XXII.
Sed mihi haec ac talia audienti (mihi haec ac talia audienti: ‘to me hearing these and similar accounts, …’; an example of a participial phrase doing the work of a circumstantial clause, ‘when I hear of such tales’) in incerto iudicium est fatone res mortalium et necessitate immutabili an forte volvantur. (fatone res mortalium et necessitate immutabili an forte volvantur: alternative questions with ne … an introducing the two parts: ‘are human affairs rolled along by fate and immutable necessity or by mere chance?’ Though fate and necessity are practically synonymous, fate is conceived as some kind of divine agency, necessity as an impersonal force.) quippe sapientissimos veterum quique sectam eorum aemulatur diversos reperies, (quippe sapientissimos veterum quique sectas eorum aemulantur diversos reperies: ‘indeed, you will find (reperies) the wisest men among the ancients and those who follow (quique … aemulantur) their principles differing from one another.’ quique … aemulantur is Tacitean shortcut for et eos qui … aemulantur) ac multis insitam opinionem (multis insitam opinionem [est]: ‘many have the deeply rooted belief that …’; multis is dat. of possessor with implied [est]. The doctrine referred to after this opening is that of Epicurus, holding that the gods take no interest in human affairs, hence that no reward or punishment is to be expected or feared from them.) non initia nostri, non finem, non denique homines dis curae; ideo creberrime tristia in bonos, laeta apud deteriores esse. contra alii fatum quidem congruere rebus putant, (contra alii fatum quidem congruere rebus putant: ‘on the contrary, others believe that fate certainly goes hand in hand with human events, …’; rebus is dat. with congruere, a complementary infinitive after putant.) sed non e vagis stellis, verum apud principia et nexus naturalium causarum; (sed non e vagis stellis, verum apud principia et nexus naturalium causarum: ‘… but not in consequence of (ex) errant stars, rather (verum) [fate resides] in the power (apud) of the primordial workings and the concatenation of natural causes.’ The passage is a concise definition of the stoic doctrine developed by Zeno and his disciples. verum is conjunction, weaker than sed: it concedes what has just been said, but adds a contrasting fact, lit. ‘yes, but … ‘) ac tamen electionem vitae nobis relinquunt, quam ubi elegeris, certum imminentium ordinem. neque mala vel bona quae vulgus putet: (tamen electionem vitae nobis relinquunt, quam ubi elegeris, certum imminentium ordinem. neque mala vel bona quae vulgus putet: lit. ‘yet, [the Stoics] leave us the choice of life, which [they claim], once you will have chosen, a definite chain of unavoidable outcomes [would follow]. Neither good nor evil is what the common people might think.’ ubi elegeris: perfect subjunctive for a ubi clause in indirect discourse after relinquunt; the tense reflects the perfect indicative that would be used if the clause were in direct discourse. The rel. clause with putet also becomes subjunctive in indirect speech; the same applies to qui … videantur below. ) multos qui conflictari adversis videantur beatos, at plerosque quamquam magnas per opes miserrimos, si illi gravem fortunam constanter tolerent, hi prospera inconsulte utantur. (multos qui conflictari adversis videantur beatos, at plerosque quamquam magnas per opes miserrimos, si illi gravem fortunam constanter tolerent, hi prospera inconsulte utantur: still in indirect discourse, as it relates the claims of the Stoics: ‘many, who seem to be persecuted by adversity {are] happy, but a good number of people, though in the comforts of great wealth, are utterly miserable, if those (illi) bear patiently adverse fortune and these (hi) use their opulence unwisely.’ per opes: per + acc. can express continuance, extension in time of a condition. quamquam magnas: the adverbial use of quamquam, in combination with adjectives (‘however great’), is common; but not so with participles. Cf. G. 609, Note 1 and 2. si … tolerent, … utantur: all protases, regardless of type of conditions, must take subjunctive in oratio obliqua.) ceterum (ceterum: here with the adversative force od sed) plurimis mortalium non eximitur quin primo cuiusque ortu ventura destinentur, sed quaedam secus quam dicta sint cadere fallaciis ignara dicentium: (plurimis mortalium non eximitur quin primo cuiusque ortu ventura destinentur, sed quaedam secus quam dicta sint cadere fallaciis ignara dicentium: the main verb eximitur, here used impersonally, is complemented by a quin (‘so that … not’) clause with subjunctive; cf. A.G. 557 and 558: lit. ‘it cannot be removed from the minds of the greater part of mortals that the future (ventura) of each person is determined at his or her first coming into being, but [they think] that some things turn out (cadere) differently (secus) than they were forecast because of the quackeries of those predicting things unknown [to them].’ plurimis: the verb eximo is found with simple abl. or with e or ex + abl. or even (but rarely) with dat. secus quam dicta sint: ‘otherwise than they were predicted to be’: comparative clause with secus quam, here with subjunctive for being in virtual oratio obliqua; secus is adverb. primo … ortu: ‘at birth’) ita corrumpi fidem artis cuius clara documenta et antiqua aetas et nostra tulerit. (ita corrumpi fidem artis cuius clara documenta et antiqua aetas et nostra tulerit: ‘thus the reliability of astrology is undermined, [an art] of which both antiquity and our own age have offered convincing proofs.’ tulerit is again subjunctive for relative clause in virtual indirect discourse. See previous note. et … et: ‘both … and’; note that the verb is singular in Latin, but plural after ‘both’ in English.) quippe a filio eiusdem Thrasulli praedictum Neronis imperium in tempore memorabitur, ne nunc incepto longius abierim. (quippe a filio eiusdem Thrasulli praedictum Neronis imperium in tempore memorabitur, ne nunc incepto longius abierim: ‘inasmuch as Nero’s empire, prophesized by the son of the same Thrasyllus, will be related at the right time, lest now I should stray (lit. ‘I should have strayed’) too far from my subject,’ ne … abierim: neg. purpose clause, ‘to prevent that I digress too much.’)