XLII.
Titum inde Vinium invasere, de quo et ipso ambigitur (de quo et ipso ambigitur: lit. ‘it is also argued about this very man’; et is for etiam.) consumpseritne vocem eius instans metus, an proclamaverit non esse ab Othone mandatum ut occideretur. (consumpseritne vocem eius instans metus, an proclamaverit non esse ab Othone mandatum ut occideretur: double question in indir. speech after ambigitur, with –ne …an introducing the two parts of the question: ‘did the impending threat [of death] suppress his voice or did he cry out that the order he should be killed had not come from Otho?’; consumpseritne and an proclamaverit are perf. subjunctives as required by the sequence of tenses when the main verb is primary (ambigitur, pres. indicative) and the action of the two dependent verbs is anterior to that of the main verb; cf. A.G. 482 – 485, G. 509 – 519; mandatum: the verb mando is found followed by subjunctive with ut or by infinitive. Note that occideretur, which depends on the perf. infinitive esse …mandatum remains imperfect even though the verb of saying (ambigitur) is primary; this is so because occideretur would still be the tense used if mandatum esse were turned into mandatum est, the tense of the indicative which it represents; cf. A.G. 585. a.) quod seu finxit formidine seu conscientiam coniurationis confessus est, (quod seu finxit formidine seu conscientiam coniurationis confessus est: quod links to what Vinius had said about Otho in the preceding sentence: ‘which either he invented out of fear or he was [thereby] revealing knowledge of the conspiracy’.) huc potius eius vita famaque inclinat, ut conscius sceleris fuerit cuius causa erat. (huc potius eius vita famaque inclinat, ut conscius sceleris fuerit cuius causa erat: the ut clause has consecutive sense, ‘his life and repute incline more to this side, to the extent that he was party to the crime of which he was the cause’; fuerit: perf. subjunctive for past event in subordinate clause when the tense of the main verb (here inclinat) is present. For Vinius’ close friendship with Otho see ch. 13; as to Tacitus’ view of Vinius being the cause of Galba’s murder, see ch.6.) ante aedem divi Iulii (ante aedem divi Iulii: the temple to the deified Julius Caesar was at the south end of the Forum, near the Rostra, on the spot where Caesar’s body was burned.) iacuit primo ictu in poplitem, mox ab Iulio Caro legionario milite in utrumque latus transverberatus. (in utrumque latus transverberatus: ‘pierced through on both sides of the body)