LXIII.
Sed Vitellius adventu fratris (fratris: Lucius Vitellius: cf. ch. 54 and Book 1, ch. 88.) et inrepentibus dominationis magistris (inrepentibus dominationis magistris: abl. of cause, as is adventu, ‘owing to the teachers of absolute power insinuating themselves into favor’.) superbior et atrocior occidi Dolabellam (Dolabellam: cf. Book 1, ch. 88.) iussit, quem in coloniam Aquinatem (coloniam Aquinatem: modern Aquino, 12 km. or 8 miles WNW of Cassino in southern Latium, halfway between Rome and Naples.) sepositum ab Othone rettulimus. (rettulimus: cf. Book 1, ch. 88.) Dolabella audita morte Othonis urbem introierat: id ei Plancius Varus praetura functus, (praetura functus: lit. ‘having discharged the office of praetor’, i.e. an ex praetor; the deponent functus has active sense; praetura is abl. with fungor.) ex intimis Dolabellae amicis, apud Flavium Sabinum praefectum urbis obiecit, (id ei … obiecit: ‘he lay this to his charge’.) tamquam rupta custodia ducem se victis partibus ostentasset; (tamquam rupta custodia ducem se victis partibus ostentasset: in Tacitus tamquam (‘as if’) has almost the force of quod, to give an assumed reason; cf. G. 602, R 4: ‘in that he had held himself out as a leader to the defeated party after breaking custody’. rupta custodia is abl. abs., ‘custody having been broken’.) addidit temptatam cohortem quae Ostiae ageret; (quae Ostiae ageret: subjunctive in indir. speech governed by addidit; for Ostia cf. Book 1, ch. 80. Ostiae is locative.) nec ullis tantorum criminum probationibus (nec ullis tantorum criminum probationibus: abl. abs.: ‘there being no evidence whatsoever of misdeeds’) in paenitentiam versus seram veniam post scelus quaerebat. cunctantem super tanta re Flavium Sabinum Triaria L. Vitellii uxor, ultra feminam ferox, terruit ne periculo principis famam clementiae adfectaret. (cunctantem super tanta re Flavium Sabinum … terruit ne periculo principis famam clementiae adfectaret: ‘she browbeat Flavius Sabinus, [who was] agonizing over this so serious a matter, not to pursue fame for clemency at the emperor’s risk’. The prep. super is here with abl. rather than acc. For Flavius Sabinus see ch. 36, 51, and Book 1, ch. 77.) Sabinus suopte ingenio (suopte ingenio: the enclitic –pte after suo adds emphasis, ‘by his own nature’) mitis, ubi formido incessisset, (ubi formido incessisset: ‘whenever fear had overtaken him’; ubi may be found with subjunctive, especially in Tacitus, when its sense is iterative.) facilis mutatu (facilis mutatu: mutatu is abl. supine, a verbal noun used after certain adjectives, ‘easy in the changing’, i.e.’prone to change his mind’.) et in alieno discrimine sibi (sibi: ethical dative) pavens, ne adlevasse videretur, impulit ruentem. (impulit ruentem: ‘pushed a falling man’, ‘helped him fall faster’)