Page fore should not stand at the beginning of a new sentence. The whole 31 passage thus read and pointed may be summed up as follows:1. He states the date with which he intends to begin his history, viz. the second consulship of Galba = A. u. c. 822. 2. He gives the reason why he does not commence at an earlier date, viz. that many have written the history of the whole period prior to that date. 3. But he subdivides that whole period into two parts, viz. the Republic and the Empire, the former of which has been treated with as much freedom as eloquence, but not so the latter. Tacitus may have already had in mind the plan, which he afterwards executed (in his Annals), of writing also the history of the latter period, because, though written by many, it had been treated without ability or impartiality. Cf. Ann. 1, 1, a passage which sheds much light on this. 5. Actium. Where Augustus defeated Antony and established himself in the sole possession of the supreme power.-Potentiam. AL potestatem. Potestas est ovcía, potentia dévaus. So Wr.,* who argues, that not omnis potestas, all lawful authority, but omnis potentia, all power and might was concentred in one man, that he might preserve peace. For this distinction, cf. His. 1, 13; Ann. 3, 69; Cic. pro domo, 30. See also Or. in loc. 6. Conferri = brought together, united in one man. 7. Simul veritas, etc. See a similar passage in Dion, 53, 19. 8. Ut alienae. Since it was the property of another, i. e. the emperor, not the people. So Wr., Or. and Död. As if it were a foreign state; for they had no more to do with it, and therefore cared and knew no more about it, than if it were a foreign republic. So Ernesti. A truly republican sentiment, according to either interpretation. The former is preferable.-Rursus. Cf. note A. 29. 9. Infensos. Sc. principibus. 10. Ambitionem. Lit., going about to solicit favor. Hence flattery to the great, explained below by adulationi. 11. Adverseris. So the MSS., Wr. and Död. Al. averseris, Rup., Or. But without good authority or reason. For the accusative after adversor, cf. H. 386, 3; Z. 386. Also Freund's Lexicon, sub voce. For the subjunctive here, cf. H. 485; Z. 523. You may easily withstand or resist. Wr. refers it to the writer: You (any writer) may easily withstand the temptation to flatter. This is more pertinent to the connection. But scriptoris suggests rather the idea, that the reader can easily withstand, etc. So Rup. and most others.-Pronis auribus, literally, ears inclining or bending forward = willing ears. 1 * The Authorities most frequently cited in these Notes, are cited by their mitial letters or syllables, thus: Wr. = Walther, Rup. Ruperti: Or. = Orelli; Död. - Döderlein, &c. H. stands for Harkness's Latin Grammar; Z for Zumpt's do. Pago 31 12. Malignitati · = obtrectatio et livor above. 15. A Domitiano. Ann. 11, 11. Cf. Life of Tacitus, pp. 5-& 16. Abnuerim. For the mode and tense, cf. II. 486, I.; Z. 527.-Nec.... odio = neque amore quisquam neque odio. En allage. Cf. Germania and Agricola passim. 17. Quod si. And if. From the tendency to connect sentences by relatives arose the use of quod before certain conjunctions, particularly si, merely as a copulative. Cf. Z. 807; also Freund's Lexicon, sub voce.-Principatum, properly civil government, and hence appropriate to the peaceful reign of Nerva.-Imperium, properly military command, and hence equally appropriate to the more warlike Trajan. Cf. Död. in loc. 18. Divi Nervae. This implies that Nerva was already dead, before this paragraph was written and before the history was published. How much labor may have been bestowed on the work previous to the composition of the introduction, we cannot tell. Cf. note, A. 3, memoriam, etc.; also Preliminary Remarks, p. 233. 19. Uberiorem. The reign of Trajan was fruitful in great events, in civil and military life, as well as in literature. Cf. Life of T., pp. 6-7.—Securiorem. Wr. renders, more pleasing, lit. more free from care (se-cura), anxiety, pain. But it may be rendered here, as usual, more safe, more secure, not indeed from personal danger, for the historian had nothing to fear for his person in treating either subject, but from the danger of giving offence to bad men or their descendants, of whom there were not so many to bo spoken of in the Life of Trajan, as in that for instance of Domitian. Or. and Död. refer to the periculosae plenum opus aleae of Horace (Od. 2, 1, 6), as a parallel passage.-Rara felicitate is not abl. abs. but abl. of cause or accompanying circumstance = enjoying as I do that felicity of the times which is so seldom enjoyed, when, etc. Observe that ubi, properly an adverb of place, is here and often used as an adverb of time CH. II. This chapter and the next present an outline of the leading events and prominent features of the history. The language is concise as a table of contents, yet it abounds in the disjecta membra poetae. 22. Opus. Lit. a work. But the epithets opimum, etc., apply only to the period to which the work relates. Render: I propose to write the history of a period, etc. 23. Ipsa pace instead of in ipsa pace, for the sake of conciseness. Cf. Essay on Style of Tacitus, p. 12.-Saevum. Or. and Död. read saevom, after the Medicean MS. The MSS. of Tacitus exhibit not a few examples of the old orthography of the Latin language. But they do not preserve consistency. Boetticher thinks that Tacitus resorted to different modes of writing words for the sake of variety Cf. Prolegomena to his Lexicon Taciteum. Pago 24. Principes. Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Domitian, all of whom 31 came to a violent death.-Trina, poetice for tria. Cf. H. 174, 2, 4. The three civil wars here referred to are those between Otho and Vitellius, between Vitellius and Vespasian, and of L. Antonius against Domitian, on which last vid. Sueton. Dom. 6, Dio Cass. 67, 11. Cf. Or. and Dōd. in loc. Ruperti would reckon among them that of Otho and Galba, which however hardly amounted to a war. Cf. note, chap. 50: saevae pacis. 25. Permixta, sc. externa cum civilibus, both being carried on at the same time, as, for instance the war with the Jews by Titus, and with the Gauls and Germans under Civilis by Cerialis, in connection with the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian. 27. Missa. Dismissed, neglected compound. Cf. Essay, p. 10. = omissa, the simple for the 28. Mutuis, i. e. alternis, acceptis et illatis. Rup.-Dacus. Cf. note, G. 1; also ibid. Sarmatae. Of the wars with the Sarmatians, cf. 1, 79; 3, 5. 24; 4, 54; with the Dacians, cf. His. 3, 46; 4, 54; A. 41. Of the wars with the Suevi we have no other account. The Suevi here meant, says Lipsius, are not the tribe more commonly so called, that dwelt in Germany (Germ. 38, seqq.), but another tribe located beyond the Danube by the Sarmatae, and hence often associated with them, e. g. Ann. 12, 29; Sueton. Dom. 6; Dion Cass. 67, 5. Cf. Or. in loc. 29. Falsi.... ludibrio. The farce, or game, of the pretended Nero. T. informs us (His. 2, 8), that inasmuch as there were various reports touching the end of Nero, many pretended and believed that he was still alive. Hence he was personated by several impostors, as late even as the reigns of Titus and Domitian. Cf. Suet. Nero, 57. 30. Jam vero. Cf. note, G. 14.-Cladibus. Calamities, not slaughters, as just above. 31. Haustae.... urbes. Herculaneum and Pompeii; destroyed by an eruption from Mount Vesuvius in the second year of the reign of Titus, A. U. c. 832. Cf. Pliny's account of the catastrophe and the death of his uncle (Pliny the Elder), in a letter to Tacitus. Epis. 6, 16, 20; and Plut. de Ser. Num. Vind., 42., 32. Ora. Abl. of place without a prep. Wr. connects it with the following clause, and refers the clause to the desolation of the Campanian country by the fires of Vesuvius.-Incendiis. Besides that in which the capitol was burnt (3, 71–2), there was another and more dreadful conflagration of the city (Rome) in the reign of Titus, A. U. 833. Cf. Dio. 66, 24. Or. Suet. Dom.32 1. Pollutae caerimoniae, sc. incestis Vestalium. 8, 22; Plin. Epp. 4, 11, 6.—Magna adulteria, i. e. principum virorum. So magnae domus, amicitiae, inimicitiae, etc. of the great. 2. Plenum.... = houses, &c., mare. The sca full of exiles (exsiliis for exsu Page 32 libus) on their way to, or in possession of, those barren rocky islunds (scopuli), particularly in the Aegean, to which they were banished, and which were afterwards stained with their blood (infecti caedibus). 3. Omissi.... honores. Honors, whether declined or accepted. Dion informs us, that Domitian put Herennius Senecio to death, because he asked no office after having held the quaestorship. Dion, 67, 13. 5. Delatorum. A post-Augustan word, found especially in Tacitus and Suetonius. Cf. Freund's Lexicon, sub voce. The thing taking a new form under the emperors, gave rise to a new word. 6. Procurationes. The office of procurator, or collector of the imperial revenues, afforded ample opportunity for amassing wealth. 7. Interiorem potentiam. Power at court, such as was exercised by the freedmen and other creatures of Nero and his successors. —Agerent verterent. Compare agere ferre (= Greek åysıv kaì pépɛıv) used by Livy to express ravaging with fire and sword; literally, leading off the captives and bearing off the spoil. The use of verterent in this formula is peculiar to Tacitus, if not also to this passage, to which it is peculiarly appropriate, since to the idea of rapine expressed by agere, it superadds that of violence and cruelty. The phrase may be translated (though inadequately), plundered and destroyed.—Odio et terrore. Amid hatred and terror. Wr. By reason of the hatred they cherished and the terror they inspired. Rup. Cн. III.—11. Prodiderit. For the subj., cf. H. 494, Z. 532. For the perf. subj. instead of the imperf., cf. note, chap. 24; dederit. Illustrious men were TC 14. Supremae.... necessitates. duced to the last necessities, such as precede and threaten death or render it unavoidable, but not (as many suppose) death itself; for they are here distinguished from exitus, and, as used elsewhere, the words denote, not death, but the prior necessity, whether imposed by popular indignation, as in the case of Tigellinus, 1, 72, or the loss of imperial favor through calumny, as in the case of Messalina, Aun. 11,37 (where pl. as here: supremis necessitatibus), or the direct command of the emperor, as in the case of Seneca, Ann. 15, 61. Cf. also necessitate, His. 4, 11. This clause was probably meant to state only a general fact, introductory to the virtues specified in the next two clauses; though, as Wr. suggests, the bare existence of such necessities, when they might have been escaped by obsequious compliance with the tyrant's wishes, was no small proof of virtue. The word necessitas properly denotes, that which is unavoidable (ne-cessum, from cedo. Cf. Freund, sub v ). 15. Ipsa.... tolerata. This clause has occasioned commentators so much perplexity, that some of the ablest of them, e. g. Ritter Pags and Ruperti, propose to expunge it at once, as a mere gloss. And 32 they have good reason to be dissatisfied with most of the comments, for, almost without exception, they either sacrifice the force of ipsa, or make necessitas something quite different from necessitates, which, though maintained by Död., is not borne out by the usage of Tacitus, and can hardly be supposed in such a juxtaposition as this. But does not the following interpretation. avoid both these objections and meet all the demands of the passage? Illustrious men were reduced to the last necessities (involving or threatening death); the necessity itself was endured with fortitude, and the deaths (which ensued) were equal to the glorious deaths of the ancients. Ipsa thus marks the antith. between necessitas and exitus; while necessitas is distinguished from exitus and identified with necessitates, as it manifestly should be. 16. Exitus. See the word used in like manner in the pl of the deaths of Cassius and the Brutuses, Ann. 1, 10, which passage may also illustrate the kind of exitus that is meant here. 17. Prodigia = prodicia. The letters G and C were originally identical; hence the resemblance in form. See Zumpt's Lat. Gr. So negotium nec-otium, &c. 20. Justis = luculentis, manifestis. Rup. Magis justis indiciis. More conclusive proofs.-Before esse ultionem, the antith particle sed is understood. It is often omitted by T. CH. IV.-22. Repetendum. Necessary to go back, and describe the existing state of things prior to the date of the history, i. e. from the death of Nero to the second consulship of Galba, cf. note 1: Galba.... consules. For a fuller account of this interval between the close of the Annals and the beginning of the Histories, the reader may consult Suetonius' Nero and Galba; Plutarch's Galba; Dio. 63, 22, seqq. &c.-Componam. For the mode and tense, cf. H. 523; Z. 576. 25. Quid........ fuerit. Subj. Cf. H. 525; Z. 552. 26. Fortuiti. Inexpectati et haud promissi, non in se, sed quoad nos. So Brotier. But Tacitus probably means more than this, viz. that particular events (as for instance the rise of Otho and Vitellius, rather than any other ambitious men of their day, and the victory of the latter rather than the former), are the result of accident or fortune; but at the same time there were general principles or causes at work, which rendered certain and necessary these or similar events: and these causes, even more than those fortuitous events, it is the province of history to investigate. Cf. Wr. in loc. The wonderful sagacity and wisdom with which Tacitus has accomplished this end, constitute a chief merit of his history. 27. Ut ita. Though.. yet Z. 726. 30. Legiones ducesque, sc. in the provinces, foris being under |