IX.
Constantia orationis et quia repertus erat qui efferret quae omnes animo agitabant eo usque potuere ut accusatores eius, additis quae ante deliquerant, (additis quae ante deliquerant: abl. abs. with dependent relative clause: ‘those crimes (quae) they had committed earlier having been added’; the relative quae placed at the head of a clause is rendered by a demonstrative pronoun in English.) exilio aut morte multarentur. (constantia orationis et quia repertus erat qui efferret quae omnes animo agitabant eo usque potuere ut accusatores eius … exilio aut morte multarentur: lit. ‘the courage of the speech and because a man had been found who would voice out what all tossed about in their minds were so powerful that his accusers were punished with exile or death.’ constantia et quia …: the highly unusual case of a causal clause being used as one of the subjects; in English only nouns and pronouns can be subjects, thus, in translation the quia clause must be replaced by a noun phrase, such as ‘the fact (or ‘the circumstance’ or ‘the point’) that …’; constantia here means ‘courage’, ‘fortitude’. eo usque potuere ut …multarentur: ‘they had such power that [the accusers] were condemned …’: the sentence is consecutive, thus with subjunctive. eo usque, ‘to such a degree’, occurs also in Book 1, ch. 32 and Book 4, ch. 18. qui efferret: subjunctive in relative clause of characteristic or of tendency, ‘a man of such kind that he would …’; see G. 631.) Secutae dehinc Tiberii litterae in Sex. Vistilium praetorium, quem Druso fratri percarum in cohortem suam transtulerat. (secutae dehinc Tiberii litterae in Sex. Vistilium praetorium, quem Druso fratri percarum in cohortem suam transtulerat: ‘soon after a letter of Tiberius followed against the praetorian Sextus Vestilius, very dear to his brother Drusus, and whom he had transferred to his personal circle.’ cohors had been used in this sense in Book 1, ch. 29.) causa offensionis Vistilio fuit, seu composuerat quaedam in Gaium Caesarem ut impudicum, sive ficto habita fides. (seu composuerat quaedam in Gaium Caesarem ut impudicum, sive ficto habita fides: ‘either he had composed certain unspecified things against Gaius Caear (Caligula) as a sexual pervert, or credence was given to a falsehood.’ ficto is dat. of fictum used as a noun; seu …sive: the conjunctions seu and sive are found in disjunctive conditions ( ‘if either …or if’), but occur also with alternative words or clauses; cf. A.G. 324, f. The pair seu …sive is less usual than sive …sive or seu … seu.) atque ob id convictu principis prohibitus cum senili manu ferrum temptavisset, obligat venas; precatusque per codicillos, immiti rescripto venas resolvit. (ob id convictu principis prohibitus cum senili manu ferrum temptavisset, obligat venas; precatusque per codicillos, immiti rescripto venas resolvit: ‘banned from the table of the prince for this reason (ob id), after he had tried the knife with his failing hand, he bandaged the veins and, having begged for pardon in a letter and the answer being inexorable, he opened them again.’ cum …temptavisset: cum historicum followed by imperfect or plup. subjunctive, confined to narratives and therefore also known as narrative cum; it gives the circumstance that occasions the action of the main verb. obligat and resolvit are historical presents, as is also postulantur below; immiti rescripto is abl. abs., lit. ‘the reply being merciless’; precatus is deponent, thus the meaning is active, ‘having begged’; codicilli are writing tablets, hence metonymy for a letter.) acervatim ex eo Annius Pollio, Appius Silanus Scauro Mamerco simul ac Sabino Calvisio maiestatis postulantur, et Vinicianus Pollioni patri adiciebatur, (acervatim ex eo Annius Pollio, Appius Silanus Scauro Mamerco simul ac Sabino Calvisio maiestatis postulantur, et Vinicianus Pollioni patri adiciebatur: ‘after him (ex eo) [five men] were accused in a body (acervatim) of treason, Annius Pollio, Appius Silanus, together with Scaurus Mamercus and Sabinus Calvisius; Vinicianus was also added to his father Pollio.’ Annius Pollio was consul-elect for a part of the year 20 A.D. with Rubellius Blandus, who is mentioned in Book 3, ch. 23. Appius Silanus was consul in 28 A.D., as noted in Book 4, ch. 68. Mamercus Scaurus, probably consul for part of 21 A.D., is mentioned at some length in Book 1, ch. 13; his suicide is recorded in ch. 29 ahead. Sabinus Calvisius was consul in 26 A.D.; see Book 4, ch. 26. Vinicianus, the son of Annius Pollio, later joined the rebellion against Nero; see Book 12, ch. 52. Both simul and simul ac (the latter better known as a temporal conjunction) can be prepositions with abl., the same as simul cum.) clari genus et quidam summis honoribus. contremuerantque patres (nam quotus quisque adfinitatis aut amicitiae tot inlustrium virorum expers erat?), ((nam quotus quisque adfinitatis aut amicitiae tot inlustrium virorum expers erat?): ‘for how few of them were without ties of marriage or friendship [with] so many famous men?’ quotus quisque …erat: lit., ‘in what proportion to the total was each of them?’ The question is purely rhetorical, as is often the case with quotus. tot inlustrium virorum: partitive sense, ‘so many of famous men’; tot is indeclinable adjective, so is attached to the previous amicitiae and adfinitatis without changing form, regardless of case. See L. 431.) ni Celsus urbanae cohortis tribunus, tum inter indices, Appium et Calvisium discrimini exemisset. (contremuerantque patres, … ni Celsus … Appium et Calvisium discrimini exemisset: ‘the senators had begun to tremble, had not Celsus rescued Appius and Calvisius from peril.’ ni …exemisset: it seems that in Tacitus ni, for nisi, is confined to contrary to fact protases, hence the plup. subjunctive for condition in past time; the plup. indicative in the apodosis indicates certainty about the outcome had it been not interrupted by the action of the protasis. See G. 254, Remark 3. Verbs with -sco suffix like contremesco indicate action as it develops (verba inchoativa). See also libertis quoque ac ianitoribus eius notescere … in previous chapter.) Caesar Pollionis ac Viniciani Scaurique causam ut ipse cum senatu nosceret distulit, (Pollionis ac Viniciani Scaurique causam ut ipse cum senatu nosceret distulit: lit. ‘he postponed the trials of Pollio, Vinicianus, and Scauro with the aim that he should conduct the examination in person with the senate.’ ipse places emphasis on the person referred to. cum senatu is abl. of accompaniment.) datis quibusdam in Scaurum tristibus notis. (datis quibusdam in Scaurum tristibus notis: abl. abs.: ‘certain dark reflections having been added against Scaurus’; the indefinite quibusdam (from quidam, here adjective) refers to things one mentions without desire to specify. The pronoun quaedam, also with unspecific sense, is used above in seu composuerat quaedam …)