XXVII.
Tot luctibus funesta civitate pars maeroris fuit quod Iulia Drusi filia, quondam Neronis uxor, denupsit in domum Rubellii Blandi, cuius avum Tiburtem equitem Romanum plerique meminerant. (tot luctibus funesta civitate pars maeroris fuit quod Iulia Drusi filia, quondam Neronis uxor, denupsit in domum Rubellii Blandi, cuius avum Tiburtem equitem Romanum plerique meminerant: ‘among so many occasions for mourning in the gloomy city, part of the sadness was the fact that Julia the daughter of Drusus, formerly the wife of Nero (cf. Book 3, ch.29), married away from the paternal home into the family of Rubellius Blandus, whose grandfather most people had remembered as [being] a Roman knight from Tibur.’ Here, Drusus is the son of Tiberius and Nero the eldest son of Agrippina and Germanicus, both dead at this point, the one poisoned by his wife Livilla in 23 A.D. the other starved to death in exile in 30 A.D. Tibur, a municipal town, is modern Tivoli, east of Rome on the river Anio. Placing Julia’s marriage to a knight among the horrors of the reign of terror in Tiberius’ later years, is striking proof, if more evidence were needed, of Tacitus’ rigidly aristocratic mindset. For all his vast and profound understanding of the world and of history, as a republican patrician, he takes as self evident that the best form of government is one with the senate at the head. He never questions the Roman class divisions, even less slavery, and sharply condemns any change to the existing order, such as the introduction of the imperial system, or the blurring of the classes by upward or downward crossing of social lines.) extremo anni mors Aelii Lamiae funere censorio celebrata, qui administrandae Syriae imagine tandem exolutus urbi praefuerat. (mors Aelii Lamiae funere censorio celebrata, qui administrandae Syriae imagine tandem exolutus urbi praefuerat: ‘the death of Aelius Lamia, who, finally freed (exolutus) from the vain pretense (imagine) of the governorship of Syria, had taken charge of the city, was honored with a censorial funeral.’ For funere censorio see note for censorium funus in Book 4, ch. 15. For Aelius Lamia cf. note in Book 4, ch. 13. He was apparently made governor of Syria in 20 A.D. to replace Gnaeus Sentius (cf. Book 2, ch. 74), but then was held in Rome by Tiberius, while Syria was governed by Pacuvius, Sentius’ legate (cf. Book 2, ch. 79). At the death of Lucius Piso in 32 A.D. (cf. ch. 9), he replaced him as praefectus urbis, and Syria was assigned to Pomponius Flaccus. administrandae Syriae imagine: lit. ‘from the fiction of Syria to be governed’) genus illi decorum, vivida senectus; et non permissa provincia dignationem addiderat. (illi … et non permissa provincia dignationem addiderat: lit. ‘even (et) the interdicted province had added renown to him (illi).’ illi is anaphoric for eo to add emphasis.) exim Flacco Pomponio Syriae pro praetore defuncto (exim Flacco Pomponio Syriae pro praetore defuncto … ‘: abl. abs. replacing a temporal clause: ‘next (exim or exin or exinde), the ex-praetor [governor] of Syria having died, … ‘) recitantur Caesaris litterae, quis incusabat egregium quemque et regendis exercitibus idoneum abnuere id munus (recitantur Caesaris litterae, quis incusabat egregium quemque et regendis exercitibus idoneum abnuere id munus: ‘a letter of Caesar was read [in the senate] in which (quis for quibus) he charged that all the men of distinction qualified to command armies refused this honor.’ litterae: always plur. in Latin, in that any piece of writing is composed of letters of the alphabet. egregium quemque: idiomatic use of quisque, ‘every outstanding man’, with adjectives of superlative form or meaning; cf. G.318.) seque ea necessitudine ad preces cogi per quas consularium aliqui capessere provincias adigerentur, (seque ea necessitudine ad preces cogi per quas consularium aliqui capessere provincias adigerentur: ‘and that he was forced by necessity to entreaties by means of which any of the consular men might be persuaded to accept a province.’ per quas … adigerentur: subjunctive for relative clause in oratio obliqua after recitantur, a historical present.) oblitus Arruntium ne in Hispaniam pergeret decimum iam annum attineri. (oblitus Arruntium ne in Hispaniam pergeret decimum iam annum attineri: ‘having forgotten that Arruntius was being held back [in Rome] for almost ten years to keep him from reaching Spain, [his province]’; for Tiberius’ uneven policy about assigning provinces to men he might or might not quite trust away from Rome, see Book 1, ch. 80. The reason for Tiberius’ distrust of Lucius Arruntius is suggested in Book 1, ch. 13. decimum iam annum: ‘soon for ten years’, acc. of time duration; decimum is only approximate: after the murder of Lucius Pisus in 25 A.D. (see Book 4, ch. 45), Arruntius may have been assigned Hispania Tarraconensis to replace him. ne … pergeret: negative purpose clause complementing attineri, ‘that he might not reach … .) obiit eodem anno et M’. Lepidus (obiit eodem anno et M’. Lepidus: for Marcus Lepidus, see especially Book 1, ch. 13 and Book 4, ch. 20.) de cuius moderatione atque sapientia in prioribus libris satis conlocavi. neque nobilitas diutius demonstranda est: quippe Aemilium genus fecundum bonorum civium, (neque nobilitas diutius demonstranda est: quippe Aemilium genus fecundum bonorum civium: ‘nether is his noble descent to be proven more extensively, since the Aemilian gens [is] rich of good citizens.’ fecundum bonorum civium: objective genitive after an adjective expressive of quantity or plenty.) et qui eadem familia corruptis moribus, inlustri tamen fortuna egere. (et qui eadem familia corruptis moribus, inlustri tamen fortuna egere: ‘ … and those of corrupt conduct from the same family, who yet lived their lives with great distinction.’ eadem familia: abl. of origin without e or ex with names indicating family, family members, or social condition; egere is for egerunt. The reference here may be to Marcus Aemilianus Lepidus, membe of the second triumvirate with Marc Antony and Octavian (later Augustus), not necessarily a good man in the eyes of republican Tacitus.)