XXI.
Quotiens super tali negotio consultaret, (quotiens super tali negotio consultaret: ‘as often as he would seek guidance on matters of this kind’; consultaret is subjunctive of repetition in relative clause with quotiens; cf. G. 567, Note; super tali negotio: the prep. supra takes abl. in place of acc., when the meaning is ‘on the subject of’.) edita domus parte ac liberti unius conscientia utebatur. (liberti unius conscientia utebatur: ‘he used the trusted collaboration of a single former slave.’ conscientia is abl. with utor.) is litterarum ignarus, corpore valido, per avia ac derupta (nam saxis domus imminet) praeibat eum cuius artem experiri Tiberius statuisset (praeibat eum cuius artem experiri Tiberius statuisset: ‘he would precede [while walking] the man of whom (cuius) Tiberius might have decided to test the competence.’ statuisset is potential subjunctive.) et regredientem, si vanitatis aut fraudum suspicio incesserat, in subiectum mare praecipitabat ne index arcani existeret. (regredientem, si vanitatis aut fraudum suspicio incesserat, in subiectum mare praecipitabat ne index arcani existeret: lit. ‘if suspicion of trickery or fraud had occurred, the servant would hurl him, as he walked back (regredientem) into the subjacent sea, that no witness of the secret practice might be left alive.’ si … incesserat: the condition is logical (type I), postulated as true, thus protasis with indicative. regredientem: example of a participle standing in for a circumstantial clause, ‘as he returned’, ‘while he walked away’; ne … existeret: negative purpose clause, ‘to eliminate the existence of any witness’) igitur Thrasullus isdem rupibus inductus postquam percontantem commoverat, imperium ipsi et futura sollerter patefaciens, (Thrasullus isdem rupibus inductus postquam percontantem commoverat, imperium ipsi et futura sollerter patefaciens: ‘Thrasyllus, brought [to Tiberius] by the same rocky path, after he had impressed the inquiring [prince], expertly revealing the empire and future events to the same, … ‘; postquam … commoverat: the use of the plup. indicative after postquam indicates that the interval between the action of the dependent clause and that of the main clause is significantly longer than if the perfect were used (Rescigno). ipsi necessarily refers to Tiberius, the rule for complex sentences (i.e. having main and dependent clauses) being that the indirect reflexive ipsi must refer to the subject of the main clause and the direct reflexive sibi, if present, should be reserved for the subject of the dependent clause (Rescigno).) interrogatur an suam quoque genitalem horam comperisset, quem tum annum, qualem diem haberet. (interrogatur an suam quoque genitalem horam comperisset, quem tum annum, qualem diem haberet: ‘… he was asked if he had also ascertained his own horoscope (suam genitalem horam), what year, what sort of day he would at that moment (tum) have.’ an … comperisset, quem …, qualem …haberet: the particle an and the interrogative quem and qualem introduce indirect questions with subjunctive; an, usually reserved for disjunctive questions, may be found in later writers with simple indirect questions, especially in Tacitus. interrogatur is hist. present as are exclamat, gratatur, and tenet below.) ille positus siderum ac spatia dimensus haerere primo, dein pavescere, et quantum introspiceret magis ac magis trepidus admirationis et metus, (ille positus siderum ac spatia dimensus haerere primo, dein pavescere, et quantum introspiceret magis ac magis trepidus admirationis et metus: ‘Thrasyllus (ille, emphatic), having measured (dimensus) the positions of the stars and their distances, first remained perplexed, then showed fear, and the further (quantum) he looked into his calculations, the more and more disconcerted [he was] by dismay and terror.’ haerere and pavescere are hist. infinitives; quantm introspiceret ac magis ac magis trepidus admirationis et metus: comparative sentence with verb left understood in the main clause; for introspiceret in the dependent clause see note for quantum at the end of ch. 19; trepidus admirationis et metus: objective genitives with trepidus are found also in Virgil and Livy, a poetic construction, e.g., trepidus rerum; dimensus: the verb dimetior being deponent, the perfect participle has active meaning, as in English.) postremo exclamat ambiguum sibi ac prope ultimum discrimen instare. (postremo exclamat ambiguum sibi ac prope ultimum discrimen instare: ‘in the end, he exclaimed that an obscure and nearly fatal danger hung over him.’ sibi is dat. with instare.) tum complexus eum Tiberius praescium periculorum [esse] et incolumem fore gratatur, (Tiberius praescium periculorum [esse] et incolumem fore gratatur: ‘Tiberius rejoiced with him that he saw [his danger] in advance and that he would not suffer harm.’ fore or futurum esse: future infinitive, a form of the infinitive lacking in many (or most) modern languages.) quaeque dixerat oracli vice accipiens inter intimos amicorum tenet. (quaeque dixerat oracli vice accipiens inter intimos amicorum tenet: ‘accepting every prediction he made as oracles, he kept him among his intimate friends.’ dixerat: the pluperfect indicative is often found replacing the perfect (Ernout); vice + gen.: lit. ‘in the place of’)