XXXI.
C. Cestio M. Servilio consulibus (C. Cestio M. Servilio consulibus: Gaius Cestius is mentioned in Book 3, ch. 36 and in ch. 7 of the present book; Marcus Servilius was a historian of note, probably one of Tacitus’ sources; he will receive mention again in Book 14, ch. 19. The year is now 35 A.D.) nobiles Parthi in urbem venere, ignaro rege Artabano. (ignaro rege Artabano: abl. abs.: ‘king Artabanus being unaware’; Artabanus II was the half-Scythian king of Parthia, first described at some length in Book 2, ch. 3. Tacitus has given frequent attention to Parthian and Arminian affairs, possibly to provide relief from the grim tales of Roman afflictions. These and other diversions occur at fairly regular intervals in his chronicle of Tiberius’ dark reign, as for example the recent parenthesis about the phoenix in ch, 28. For a review of events in the Orient up to this point refer to Book 2, ch. 1 – 4, 56, 58, 64, 68. More may have been recorded in the missing part of Book 5.) is metu Germanici fidus Romanis, aequabilis in suos, mox superbiam in nos, saevitiam in popularis sumpsit, fretus bellis (fretus bellis: ‘made bolder by the wars, …’) quae secunda adversum circumiectas nationes exercuerat, et senectutem Tiberii ut inermem despiciens avidusque Armeniae, cui defuncto rege Artaxia Arsacen liberorum suorum veterrimum imposuit, (avidusque Armeniae, cui defuncto rege Artaxia Arsacen liberorum suorum veterrimum imposuit: lit. ‘covetous of Armenia, to which he imposed Arsaces, the eldest of his sons, king Artaxias having died’; cui is dat. with imposuit; defuncto rege Artaxia: the verb defungor being deponent, its perfect participle is passive in form but with active meaning as in English. Artaxia: the Greek prince Zeno raised by Germanicus to be king on Armenia (in place of Vonones) as Artaxias III. See Book 2, ch. 56.) addita contumelia et missis qui gazam a Vonone relictam in Syria Ciliciaque reposcerent; (missis qui gazam a Vonone relictam in Syria Ciliciaque reposcerent: ‘those who were to recover the royal treasure left by Vonones in Syria and Cilicia having been sent’: abl. abs. (missis) governing a rel. clause of final sense; Vonones, after being deposed as king of Arminia, was kept in custody first in Syria then in Cilicia in southern Tukey (north of the gulf of Antioch, modern Antakya), where he was killed while trying to escape. See Book 2, ch. 68.) simul veteres Persarum ac Macedonum terminos seque invasurum possessa Cyro et post Alexandro per vaniloquentiam ac minas iaciebat. (seque invasurum possessa Cyro et post Alexandro per vaniloquentiam ac minas iaciebat: ‘he threatened boastfully that he would invade the territories possessed by Cyrus and, later, by Alexander [the Great].’ Cyro and Alexandro are datives of agent, normally reserved for the passive periphrasis with the gerundive, but found sometimes in poetry and Tacitus in place of the abl. with a or ab. post is adverb, not prep., ‘afterwards’ per vaniloquentiam ac minas: ‘with big-mouthed threats’, hendiadys. Cyrus the Great was emperor of Persia from 558 to 529. His empire fell to Alexander the Macedon in the fourth century B.C.) sed Parthis mittendi secretos nuntios validissimus auctor fuit Sinnaces, insigni familia ac perinde opibus, (Parthis mittendi secretos nuntios validissimus auctor fuit Sinnaces, insigni familia ac perinde opibus: ‘the principle Parthian (Parthis) advocate of sending secret envoys [to Rome] was Sinnaces, of distinguished birth and wealth of a corresponding degree.’ mittendi …nuntios: genitive gerund, the only case of the gerund, apart from the abl. without preposition, that admits a direct object) et proximus huic Abdus ademptae virilitatis. non despectum id apud barbaros ultroque potentiam habet. (proximus huic Abdus ademptae virilitatis. non despectum id apud barbaros ultroque potentiam habet: lit. ‘next to him Abdus, of removed virility, [a condition] this (id) not demeaning among these barbarians and [which] in addition carries power’; ademptae virilitatis: Tacitus shrinks back from using a homely, utilitarian term like eunuchus, preferring a more poetic periphrasis. For another revealing example, see note for cum utrumque [pugionem] pertemptasset, alterum capiti subdidit in ch. 49 of Book 2 of the Historiae.) ii adscitis et aliis primoribus, quia neminem gentis Arsacidarum summae rei imponere poterant, interfectis ab Artabano plerisque aut nondum adultis, Phraaten regis Phraatis filium Roma poscebant: (Phraaten regis Phraatis filium Roma poscebant: ‘they requested to have back from Rome Phraates, the son of king Phraates.’ Phraates IV had sent several members of his family to Augustus, outwardly as hostages, but really to protect them from his own countrymen (cf. Book 2, ch. 1). Vonones, his eldest son, was one of them, Phraates another. There were also two grandsons sent to Rome, Tiridates and Meherdates; Roma is abl. of provenance, without e or ex with proper names of cities.) nomine tantum et auctore opus [ut] sponte Caesaris ut genus Arsacis ripam apud Euphratis cerneretur. (nomine tantum et auctore opus [ut] sponte Caesaris ut genus Arsacis ripam apud Euphratis cerneretur: ‘required was (opus [erat]) only a name and someone with authority, to the end that, with Caesar’s consent, the seed of Arsaces should be seen on the bank of the Euphrates.’ [ut] …ut: various arguments have been advanced to justify the double ut, still retained by most editors. It is generally agreed that Tacitus, known for his aversion to repetition and love of stylistic variety, would not have used the same conjunction twice so close together and would have either replaced or omitted the first ut, especially since reasonable sense can be had without it. Its presence in the only manuscript of the Annales ever found is likely a copyist’s mistake. Arsacis: Arsaces was the founder of the Parthian empire, circa 250 B.C.)