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In omni domo nudi ac sordidi, in hos artus, in haec corpora, quae miramur, excrescunt. Sua quemque mater uberibus alit, (sua quemque mater uberibus alit: idiomatic use of suus in combination with quisque: lit. ‘its mother suckles at the breast each of her children’ i.e. ‘every mother suckles her own offspring’; note (a) that suus does not take the same case as quisque, (b) that suus has the heightened sense of ‘one’s [very] own’. Cf. L. 2397, G. 318, 3, and B. 244, 4.) nec ancillis ac nutricibus delegantur. Dominum ac servum nullis educationis deliciis (educationis deliciis: abl. of instrument: ‘by the advantages of good breeding’) dignoscas: inter eadem pecora, in eadem humo degunt; donec aetas separet ingenuos, virtus agnoscat. (donec aetas separet ingenuos, virtus agnoscat: donec is found more often with present subjunctive when the main verb (here degunt) is present indicative (cf. L. 2007): ‘until the years may reveal the freeborn and virtue claim him for her own’.) Sera juvenum Venus; (sera juvenum Venus: ‘the sexual life of German youths is belated’.) eoque inexhausta pubertas: nec virgines festinantur; eadem juventa, similis proceritas: pares validaeque miscentur; (pares validaeque miscentur: ‘they unite [with their husbands], equal in strength and in fine fit’) ac robora parentum liberi referunt. (robora parentum liberi referunt: ‘their children replicate the sturdiness of the parents’. ) Sororum filiis idem apud avunculum, qui ad patrem honor. (sororum filiis idem apud avunculum, qui ad patrem honor: lit. ‘in the maternal uncle [there is] the same concern for his sisters’ sons, which (qui) is in the father’. Tacitus uses apud and ad + acc. interchangeably. ) Quidam (quidam: lit. ‘certain people’, but here with the sense of ‘certain tribes’) sanctiorem arctioremque hunc nexum sanguinis arbitrantur, et in accipiendis obsidibus magis exigunt; tanquam et in animum firmius, et domum latius teneant. (in accipiendis obsidibus magis exigunt; tanquam et in animum firmius, et domum latius teneant: the subject is quidam: ‘they insist [on this blood tie] more forcefully in receiving hostages, since [therewith] they keep both a firmer hold on loyalty and wider power over the house’. The prominence of the the mather’s brother (avunculus =’little grandfather’) has been explained as a residue of primitive matriarchal social systems, where wives were polyandrous and blood relations could only be determined reliably through the mather. It was the task of the matriarch’s eldest brother to sort out conflicting claims. In Tacitus tamquam has often causal sense and requires subjunctive for assumed reason (cf. G. 602, Note 4 and L. 1909). in accipiendis obsidibus: abl. of passive gerundive construction with in, in place of the active gerund in accipiendo obsides) Heredes tamen successoresque sui cuique liberi: (heredes … sui cuique liberi [sunt]: sui goes with liberi and cuique is dat. of possessor with implied sunt; ‘each man has his own sons as heirs’; cf. sua quemque mater uberibus alit above.) et nullum testamentum. Si liberi non sunt, proximus gradus in possessione fratres, patrui, avunculi. (patrui, avunculi: respectively ‘paternal uncles’ and ‘maternal uncles’) Quanto plus propinquorum, quo major affinium numerus, tanto gratiosior senectus, (quanto plus propinquorum, quo major affinium numerus, tanto gratiosior senectus: the correlatives quanto …tanto introduce respectively the dependent clause and the main clause of a comparative sentence. The correlative of quo is normally eo rather than tanto, in fact in many text quo in the excerpt is replaced by a second quanto.) nec ulla orbitatis pretia. (nec ulla orbitatis pretia: ‘no advantages in childlessness’ Another chapter that suggests contrast to Roman customs at almost every step. As to the closing remark, for instance, affluent Romans found childlessness quite desirable. Apart from relieving them of the burden of raising a family, their childless state earned them much popularity and influence and turned them into centers of social life. Swarms of fortune hunters would be drawn to them like flies to honey, ready to cater servilely to the rich men’s whims and fancies in the hope of securing legacies. Writers like Juvenal, Martial, and Pliny often made both the hunters and the hunted the target of censure and ridicule.)