LXXII.
Id facinus post conditam urbem luctuosissimum foedissimumque rei publicae populi Romani accidit, nullo externo hoste, propitiis, si per mores nostros liceret, (si per mores nostros liceret: potential or ideal condition: ‘if it were permitted given our customs’) deis, sedem Iovis Optimi Maximi auspicato a maioribus pignus imperii conditam, quam non Porsenna dedita urbe neque Galli capta temerare potuissent, furore principum excindi. (accidit, nullo externo hoste, propitiis … deis, sedem Iovis Optimi Maximi auspicato a maioribus pignus imperii conditam, quam non Porsenna dedita urbe neque Galli capta temerare potuissent, furore principum excindi: a literal translation would approximately run as follows: ‘it came to pass that, with no foreign enemy at our doors, with the gods in our favor, the seat of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, founded by our ancestors, after taking the auspices, as the symbol of empire, which neither Porsenna when the city surrendered nor the Gauls when it was captured had had the power to profane, was destroyed by the madness of our emperors.’ The impersonal accidit, normally found with ut + subjunctive, is here followed by an infinitive clause with subject accusative: accidit …sedem Iovis … excindi. The rel. clause quam non … potuissent is with subjunctive in that it depends on the infinitive clause previously mentioned (Modal Attraction). Cf. G. 629. Of the five ablatives abs. in the passage, nullo externo hoste, propitiis … deis, dedita urbe, capta [urbe] , and auspicato, the last is noteworthy in that auspicato (lit. ‘having been approved by augury’), became in time an adverb, ‘after taking the auspices’. Porsenna: Etruscan king who tried to restore Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh king of Rome, to the throne when the city surrendered in 507 B.C. Galli: the Gauls, led by Brennus, took Rome in 390 B.C.) arserat et ante Capitolium civili bello, (arserat et ante Capitolium civili bello: the postponed et has here the sense of enim or etenim: ‘the Capitol had burned down before in a civil war.’ civili bello refers to the war between Marius and Sulla in 83 B.C.)sed fraude privata: nunc palam obsessum, palam incensum, quibus armorum causis? quo tantae cladis pretio stetit? pro patria bellavimus? (quibus armorum causis? quo tantae cladis pretio stetit? pro patria bellavimus?: there is agreement among students of Tacitus that the Latin text at this point may be corrupt and fixes heve been proposed, none convincing. The sense, however, is clear, regardless of form: ‘what were the reasons of these armed struggles? What advantage was to be had from so much destruction? Did we fight for the good of the country? quo …pretio stetit: lit. ‘what price did it stand at?’; the verb stare is with abl. or gen.) voverat Tarquinius Priscus (Tarquinius Priscus: the fifth king of Rome, who defeated the Sabines, a rival people settled NE of Rome, above the river Anio, in 585 B.C.) rex bello Sabino, ieceratque fundamenta spe magis futurae magnitudinis quam quo modicae adhuc populi Romani res sufficerent. (ieceratque fundamenta spe magis futurae magnitudinis quam quo modicae adhuc populi Romani res sufficerent: ‘he had laid the foundations more on the expectation of future greatness than in order that the still modest resources of the Roman people might suffice [to bear the burden].’ quo …res sufficerent: quo + subjunctive expresses purpose.) mox Servius Tullius sociorum studio, dein Tarquinius Superbus capta Suessa Pometia hostium spoliis extruxere. (Servius Tullius … Tarquinius Superbus … Suessa Pometia: Servius Tullius, the son of Tarquinius Priscus and sixth king of Rome; Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome, who captured Suessa Pometia, a town that later disappeared from history and whose exact location remains unknown; it was a town of the Volsci, a bellicose people living in southern Latium in the area around Terracina and often at war with Rome.) sed gloria operis libertati reservata: pulsis regibus Horatius Pulvillus iterum consul dedicavit ea magnificentia quam immensae postea populi Romani opes ornarent potius quam augerent. (Horatius Pulvillus iterum consul dedicavit ea magnificentia quam immensae postea populi Romani opes ornarent potius quam augerent: consecutive sentence introduced by the correlatives ea …quam, ‘such ..that’: ‘Horatius Pulvillus dedicated the temple [in 507 B.C.], during his second consulate, with such lavishness that later the immense wealth of the Roman people could only varnish it rather than improve.’) isdem rursus vestigiis situm est, postquam interiecto quadringentorum quindecim annorum spatio L. Scipione C. Norbano consulibus flagraverat. (postquam interiecto quadringentorum quindecim annorum spatio L. Scipione C. Norbano consulibus flagraverat: lit. ‘after it had burned to the ground during the consulate of L. Scipio and C. Norbanus [in 83 B.C.], an interval of 415 years having been inserted [since its foundation].’ In fact, the interval was closer to 425 years (507 B.C. – 83 B.C.). postquam …fragraverat: postquam is regularly followed by indicative.) curam victor Sulla suscepit, neque tamen dedicavit: hoc solum felicitati eius negatum. (hoc solum felicitati eius negatum: ‘this one thing only was denied to his good fortune’, as Sulla, whose surname was Felix (‘fortunate’), said himself. Lutatii Catuli nomen inter tanta Caesarum opera usque ad Vitellium mansit. (Lutatii Catuli nomen inter tanta Caesarum opera usque ad Vitellium mansit: ‘Lutatius Catulus’name remained on the temple inscription until Vitellius, among so many improvements of the emperors.’ Lutatius Catulus rededicated the temple in 69 B.C., nine years after Sulla`s death. On this occasion he assumed the surname of Capitulinus. Augustus, who lavished so much of his own wealth on decorating the temple, never had Catulus’name removed from the inscription. ) ea tunc aedes cremabatur.