XIII.
Potentia principatus divisa in Titum Vinium consulem Cornelium Laconem praetorii praefectum; nec minor gratia Icelo Galbae liberto, quem anulis donatum equestri nomine Marcianum vocitabant. (quem anulis donatum equestri nomine Marcianum vocitabant: lit. ‘whom, being presented with rings, they called Marcianus by his equestrian name’; the subject of vocitabant is an impersonal ‘they’. Roman knights had the right to wear gold rings, the sign of their order; hence the ius anulorum was the rank of a knight.) hi discordes et rebus minoribus sibi quisque tendentes, (sibi quisque tendentes: ‘each directing his course for himself’; sibi is dat. of reference.) circa consilium eligendi successoris in duas factiones scindebantur. Vinius pro M. Othone, Laco atque Icelus consensu (consensu: ‘by mutual assent’) non tam unum aliquem fovebant quam alium. neque erat Galbae ignota Othonis ac Titi Vinii amicitia; et rumoribus nihil silentio transmittentium, quia Vinio vidua filia, caelebs Otho, gener ac socer destinabantur. (rumoribus nihil silentio transmittentium … gener ac socer destinabantur: ‘they were marked out as son-in-law and father-in-law by the gossip of those who let nothing pass in silence’) credo et rei publicae curam subisse, frustra a Nerone translatae (rei publicae …translatae: translatae agrees with and modifies rei publicae.) si apud Othonem relinqueretur. namque Otho pueritiam incuriose, adulescentiam petulanter egerat, (pueritiam incuriose, adulescentiam petulanter egerat: ‘had spent his boyhood carelessly, his youth recklessly.) gratus Neroni (gratus Neroni) : ‘attractive to Nero for …’) aemulatione luxus. eoque Poppaeam Sabinam, principale scortum, ut apud conscium libidinum deposuerat, (Poppaeam Sabinam … ut apud conscium libidinum deposuerat: ‘had left [with him], as with the sharer of his debaucheries, Poppaea Sabina.’) donec Octaviam uxorem amoliretur. (donec …amoliretur: donec + subjunctive to denote anticipation; cf. below donec bellum fuit for use of donec + indicative with actual time limit; cf. B.293, III.) mox suspectum in eadem Poppaea in provinciam Lusitaniam (Lusitaniam: today’s Portugal) specie legationis (specie legationis: ‘in the guise of a legation’; legatio is the office of a legatus, here the governor of an imperial province.) seposuit. Otho comiter administrata provincia primus in partis transgressus nec segnis (nec segnis: the adj. has adverbial force, ‘not at all idly’.) et, donec bellum fuit, (donec bellum fuit: an example of donec, with the sense of ‘until’, followed by indicative when the time limit is factual) inter praesentis splendidissimus, spem adoptionis statim conceptam acrius in dies rapiebat, faventibus plerisque (faventibus plerisque: abl. abs., like prona … aula next) militum, prona in eum aula Neronis ut similem. (prona in eum aula Neronis ut similem: ‘Nero’s courtiers being favorable to him because similar [to their former emperor]’)