LXXXIII.
Origo dei nondum nostris auctoribus celebrata: Aegyptiorum antistites sic memorant, (Aegyptiorum antistites sic memorant: antistites are high-priests in charge of the religious rites of a cult; memorant: introduces indirect speech, which lasts down to in caelum igne plurimo attolli, then speech becomes direct.) Ptolemaeo regi, qui Macedonum primus Aegypti opes firmavit, (qui Macedonum primus Aegypti opes firmavit: though the rel. clause is in indir. speech, the verb is indicative in view of the fact that the clause is incidental, inserted as an explanation of the writer directed at the reader, not an integral part of the narrative. The king in question is Ptolemy Soter, a general of Alexander the Great. He made himself king of Egypt after Alexander’s death in 323 B.C.) cum Alexandriae recens (recens: adverb) conditae moenia templaque et religiones adderet, oblatum per quietem decore eximio et maiore quam humana specie iuvenem, (Ptolemaeo regi … oblatum per quietem decore eximio et maiore quam humana specie iuvenem: ‘that a youth of remarkable appearance, larger than a man, had presented himself to king Ptolemy in his sleep’; Ptolemaeo regi is dat. with the passive oblatum [esse], which has reflexive sense. decore eximio et maiore quam humana specie: ablatives of quality; humana specie is not abl. of comparison, but the second term of comparison after quam in the same case as the first, maiore.) qui moneret ut fidissimis amicorum in Pontum (in Pontum: Pontus, an ancient country in NE Turkey, bordering on the Black Sea) missis effigiem suam acciret; laetum id regno magnamque et inclutam sedem fore quae excepisset: (laetum id regno magnamque et inclutam sedem fore quae excepisset: indir. discourse after moneret within indir. discourse after memorant: ‘that the action would be a happy thing for the kingdom and famous the city that would have accepted [it].) simul visum eundem iuvenem in caelum igne plurimo attolli. (simul visum eundem iuvenem in caelum igne plurimo attolli: ‘that thereupon the same youth was seen to be lifted to heaven in a great storm of fire’; igne plurimo: abl. of attendant circumstance) Ptolemaeus omine et miraculo (omine et miraculo: hendiadys) excitus sacerdotibus Aegyptiorum, quibus mos talia intellegere, (quibus mos talia intellegere: quibus is dative of possessor with implied est or erat: ‘for whom interpreting such things [was] a habitual occupation’ or ‘who had practice in interpreting such things’) nocturnos visus aperit. atque illis Ponti et externorum parum gnaris, (atque illis Ponti et externorum parum gnaris: abl. abs.: ‘but they being insufficiently familiar with Pontus and foreign places, …’; atque can on occasion have adversative sense; gnarus takes genitive in its active sense; parum is adverb, not noun.) Timotheum Atheniensem e gente Eumolpidarum, quem ut antistitem caerimoniarum Eleusine exciverat, quaenam illa superstitio, quod numen, interrogat. (Timotheum Atheniensem e gente Eumolpidarum, quem ut antistitem caerimoniarum Eleusine exciverat, quaenam illa superstitio, quod numen, interrogat: ‘Ptolemy questioned the Athenian Timotheus from the Eumolpidae family, whom he had summoned from Eleusis as celebrant of the rites [of Demeter], about the worship of Serapis and the nature of the deity’; e gente Eumolpidarum: the Eleusian mysteries were celebrated annually in Eleusis in honor of Demeter, the goddess of the soil and crops and mother of Proserpina; the rites were performed elsewhere in the Greek world by members of the Eumolpidae family, whose office as high priests of Demeter was hereditary. Eleusine: abl. of place whence; Eleusin, -inis is an ancient city located 18 km. or 11 miles NW of Athens at the northern end of the Saronic gulf; quaenam illa superstitio: lit. ‘what kind of doctrine is that, pray tell me?’ (in reference to the worship of Serapis); illa is emphatic, with the force of ‘that notorious …’. interrogat: hist. present; there are others in the chapter.) Timotheus quaesitis qui in Pontum meassent, (quaesitis qui in Pontum meassent: one-word abl. abs. with dependent rel. clause: ‘those who might have traveled to Pontus having been questioned, …’; quaesitis qui is ellipsis for eis quaesitis qui …: Tacitus is very chary about words, a trait that makes for a nervy, bold, vigorous style. meassent is potential subjunctive.) cognoscit urbem illic Sinopen, (Sinopen: modern Sinub on the northernmost spur of land along the coast of Pontus) nec procul templum vetere inter accolas fama Iovis Ditis: (templum vetere inter accolas fama Iovis Ditis: ‘…a temple of Jupiter Dis of ancient fame among the inhabitants’; vetere …fama: abl. of quality; Iovis Ditis: Pluto, the brother of Jupiter, the ruler of the underworld, called Jupiter Dis because master of all the wealth below ground, in the same way the brother was master of all things above ground.) namque et muliebrem effigiem adsistere quam plerique Proserpinam vocent. (namque et muliebrem effigiem adsistere quam plerique Proserpinam vocent: ‘and that in fact also the figure of a woman stood nearby, whom most call Proserpina’. Discourse becomes oblique after cognoscit (one of of the verba sentiendi, cf. G. 527): verbs are either infinitive, with acc. subjects, or subjunctive, according to whether they are main verbs (e.g. adsistere) or dependent (e.g. vocent). namque et: namque, which is already the combination of two conjunctions, is further strengthened by et to reinforce the connection with what has been said before; cf. A.G. 324, k. Proserpina, daughter of Jupiter and Demeter, became queen of the underworld after being abducted by Pluto.) sed Ptolemaeus, ut sunt ingenia regum, pronus ad formidinem, ubi securitas rediit, voluptatum quam religionum adpetens neglegere paulatim (Ptolemaeus, ut sunt ingenia regum, pronus ad formidinem, ubi securitas rediit, voluptatum quam religionum adpetens neglegere paulatim: ‘Ptolemy, however, though easily alarmed, as the minds of kings usually are, as soon as he felt safe again, by degrees became forgetful of the incident and desirous more of pleasures than of religious experiences’. ubi …rediit: temporal ubi is normally followed by perf. indicative. adpetens is with genitive. neglegere is hist. infinitive.) aliasque ad curas animum vertere, donec eadem species terribilior iam et instantior exitium ipsi regnoque denuntiaret ni iussa patrarentur. (donec … denuntiaret ni iussa patrarentur: in Tacitus donec is most often followed by subjunctive, even when, as here, expectation is absent. The donec clause is the apodosis of a negative conditional sentence, where denuntiaret, a hist. tense, governs the tense of the protasis, patrarentur, in keeping with tense sequence (both imperfect subjunctive for concurrent action.) tum legatos et dona Scydrothemidi regi (is tunc Sinopensibus imperitabat) expediri iubet praecepitque (iubet praecepitque: two tenses of the indicative back to back: hist. present and perfect; Tacitus pushes stylistic novelties to the verge of solecism.) navigaturis ut Pythicum Apollinem adeant. (praecepit navigaturis ut Pythicum Apollinem adeant: navigaturis is dat. with praecepit: ‘he gave instructions to the voyagers, as they were about to leave, to go and consult the Pythian Apollo’. Pythia is the oracle of Apollo delivering the god’s responses at Delphi in central Greece. The ut clause is an example of substantive clause of purpose, which serves as direct object of certain verbs that indicate intended or prospective action. See A.G. 563 for list of such verbs; the present subjunctive adeant, after the hist. praecepit, is repraesentatio; cf. B. 318) illis mare secundum, (illis mare secundum: illis is dative of possessor with implied erat or fuit: ‘they had the sea favorable’.) sors (sors: the response of the oracle) oraculi haud ambigua: irent simulacrumque patris sui reveherent, sororis (patris sui …, sororis: Jupiter or Zeus was the father of both Apollo and Proserpina, though by different mothers. Jupiter of the underworld is seen here as being the same as Jupiter of the heavens: that would make Proserpina both his wife and daughter.) relinquerent. (irent … reveherent … relinquerent: Apollo’s commands in indir. speech. Direct: ‘ite …revehite … relinquite’ )