II.
At Romae principio anni, quasi recens cognitis Liviae flagitiis ac non pridem etiam punitis, (quasi recens cognitis Liviae flagitiis ac non pridem etiam punitis: abl. abs.: lit. ‘as if Livia’s crimes having been [only] recently discovered and also not punished long before, …’; Livia is Livilla, the daughter of Drusus, Tiberius’ brother, and of Antonia Minor. An accomplice of Sejanus in the death of her husband Drusus (Tiberius’ son), she died (probably starved to death by her mother) in 31 A.D. The exposure of her crime and her death were in all probability recounted in the lost part of Book 5. See notes at the end of ch. 5 in Book 5. quasi …cognitis …punities: the use of quasi in an abl. abs. (i.e., as if the participial phrase were a conditional clause with a finite verb) occurs only in Tacitus; cf. G. 602, N. 4 and 666, N.) atroces sententiae dicebantur in effigies quoque ac memoriam eius et bona Seiani ablata aerario ut in fiscum cogerentur, tamquam referret. (bona Seiani ablata aerario ut in fiscum cogerentur, tamquam referret: ‘Sejanus’ assets [were] removed from the public treasury in order to be added to the imperial exchequer, as if that was of any importance’; that is, as if a despotic ruler did not have control of the aerarium just as he did of everything else. tamquam referret: the verb refero, like most personal verbs, can be used impersonally in the third person singular; refert means ‘it matters’, ‘it is important’. The imperfect subjunctive referret, here used absolutely, is required in clauses with quamquam and other conditional conjunctions of comparison after a historical main verb, unlike clauses with si or nisi, which do not necessarily follow the regular sequence of tenses. See B. 307.) Scipiones haec et Silani et Cassii isdem ferme aut paulum immutatis verbis adseveratione multa censebant, (haec … isdem ferme aut paulum immutatis verbis adseveratione multa censebant: ‘these proposals they defended with great firmness in almost the same or barely changed words.’ adseveratione multa: abl. of manner and anastrophe) cum repente Togonius Gallus, dum ignobilitatem suam magnis nominibus inserit, per deridiculum auditur. (cum repente Togonius Gallus … per deridiculum auditur: another example of inverse cum with indicative; see note for cum auditum id Poppaeo Sabino … in Book 5, ch. V. 10: ‘when of a sudden Togonius Gallus was heard with ridicule’; auditur is historical present; per deridiculum: per + acc. replaces the abl. of manner, ‘with scoffing’; other instances are per iocum, per speciem, per fraudem, per vim, etc.) nam principem orabat deligere senatores ex quis viginti sorte ducti et ferro accincti, quoties curiam inisset, salutem eius defenderent. (ex quis viginti …quoties curiam inisset, salutem eius defenderent: in oratio obliqua after orabat: ‘out of which twenty would ensure his safety every time he would have entered the curia’; ex quis viginti … defenderent: rel. clause of final sense; quoties (or quotiens) is here relative, not interrogative, adverb; inisset: lacking the conditional mood, Latin relies on plup. subjunctive to express, in indirect speech, future action in the past (Ernout p. 428). It corresponds to future anterior of direct speech.) crediderat nimirum epistulae subsidio sibi alterum ex consulibus poscentis ut tutus a Capreis urbem peteret. (crediderat nimirum epistulae subsidio sibi alterum ex consulibus poscentis ut tutus a Capreis urbem petered: lit. ‘without doubt he had believed a message of him asking (poscentis) one of the consuls for protection in order to safely reach Rome from Capri.’ epistulae subsidio sibi: triple dative, respectively with credere, of destination, and of interest; tutus: Latin adjectives often have adverbial force in that they describe more the action of the verb than the noun they qualify. Cf. A.G. 290.) Tiberius tamen, ludibria seriis permiscere solitus, egit grates benevolentiae patrum: sed quos omitti posse, quos deligi? semperne eosdem an subinde alios? (semperne eosdem an subinde alios?: this and the next question are disjunctive, with the second part only preceded by an interrogative particle, a regular usage in Tacitus; both are without verb and direct objects of implied omitttere and deligere in preceding line: ‘[was he to choose or pass over] always the same persons or now and then different ones?’) et honoribus perfunctos an iuvenes, (honoribus perfunctos an iuvenes: ‘men having discharged public office or young senators’; perfungor is a compound of fungor, one of the five verbs that take instrumental abl., the others being fruor, vescor, utor, and potior.) privatos an e magistratibus? quam deinde speciem fore sumentium in limine curiae gladios? (quam deinde speciem fore sumentium in limine curiae gladios?: ‘then what figure would be [that] of men assuming their swords on the threshold of the senate house?’; quam …speciem fore: acc. + infinitive in place of subjunctive for rhetorical indirect question; cf. A.G. 586, L 2313.) neque sibi vitam tanti si armis tegenda foret. (neque sibi vitam tanti si armis tegenda foret: tanti is gen. of price (cf. G. 379.): ‘that his life [was] not worth that much to him if it was to be protected using arms’; tegenda foret: subjunctive for conditional clause in oratio obliqua after egit grates; tegenda is use of gerundive to express necessity.) haec adversus Togonium (haec adversus Togonium: ‘these things [he wrote] with regard to Togonius’; the prep. adversus does not necessarily express opposition.) verbis moderans neque ultra abolitionem sententiae suaderet. (neque [ut] ultra abolitionem sententiae suaderet: ‘not to recommend more than the rejection of the motion’; ultra is hereprep., not adverb; [ut] is added in some editions, omitted in others.)