XLVIII.
Talia locutus, ut cuique aetas aut dignitas, comiter appellatos, irent propere neu remanendo iram victoris asperarent, (neu remanendo iram victoris asperarent: neu, like ne, introduces a negative purpose clause; remanendo is use of abl. gerund, ‘by lingering’) iuvenes auctoritate, senes precibus movebat, (irent propere …movebat: moveo is normally followed by complementary close with ut + subjunctive; here with subjunctive alone, ‘he kept urging them to leave in a hurry’.) placidus ore, intrepidus verbis, (placidus ore, intrepidus verbis: ore and verbis are ablatives of respect.) intempestivas suorum lacrimas coercens. dari navis ac vehicula abeuntibus iubet; libellos epistulasque studio erga se aut in Vitellium contumeliis insignis (insignis: agrees with libellos epistulasque, ‘conspicuous’, ‘revealing too much’, ‘damning’) abolet; pecunias distribuit parce nec ut periturus. (parce nec ut periturus: ‘sparingly, not like someone about to die’) mox Salvium Cocceianum, fratris filium, prima iuventa, trepidum et maerentem ultro solatus est, (ultro solatus est: ‘he even consoled …’. At this point the narrative resumes use of historical tenses, after three verbs with present indicative, iubet, abolet, and distribuit.) laudando pietatem eius, castigando formidinem: an Vitellium tam inmitis animi fore ut pro incolumi tota domo ne hanc quidem sibi gratiam redderet? (an Vitellium tam inmitis animi fore ut pro incolumi tota domo ne hanc quidem sibi gratiam redderet?: the particle an, when introducing a simple question, invites a negative answer, thus making the question rhetorical: lit. ‘did he really believe that Vitellius was going to be of such merciless nature as not even to return to him (Otho) this favor in exchange for his unharmed entire family?’ pro incolumi tota domo: Vitellius’ family in Rome was not molested while Otho was emperor. sibi: refers to the speaker, i. e. Otho. hanc gratiam: namely the sparing of his nephew’s life. an Vitellium tam …fore ut ..ne …redderet: the sentence is clearly of consecutive sense, with ut ne (final) exceptionally replacing ut non (consecutive); the main clause, here in the form of a rhetorical question, is infinitive in indir. speech (cf. A.G. 586), the dependent clause subjunctive after ut ne ; tam inmitis animi is gen. of quality.) mereri se festinato exitu clementiam victoris; non enim ultima desperatione sed poscente proelium exercitu remisisse rei publicae novissimum casum. satis sibi nominis, satis posteris suis nobilitatis quaesitum. post Iulios Claudios Servios (Iulios Claudios Servios: to the Julian – Claudian dynasty belonged all emperors from Augustus to Nero; Galba belonged to the Servian gens.) se primum in familiam novam imperium intulisse: (mereri se … se …intulisse: the reflexive se, which refers to the person speaking, is acc. subject of the infinitive verb in indir. discourse.) proinde erecto animo capesseret vitam, neu patruum sibi (sibi: ethical dative) Othonem fuisse aut oblivisceretur umquam aut nimium meminisset. (capesseret vitam, neu … aut oblivisceretur …aut …meminisset: imperatives, whether positive or negative, become subjunctives in indir. discourse; cf. A.G. 588. In direct speech the three commands, the first positive, the second and the third negative, would be: capesse, noli oblivisci and noli meminisse. For other ways to express prohibitions, cf. A.G. 450. neu (neve) …aut: the correlative pair of conjunctions introduces prohibitions after a positive commands with the sense of ‘and do not …nor …’. Cf. A.G. 450. N. 5. Otho’s advice to his nephew, if really given, proved prophetic, as Cocceianus was executed on Domitian’s orders for celebrating Otho’s birthday. The verb memini lacks present tenses; the pluperfect meminisset has force of imperfect like oblivisceretur.)