LXXXIV.
Vt Sinopen venere, munera preces mandata regis sui Scydrothemidi adlegant. qui <di>versus animi (<di>versus animi: ‘of conflicting minds’; the original text has versus animi: di- was added to obtain an adjective that requires an object, here animi, genitive of respect or specification; cf. A.G. 349, d.) modo numen pavescere, modo minis adversantis populi terreri; saepe donis promissisque legatorum flectebatur. atque interim triennio exacto Ptolemaeus non studium, non preces omittere: dignitatem legatorum, numerum navium, auri pondus augebat. tum minax facies Scydrothemidi offertur ne destinata deo ultra moraretur: (ne destinata deo ultra moraretur: neg. indir. command: ‘that he should not further delay what was purposed for the god’, i.e. for Father Dis or Pluto, in which case deo is dat. of interest; or ‘…what was purposed by the god’, i.e. Apollo, in which case deo is dat. of agent. See previous chapter for specifics.) cunctantem varia pernicies morbique et manifesta caelestium ira graviorque in dies fatigabat. advocata contione iussa numinis, suos Ptolemaeique visus, ingruentia mala exponit: vulgus aversari regem, invidere Aegypto, sibi metuere (sibi metuere: either because they would be left without the god’s protection or because the god might be offended if they did not offer resistance to his transfer.) templumque circumsedere. maior hinc fama (maior hinc fama: open to interpretation, as perhaps Tacitus intended: it may mean ‘a different and more prevalent tradition’, or ‘the story from here was more fantastic’, or similar) tradidit deum ipsum adpulsas litori navis sponte conscendisse: mirum inde dictu, (mirum inde dictu: ‘and from there, wonderful to say, …’; dictu is abl. supine, ‘wonderful in the saying’.) tertio die (tertio die: ‘in two days’, i.e (the Roman way) ‘on the third day’, the day of departure being day one) tantum maris emensi (tantum maris emensi: ‘having covered such a vast stretch of the sea’; emetior being deponent, the perf. participle has active sense.) Alexandriam adpelluntur. templum pro magnitudine urbis extructum loco cui nomen Rhacotis; (Rhacotis: the section of Alexandria where the dockyards were located) fuerat illic sacellum Serapidi atque Isidi antiquitus sacratum. (Serapidi atque Isidi antiquitus sacratum: ‘dedicated to Serapis and Isis from ancient times’: this suggests that the cult of Serapis existed already in Egypt at the time of Ptolemy Soter and that the tradition of the trip to Sinope in Pontus was made up, as someone has said, to satisfy Greek vanity.) haec de origine et advectu dei celeberrima. nec sum ignarus esse quosdam qui Seleucia urbe Syriae (Seleucia urbe Syriae: the seaport of Antioch on the Syrian coast; both Seleucia and Antioch are today within Turkey.) accitum regnante Ptolemaeo, quem tertia aetas tulit; (Ptolemaeo, quem tertia aetas tulit: ‘Ptolemy, whom the the third generation brought forth’, that is Ptolemy Evergetes, 246-221 B.C.) alii auctorem eundem Ptolemaeum, sedem, ex qua transierit, Memphim perhibent, inclutam olim et veteris Aegypti columen. deum ipsum multi Aesculapium, quod medeatur aegris corporibus, quidam Osirin, antiquissimum illis gentibus numen, plerique Iovem ut rerum omnium potentem, plurimi Ditem patrem insignibus, quae in ipso manifesta, aut per ambages coniectant. (plurimi Ditem patrem insignibus, quae in ipso manifesta, aut per ambages coniectant: ‘the majority infer he is Father Dis (Pluto) from the emblems displayed on himself, or through convoluted reasonings of their own’. The symbols in question are variously given as a serpent or dragon, a dog at his side (Cerberus, the guardian dog of the underworld), an ample cloak enveloping him shroud-wise, etc.)