exilium statuitur cuius maritum Argolicum socerum Laconem Caesar adflixerat. (in Pompeiam Macrinam exilium statuitur cuius maritum Argolicum socerum Laconem e primoribus Achaeorum Caesar adflixerat: ‘banishment was pronounced against Pompeia Macrina, whose husband Argolicus and father-in-law Laco, both from the leading men of Achaia, Tiberius had overthrown.’ Pompeia Macrina was probably the granddaughter of Pompeius Macer, the son of Theophanes (see below), who was appointed chief librarian by Augustus. Achaia, a Roman province, was the northwestern district of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece. statuitur is historical present.) pater quoque inlustris eques Romanus ac frater praetorius, cum damnatio instaret, se ipsi interfecere. (pater … ac frater …, cum damnatio instaret, se ipsi interfecere: ‘her father and brother killed themselves, since their doom was imminent.’ Thus, Macrina’s entire family was utterly destroyed, husband, father-in-law, father, brother, and herself. The reason for such persecution, incredible if taken at face value, is given in the next passage. cum …instaret: causal cum is always with subjunctive.) datum erat crimini quod Theophanen Mytilenaeum proavum eorum Cn. Magnus inter intimos habuisset, quodque defuncto Theophani caelestis honores Graeca adulatio tribuerat. (datum erat crimini quod Theophanen Mytilenaeum proavum eorum Cn. Magnus inter intimos habuisset, quodque defuncto Theophani caelestis honores Graeca adulatio tribuerat: lit. ‘it was given for a crime the fact that Gnaeus the Great, had had among his closest friends their great-grandfather Teophanes of Mytilene and that Greek servility had granted the dead Theophanes divine honors.’ In datum erat crimini, the dat. crimini indicates destination; proavum eorum: i.e. of Macrina and her brother only; Mytilenaeum: native of the island of Lesbos off the western coast of Turkey; Cn. Magnus: Pompey the Great, the arch-adversary of Julius Caesar, naturally considered an enemy by all members of the Julian family, of which Tiberius was part by adoption; defuncto Theophani is abl. abs. quod …habuisset, quod …tribuerat: same construction and tense, but different mood: the reason may be that Tacitus views the first reason as merely presumed by others, hence in virtual oblique discourse (cf. B. 286, G. 541), the second as the real one, therefore as his own. It is possible that Macrina and her relatives had boasted of being the descendants of a god-like ancestor and had run afoul of the treason laws.)