XX.
Sub idem tempus G. Caesar, (G. Caesar, discedenti Capreas avo comes: ‘Gaius Caesar, the companion for his grandfather retiring to Capri’; Gaius Caesar, known as Caligula, the son of Germanicus and the successor of Tiberius who had adopted Germanicus, thus was the grandfather of Caligula.) discedenti Capreas avo comes, Claudiam, M. Silani filiam, (Claudiam, M. Silani filiam: Marcus Silanus, a friend of Tiberius, is mentioned in Book 3, ch, 24 and 57 and again in Book 5, V. 10. Claudiam: her actual name was Iunia Claudilla.) coniugio accepit, immanem animum subdola modestia tegens, (immanem animum subdola modestia tegens: ‘masking a hideous nature under deceptive modesty’) non damnatione matris, non exitio fratrum rupta voce; (non damnatione matris, non exitio fratrum rupta voce: abl. abs.: lit. ‘no word having being wrung [from him] by the banishment of the mother, by the ruin of his brother’; damnatione …exitio: simple abl., without a or ab when the agent is a thing, in which case it is more properly called the abl. of efficient cause. ) qualem diem Tiberius induisset, pari habitu, haud multum distantibus verbis. (qualem diem Tiberius induisset, pari habitu, haud multum distantibus verbis: qualem, here with the force of qualemcumque, forms correlative pair with pari (in place of tali) in a comparison: lit. ‘what mental disposition soever Tiberius would have chosen to assume [on any day], he [Caligula] imitated it in its entirety, almost down to the very words.’ pari habitu, haud multum distantibus verbis: best taken as abl. abs.: ‘his demeanor being the same, his language not differing much’; induisset is potential subjunctive. dies is used here to mean one’s state of mind on any particular day.) unde mox scitum Passieni oratoris dictum percrebuit (unde mox scitum Passieni oratoris dictum percrebuit: ‘from this, the clever (scitum) witticism of the orator Passienus soon became famous.’ Passienus Crispus was twice consul and was well known for his oratorical skills. He was the second husband of Agrippina the Younger, Nero’s mother.) neque meliorem umquam servum neque deteriorem dominum fuisse. Non omiserim praesagium Tiberii de Servio Galba (non omiserim praesagium Tiberii de Servio Galba: ‘I should not omit Tiberius’ presentiment concerning Servius Galba.’ The perfect non omiserim is use of potential subjunctive in the first person sing. to express modest, guarded statements with verbs of saying and wishing. See A.G. 447. Servius Galba succeeded Emperor Nero, but lasted only a few months in power. See Book 1 of the Historiae.) tum consule; quem accitum et diversis sermonibus pertemptatum postremo Graecis verbis in hanc sententiam adlocutus ‘et tu, Galba, quandoque degustabis imperium,’ seram ac brevem potentiam significans, scientia Chaldaeorum artis, cuius apiscendae otium apud Rhodum, magistrum Thrasullum habuit, (scientia Chaldaeorum artis, cuius apiscendae otium apud Rhodum, magistrum Thrasullum habuit: ‘… through his knowledge of the Chaldean art, for the acquisition of which he had leisure at Rhodes and Thrasyllus as his instructor’; Chaldeorum artis: i.e. the science of astrology; Chaldea was a region in southern Babylon, NW of the Persian gulf, along the west bank of the Euphrates river; cuius [artis] apiscendae is use of dat. gerundive to denote intention: lit. ‘for the knowledge of which art to be acquired’; apud Rhodum: ‘at Rhodes’, an island off the coast of SW Turkey, where Tiberius had voluntarily retired for seven years, from 6 B.C. to 2 A.D., mainly to escape the scandals caused by his promiscuous wife Julia.) peritiam eius hoc modo expertus.