XXIV.
Quin et invectus in defunctum (quin et invectus in defunctum: ‘indeed, he even hounded him after death.’ quin is emphatic adverb corroborating what precedes, ‘nay, he even …’ invectus [est]: the meaning of the passive of inveho is ‘to attack with words’) probra corporis, exitiabilem in suos, infensum rei publicae animum obiecit recitarique factorum dictorumque eius descripta per dies iussit, quo non aliud atrocius visum: (recitarique factorum dictorumque eius descripta per dies iussit, quo non aliud atrocius visum: lit. ‘and gave orders that written records (descripta, plur. of descriptum used as a noun) of his actions and words be read out [in the senate], no other thing seemed (visum [est]) more dreadful than this (quo).’ quo is abl. of comparison; cf. A.G. 406. factorum dictorumque: gen. plur. of the neuter facta and dicta, used as nouns) adstitisse tot per annos, qui vultum, gemitus, occultum etiam murmur exciperent, et potuisse avum audire, legeret, in publicum promere vix fides, (adstitisse [aliquem] tot per annos, qui vultum, gemitus, occultum etiam murmur exciperent, et potuisse avum audire, legere, in publicum promere vix fides, …: ‘lit. ‘belief (fides) [is hardly (vix) possible] that anyone had stood by him for so many years, who would register his [every] expression, his [every] sigh, even his [every] half-whispered murmur, and that his grandfather had had the heart (potuisse) to hear, to read, and to divulge [them] in public.’) nisi quod Attii centurionis et Didymi liberti epistulae servorum nomina praeferebant, ut quis egredientem cubiculo Drusum pulsaverat, exterruerat. (nisi quod Attii centurionis et Didymi liberti epistulae servorum nomina praeferebant, ut quis egredientem cubiculo Drusum pulsaverat, exterruerat: ‘ … were it not [for the fact] that the written accounts (epistulae) of the centurion Attius and of the ex-slave Didymus bore out the names of the slaves, whenever any of them (ut quis) had pushed back and threatened Drusus trying to leave his chamber’; quod in the locution nisi quod is restrictive, in that it both completes and limits the meaning of the earlier vix fides; ut has in this case temporal sense: it indicates repeated or habitual action; quis is for aliquis after ut.) etiam sua verba centurio saevitiae plena, tamquam egregium, vocesque deficientis adiecerat, (etiam sua verba centurio saevitiae plena, tamquam egregium, vocesque deficientis adiecerat …: ‘the centurion, as if it were a laudable thing, had even added his own language full of cruelty, together with the words of the dying man.’ tamquam egregium: the adverbial use of subordinating conjunctions like quamquam, quamvis, quasi, etsi, etc. is more common with adjective than with participles. See G. 609, Note 2 and use of quasi in next extract.) quis primo [alienationem mentis simulans] quasi per dementiam funesta Tiberio, mox, ubi exspes vitae fuit, meditatas compositasque diras imprecabatur, (quis primo [alienationem mentis simulans] quasi per dementiam funesta Tiberio, mox, ubi exspes vitae fuit, meditatas compositasque diras imprecabatur: ‘ … [the words] with which (quis = quibus), first, [pretending insanity], he uttered curses (funesta) against Tiberius, as if possessed by frenzy, then, when deprived of all hopes of life, [he called down on him] meditated and solemn maledictions …’ [alienationem mentis simulans]: some editors place these words in brackets believing that this is another gloss left by a reader in the manuscript text. See note for mandendo e cubili tomento, in previous chapter. quasi per dementiam: in Tacitus quasi and similar conjunctions, like tamquam, velut, ut often give an apparent reason (G. 666, Note); per + acc. can also express cause. Tiberio … diras [voces] imprecabatur, [ut]: ‘invoked maledictions from heaven on him, [so that he …]’; the dep. imprecor can mean both ‘to utter curses’ and ‘to call on the gods for…’: in Latin it is used once to express both meaning, but English requires two verbs to do the same. Note also that imprecor is followed by a completive ut clause, commented on next. Tiberio is dative with imprecatur; exspes vitae: ‘left without hope of life’) ut, quem ad modum nurum filiumque fratris et nepotes domumque omnem caedibus complevisset, ita poenas nomini generique maiorum et posteris exolveret. (ut, quem ad modum nurum filiumque fratris et nepotes domumque omnem caedibus complevisset, ita poenas nomini generique maiorum et posteris exolveret: ‘ … in order that, just as (quemadmodum) he had [eliminated] his daughter-in-law, his brother’s son, and his grandchildren and had filled his house with murders], in the same way (ita) he might meet the retribution owed to his name, lineage, and descendants’; the purpose clause ut … exolveret contains a comparative sentence introduced by the correlative pair quem ad modum … ita, the whole in oratio obliqua after imprecabatur. The ita or main clause of the comparative sentence is at the same time the purpose clause with ut, hence with subjunctive and not infinitive as the case would be if the sentence stood alone. nurum, filium, nepotes, and domum are all direct objects of complevisset by zeugma, since compleo is appropriate only for domum. nurum is Agrippina, Germanicus’ wife; filium fratris is Gemanicus the son of Drusus, Tiberius’ brother; nepotes are the sons of Germanicus, Nero and Drusus, the one victim of starvation in exile, the other about to die, also of starvation, in the imperial palace.) obturbabant quidem patres specie detestandi: (obturbabant quidem patres specie detestandi: ‘not surprisingly (quidem), the senators protested loudly, under the pretense of indignation.’ specie detestandi: objective gen. gerund after a noun, ‘by a feigned show of being shocked’, not by Tiberius’ inhumane treatment of his grandson, but by Drusus’ curses against Tiberius.) sed penetrabat pavor et admiratio, callidum olim et tegendis sceleribus obscurum huc confidentiae venisse ut tamquam dimotis parietibus ostenderet nepotem sub verbere centurionis, inter servorum ictus extrema vitae alimenta frustra orantem. (penetrabat pavor et admiratio, callidum olim et tegendis sceleribus obscurum huc confidentiae venisse ut tamquam dimotis parietibus ostenderet nepotem sub verbere centurionis, inter servorum ictus extrema vitae alimenta frustra orantem: ‘alarm and amazement filled [the assembly], that a man once wily and secretive in hiding his crimes had arrived at such level of impudence as almost to remove the walls [of the prison] and show his grandson under the cudgel of the centurion, among the maltreatment of slaves, imploring in vain the last sustenance of life.’ tegendis sceleribus obscurum: the gerundive is invariably passive in meaning and always implies either necessity or obligation or both, ‘secretive in his crimes to be hidden’; huc confidentiae … ut … ostenderet: confidentiae is partitive genitive after an adverb of place, like eo, huc , ubi; huc also forms correlative pair with ut to introduce a consecutive clause with subjunctive. tamquam dimotis parietibus: example of tamquam qualifying the perfect participle of an abl. abs., lit. ‘as if the walls having been removed’)