XCI.
Apud civitatem cuncta interpretantem funesti ominis loco acceptum est quod maximum pontificatum adeptus Vitellius de caerimoniis publicis XV kalendas Augustas (XV kalendas Augustas: rule for finding English dates from Roman kalends: add 2 to the number of days in the previous mont and subtract the given number. Thus: (31 days in July) + 2 – 15 = August 18) edixisset, (funesti ominis loco acceptum est quod … XV kalendas Augustas edixisset: ‘the fact that (quod) he had issued an edict on the 18th of August was taken as an evil omen’; quod is with subjunctive in that the reason given is presumed, not factual. . funesti ominis loco: ‘in the state or condition of being a sinister omen’.) antiquitus infausto die Cremerensi Alliensique cladibus: (antiquitus infausto die Cremerensi Alliensique cladibus: ’from antiquity an inauspicious day owing to the disasters of the Cremera and Allia rivers’. On the river Cremera, a small tributary of the Tiber a few miles north of Rome, the entire Roman clan of the Fabii was wiped out in 477 BC by the Etruscans of the town of Veii. On the river Allia, an even smaller tributary of the Tiber, the Romans were defeated by Gallic invaders in 387 BC and as a result Rome was sacked.) adeo omnis humani divinique iuris expers, pari libertorum amicorum socordia, (pari libertorum amicorum socordia: abl. abs., ‘the obtuseness of freedmen and friends being equal to his’.) velut inter temulentos agebat. sed comitia consulum cum candidatis civiliter celebrans (celebrans: ‘participating in …’) omnem infimae plebis rumorem in theatro ut spectator, in circo ut fautor adfectavit: (omnem infimae plebis rumorem in theatro ut spectator, in circo ut fautor adfectavit: ‘he eagerly caught at the lightest hint of applause from the rabble as spectator in the theater, as supporter [of his team] at the circus’.) quae grata sane et popularia, si a virtutibus proficiscerentur, (quae grata sane et popularia si a virtutibus proficiscerentur: ‘this demeanor would of course be attractive and popular if it started from virtue’; imperfect subjnctive for condition contrary to fact.) memoria vitae prioris indecora et vilia accipiebantur. ventitabat in senatum, etiam cum parvis de rebus patres consulerentur. ac forte Priscus Helvidius praetor designatus contra studium eius censuerat. commotus primo Vitellius, non tamen ultra quam tribunos plebis in auxilium spretae potestatis advocavit; mox mitigantibus amicis, qui altiorem iracundiam eius verebantur, nihil novi accidisse respondit quod duo senatores in re publica dissentirent; (nihil novi accidisse respondit quod duo senatores in re publica dissentirent: ‘he answered that nothing unusual had happened in that two senators disagreed in a matter of state’; quod …dissentirent: quod + subjunctive in indir. discourse) solitum se etiam Thraseae contra dicere. (solitum se etiam Thraseae contra dicere: the verb soleo is semi-deponent , having no perfect stem: ‘that he (se) had been in the habit of contradicting Thrasea’; unlike the corresponding English verb, contra dicere or contradicere is intrans. and takes dative, ‘to speak in contradiction to …’. The reflesive se can only be used as subject of an infinitive clause if it refers to the subject of the main clause.) inrisere plerique impudentiam aemulationis; aliis id ipsum placebat quod neminem ex praepotentibus, sed Thraseam ad exemplar verae gloriae legisset. (aliis id ipsum placebat quod neminem ex praepotentibus, sed Thraseam ad exemplar verae gloriae legisset: ‘others were pleased that he had chosen Thrasea and not some mighty political figure as his model of true glory’. For use of quod + subjunctive see note for funesti ominis loco acceptum est quod … at the head of the chapter. aliis …placebat: dat. with placeo, ‘to others it was pleasing that …’.)