III.
At Iunium Gallionem qui censuerat ut praetoriani actis stipendiis ius apiscerentur in quattuordecim ordinibus sedendi violenter increpuit, (at Iunium Gallionem qui censuerat ut praetoriani actis stipendiis ius apiscerentur in quattuordecim ordinibus sedendi violenter increpuit: at in this case both connects and contrasts with adversative sense what was last said in the previous chapter: ‘yet, he angrily upbraided Junius Gallio, who had proposed that the praetorian guards, their years of service being completed, should acquire the right of sitting in the fourteen rows of seats [reserved in the theater for the equestrian order].’ Junius Gallio, an orator of some fame in his time, did not meet with Tacitus’ approval, who thought him too bombastic. Cf. tinnitus Gallionis in ch. 26 of Dialogus de Oratoribus. stipendiis: the salary deceived by a soldier for one year of service is called stipendium, so stipendii is synonymous with years of military service. The verb censeo is found complemented by ut or ne clause or by acc. + infinite. ius …sedendi: objective gen. gerund after a noun: it complements (defines, limits) the noun, just as a direct object does a verb. Ernout calls it ‘the genitive of the thing concerned’.) velut coram rogitans (velut coram rogitans: ‘as though rebuking [him] in person’) quid illi cum militibus (quid illi cum militibus: idiomatic question (here indirect), expressing annoyance, impatience: lit. ‘what to him with the soldiers?’, or, to paraphrase, ‘what concern of his were the soldiers?’; illi is dativus commodi, dative of interest or reference. See A.G. 379.) quos neque dicta imperatoris neque praemia nisi ab imperatore accipere par esset. (quos neque dicta imperatoris neque praemia nisi ab imperatore accipere par esset: still in indirect discourse: ‘whom (quos = ‘the soldiers’) it behooved (par esset) not to receive commands or rewards except from the emperor’; par esset: subjunctive for rel. clause in oratio obliqua, ‘it were not fit’; nisi is used here without verb after a negative phrase, with the sense of ‘save only’, ‘but’, ‘except’.) repperisse prorsus quod divus Augustus non providerit: an potius discordiam et seditionem a satellite quaesitam, qua rudis animos nomine honoris ad corrumpendum militiae morem propelleret? (repperisse prorsus quod divus Augustus non providerit: an potius discordiam et seditionem a satellite quaesitam, qua rudis animos nomine honoris ad corrumpendum militiae morem propelleret?: disjunctive indirect question with only an introducing the second part, a regular usage with Tacitus: ‘had he no doubt discovered what the divine Augustus had not made provisions for or had rather discord and sedition been sought by a satellite [of Sejanus] wherewith (qua) to drive coarse minds, under pretext of a distinction, to undermine the morale of the troops?’; repperisse …quaesitam [esse]: infinitives in rhetorical indirect questions; cf. B. 315, 2. quod …non providerit: the perfect providerit is in place of the plup. providisset, required after increpuit, a historical main verb of saying. Writers often prefer the perfect as a way to bring the action closer to the reader. Cf. repraesentatio in A.G. 585, b. and Note. qua …propelleret: rel. clause in oratio obliqua, like the foregoing, only here the tense conforms to the consecutio temporum or Sequence of Tenses; ad corrumpendum …morem: gerundive (not gerund) acc. with ad to denote purpose. When a direct object is present, use of the active acc. gerund is avoided and the passive gerundive is used instead. So, literally, ‘for corrupting discipline’ becomes ‘for discipline to be corrupted’. prorsus is sarcastic.) hoc pretium Gallio meditatae adulationis tulit, statim curia, deinde Italia exactus; et quia incusabatur facile toleraturus exilium delecta Lesbo, insula nobili et amoena, retrahitur in urbem custoditurque domibus magistratuum. (quia incusabatur facile toleraturus exilium delecta Lesbo, … custoditurque domibus magistratuum: lit. ‘because he was accused that he would easily tolerate his banishment in delightful Lesbos, he was placed under custody in the houses of magistrates.’ incusabatur facile toleraturus [esse] exilium: in place of incusabatur ipsum facile toleraturum esse exilium: a personal construction on a Greek model whereby the predicate toleraturus is attracted into the case of the subject of incusabatur, instead of that of implied esse. This Graecism is found in poetry but rarely in prose. Cf G. 527, N. 2.; delecta Lesbos: abl. of place where, without in for small islands; Lesbos, famous for its many charms, is an island off the coast of northwestern Turkey; custoditur domibus magistratuum: one of the kinds of custody left to the discretion of the consuls was to keep the convicted men under guard either in their house or in the house of a praetor. Nothing further is known of Gallio’s fate.) isdem litteris Caesar Sextium Paconianum praetorium perculit magno patrum gaudio, audacem maleficum, omnium secreta rimantem delectumque ab Seiano cuius ope dolus G. Caesari pararetur. (Sextium Paconianum praetorium perculit … omnium secreta rimantem delectumque ab Seiano cuius ope dolus G. Caesari pararetur: ‘he assailed the ex-praetor Sextius Paconianus, a man prying into the secrets of all and sundry and chosen by Sejanus [as the person] with whose help (cuius ope) the trap for Gaius Caesar would be prepared.’ There is no mention anywhere else in the Annals of this plot against Caligula, thus, the scheme was probably revealed to the senate in Tiberius’ letter. cuius pararetur: relative clause of final sense, hence the subjunctive.) quod postquam patefactum prorupere concepta pridem odia (quod postquam patefactum prorupere concepta pridem odia: ‘which [plot], after being exposed, caused the long pent-up resentments to burst forth’; prorumpo can have the transitive force assigned to it here; concepta, from concipio, a verb open to many interpretations, is most probably with the sense of ‘held in’, ‘contained’, ‘amassed’.) et summum supplicium decernebatur ni professus indicium foret. (summum supplicium decernebatur ni professus indicium foret: ‘a death sentence was inevitable, if he had not offered to give evidence.’ Paconianus died a few years later, in 36 A.D., killed by strangulation while in prison. See ch. 39 ahead. supplicium decernebatur ni professus indicium foret: the condition of the protasis is impliedly false (i.e. contrary to fact), since Sextius did offer to turn informer, so use of plup. subjunctive for unreal condition in the past is justified. The imperfect indicative in the apodosis indicates that the outcome was near realisation, but was stayed by the action of the protasis. Cf. G. 597, R. 2.)