V.
Exim Cotta Messalinus, saevissimae cuiusque sententiae auctor eoque inveterata invidia, (Cotta Messalinus, saevissimae cuiusque sententiae auctor eoque inveterata invidia: ‘Cotta Messalinus, the proponent of the most barbaric measures and on that account the target of inveterate hate, …’; inveterata invidia: possibly abl. abs., lit. ‘hatred having been preserved for long’, from the verb invetero. saevissimae cuiusque sententiae: gen. of saevissima quisque sententia, ‘all the most cruel proposals’; for the idiomatic use of quisque with superlative see A.G. 313, b. For Cotta Messalinus see Book 2, ch. 32, Book 4, ch. 20, and Book 5, ch. 3.) ubi primum facultas data (ubi primum facultas data [est]: temporal ubi with perfect indicative to signify immediate precedence with respect to the time of the main clause: ‘as soon as the opportunity was given, …’) arguitur pleraque C. Caesarem quasi incestae virilitatis, et cum die natali Augustae inter sacerdotes epularetur, novendialem eam cenam dixisse; (arguitur pleraque C. Caesarem quasi incertae virilitatis [esse], et cum die natali Augustae inter sacerdotes epularetur, novendialem eam cenam [esse] dixisse: the sense of arguo in this case is ‘to accuse of speaking falsely’. Some translators take pleraque as being a Tacitean variant of the adverb plerumque, ‘repeatedly’, and interpret as follows: ‘he was accused of often saying that Gaius Caesar (Caligula) was, in a manner of speaking (quasi), of uncertain virility, and when he attended a banquet of the priests on the Augusta’s birthday, of having said that the supper was a funeral feast.’ Others, perhaps more insightfully, see pleraque as acc. of the object after a passive or middle voice verb, a Graecism introduced into Latin by Virgil and Sallust and occasionally found in Tacitus (see quae cuncta below; also G. 338 and A.G. 397, c.). Accordingly, they translate thus: ‘he was indicted of multiple crimes, [namely] of saying that …’; novemdialis is said of a banquet that takes place on the ninth day of offerings for the dead. arguitur is historical present; quasi is used in this context to excuse or mitigate the risqué incertae virilitatis, ‘so to speak’, ‘as it were’; some editions have incestae in place of incertae; the original text has something meaningless like inchstae; cum …epularetur: use of historical cum + subjunctive; cf. G. 585.) querensque de potentia M’. Lepidi ac L. Arruntii, cum quibus ob rem pecuniariam disceptabat, addidisse: ‘illos quidem senatus, me autem tuebitur Tiberiolus meus.’ (querensque de potentia M’. Lepidi ac L. Arruntii, cum quibus ob rem pecuniariam disceptabat, addidisse: ‘illos quidem senatus, me autem tuebitur Tiberiolus meus.’: this passage also is governed by arguitur: lit. ‘…and that, when he complained about the excessive influence of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and of Lucius Arruntius, with whom he had conflicts on grounds of monetary nature, he had added, “the senate will of course protect them (illos), my darling little Tiberius me’; querens: Latin participles often take the place of relative or circumstantial clause; querens here is substitute for temporal clause. Another example is instantibus below. M. Lepidus was mentioned in Book 1, ch. 13, Book 3, ch. 11, 22, 50, Book 4, ch. 20. 56. His name will come up again in ch. 27 of this book. For L. Arruntius see Book 1, ch. 13, 76, and ch. 27 and 47ff of present book.) quae cuncta a primoribus civitatis revincebatur iisque instantibus ad imperatorem provocavit. (quae cuncta a primoribus civitatis revincebatur iisque instantibus ad imperatorem provocavit: quae cuncta is an acc. of the object after the passive revincebatur, in imitation of a Greek construction, as mentioned in relation to pleraque above. Ernout (p. 29) says that quae cuncta is not a direct object, but an acc. inserted after a passive verb or a verb of middle voice and one that classical writers would replace with an ablative. The translation is: ‘he was proven guilty on all these counts by the leading men in Rome and, when they stood by their assertions, he appealed to the emperor.’ The relative quae, placed at the beginning of a sentence or clause to underline the link with an antecedent but not having a proper relative function, has the demonstrative value of et ea, ‘and these things …’(Rescigno). iisque instantibus: abl. abs. of temporal or causal sense: lit. ‘these men standing their ground [in the face of his denials]’) nec multo post litterae adferuntur quibus in modum defensionis, repetito inter se atque Cottam amicitiae principio crebrisque eius officiis commemoratis, (repetito inter se atque Cottam amicitiae principio crebrisque eius officiis commemoratis: two ablatives abs. back to back: lit. ‘the origin of the friendship between him and Cotta having been recalled and his numerous services having been called to mind, …’) ne verba prave detorta neu convivalium fabularum simplicitas in crimen duceretur postulavit. (ne verba prave detorta neu convivalium fabularum simplicitas in crimen duceretur postulavit: ‘he requested that words perniciously misinterpreted or the relaxed mood of table conversation should not be turned into a crime.’ Although Cotta was admired and praised by poets like Ovid and Juvenal and was the friend of both Augustus and Tiberius, Tacitus heartily disliked him for toadying to despots. Tiberius is shown here speaking with reason and humanity, but Tacitus’ intent is not to celebrate this momentary decency, but to demonstrate that even here the decency is self-serving, being expended in protecting an unquestioning and overzealous supporter of his regime. ne …duceretur postulavit: the verb postulo is found complemented by infinitive, or by acc. + infinitive, or by a ut or ne or even quin clause + subjunctive.)