XXIX.
At Romae caede continua Pomponius Labeo, quem praefuisse Moesiae rettuli, (at Romae caede continua Pomponius Labeo, quem praefuisse Moesiae rettuli: ‘in Rome, meanwhile, the bloody purges continued: Pomponius Labeo, who I have mentioned had been in control of Moesia, …’; for Labeo see Book 4, ch. 47ff; at signals a return to the main subject. caede continua is abl. abs., lit. ‘the bloodshed being continuous’; Moesiae is dat. with praesum.) per abruptas venas sanguinem effudit; aemulataque est coniunx Paxaea. nam promptas eius modi mortes metus carnificis faciebat, et quia damnati publicatis bonis sepultura prohibebantur, (promptas eius modi mortes metus carnificis faciebat, et quia damnati publicatis bonis sepultura prohibebantur: ‘fear of the executioner was making deaths of this kind frequent, also because (et quia) those convicted were denied burial, their property being confiscated.’ sepultura is abl. with prohibeo, i.e. ‘from being buried’; publicatis bonis is abl. abs.) eorum qui de se statuebant humabantur corpora, manebant testamenta, pretium festinandi. (eorum qui de se statuebant humabantur corpora, manebant testamenta, pretium festinandi: ‘the bodies of those who did away with themselves received burial, their testaments remained valid, the reward of speeding up the process.’ qui de se statuebant: lit. ‘those who disposed about themselves’; pretium festinandi: bitter sarcasm, ‘the reward for hurrying up one’s death’; festinandi is objective genitive gerund after a noun.) sed Caesar missis ad senatum litteris disseruit morem fuisse maioribus, quoties dirimerent amicitias, interdicere domo eumque finem gratiae ponere: (quoties dirimerent amicitias, interdicere domo eumque finem gratiae ponere: ‘… that whenever they would break off their friendships, they refused [the unwelcome persons] admission to their house and considered that as the termination of their goodwill’; domo is abl. of separation with interdicere, ‘to exclude from’; an example often encountered is igni et aqua interdicere alicui (cf. ch. 30); quoties dirimerent: subjunctive for temporal clause with quoties in oratio obliqua introduced by disseruit and continuing down to expertem fuisse.) id se repetivisse in Labeone, atque illum, quia male administratae provinciae aliorumque criminum urgebatur, culpam invidia velavisse, (id se repetivisse in Labeone, atque illum … culpam invidia velavisse: ‘ … that he (se) had resorted to this usage in Labeo’s case, but Labeo had concealed his guilt by imputing his death to the cruelty of the prince’; invidia: the word has a more extended sense in Latin than in English; beside ‘envy’ and ‘jealousy’, it can also mean, as in this case, ‘the willful stirring up of hatred by one’s actions against an opponent’. See Oxf. Lat. Diction. atque can have the adversative sense of a weak sed; illum is emphatic, ‘that man’) frustra conterrita uxore, quam etsi nocentem periculi tamen expertem fuisse. (frustra conterrita uxore, quam etsi nocentem periculi tamen expertem fuisse: abl. abs. combined with clause with relative quam: ‘… his wife having been terrified for no reason, who, though doing wrong, had yet been safe from prosecution’; etsi nocentem: quasi-adverbial use of a subordinating conjunction, a construction rarely seen with a participle in classical Latin, less rare with adjectives. quam … fuisse: acc. subject and infinitive for a relative clause in oratio obliqua, in place of the expected subjunctive, the reason being that quae (the subject in direct speech) is here more a connecting than a subordinating relative pronoun, acting as a substitute for a conjunction and a demonstrative pronoun, et eam …fuisse. See A.G. 583, b. and 308, f. periculi expertem: expers is regularly followed by genitive) Mamercus dein Scaurus rursum postulatur, insignis nobilitate et orandis causis, vita probrosus. (Mamercus dein Scaurus rursum postulatur, insignis nobilitate et orandis causis, vita probrosus: ‘then Mamercus Scaurus, distinguished by his nobility and forensic skills [but] of scandalous life, was again brought to court.’ For Scaurus see ch. 9 of the current book and Book 1, ch. 13 insignis nobilitate et orandis causis: ablatives of specification or respect after insignis: lit. ‘highly regarded in relation to his nobility and to legal cases needing pleading’) nihil hunc amicitia Seiani, sed labefecit haud minus validum ad exitia Macronis odium, qui easdem artes occultius exercebat detuleratque argumentum tragoediae a Scauro scriptae, additis versibus qui in Tiberium flecterentur: (nihil hunc amicitia Seiani, sed labefecit haud minus validum ad exitia Macronis odium, qui easdem artes occultius exercebat detuleratque argumentum tragoediae a Scauro scriptae, additis versibus qui in Tiberium flecterentur: ’Sejanus’ friendship did not [harm] him at all (nihil [labefecit]), but the hatred of Macro destroyed him, a man not less nefarious for his evil schemes, who employed the same methods more stealthily [than Sejanus]; he had advanced as a charge (detulerat) the plot of a tragedy written by Scaurus and had included the lines that might be construed as critical of Tiberius.’ Macro, as noted earlier, was Sejanus’ successor; additis versibus qui in Tiberium flecterentur: abl. abs with dependent rel. clause: lit. ‘the verses being adjoined which, [Macro claimed] were indirectly aimed against Tiberius’; the rel. clause is oblique, hence with subjunctive, in that it reports indirectly the words of Macro (virtual oratio obliqua).) verum ab Servilio et Cornelio accusatoribus adulterium Liviae, magorum sacra obiectabantur. (verum ab Servilio et Cornelio accusatoribus adulterium Liviae, magorum sacra obiectabantur: ‘in actual fact, the adultery of Livia [with him] and the black arts of magicians were flung [at Scaurus] by the informers Servilius and Cornelius.’ Livia or Livilla was the wife of Drusus, Tiberius’ son, and the sister of Germanicus and of the future emperor Claudius. Servilius and Cornelius are otherwise unknown, probably men of low birth, since Tacitus uses only the family names. magorum sacra: mentioned once before in Book 2, ch. 27.) Scaurus, ut dignum veteribus Aemiliis, damnationem antiit, (Scaurus, ut dignum veteribus Aemiliis, damnationem antiit: ‘Scaurus, the worthy scion of the ancient Aemilii, stayed ahead of the guilty verdict.’ dignus is preferably with abl.; use of the genitive is limited to poetry and informal writing.) hortante Sextia uxore, quae incitamentum mortis et particeps fuit.