Matheson Collection > Annals of Tacitus, Book IV

ON CHAPTERS 52—54 115
53
I. penii cax ira e, ' persisting in her resentmen t.' Cf. Hist.
iv 5 recti peruicax. The genitive is on the analogy ql propositi /a(^4<i^^^
tena x «nrl similar ex pression s. "
5. mox inuidiam et preces orditur, ' then beginning in a tone
of mixed entreaty ancLreproach_L-[JR-].
4. habilem, i.e. for marriage. Cf. Hor. odes iii 19 iion habilis
Lyco. She was now about 40.
6. esse in ciuitate, i.e. there were plenty of nobles ready to
espouse her cause.
8. non ignarus . . . ueteret ur . ' seeing the importance of he r
re quest politically .' F. points out that to give a new husband to
the grand-daughter of Augustus and mother of the natural heirs
to the principate was a very grave matter.
9. ofifensionis...nianifestus, ' clearly convicted of resentmen t
or alann ,' — on the analogy of reus. Cf. ii 85 delicti manifesta.
II. quamquam instantem, 'however pressing.' quamuis is
commoner in this sense. Cf. c. 11, 20.
1'2. commentariis Agrippinae filiae, ' t he memoirs of Agrip-
pina the youn^ r.' Merivale states (c. 45) that ' it_is_natiu:aJ_ta
surmise that the revela tions of the palace, which n nr histnria.nR
relate, are derived in a great jngasnre frpm t hes a f i mil y mp mnirs ;
and it is impo ssible to overlook the probab ilit^ y t,hp,t t. h p onnAn o.t
bot h of Tiberius and Seia nns wn nlrl hp gpi-inndly Tnirmprpnnnf n rl by
an hereditary enemy to both,' - -
54
1. maereiitem...perculit, well rendered by R., — 'taking ad-
vantage of Agrippina's distress and her unsuspecting nature,
Sejanus now dealt her a more deadly blow.'
2. immissis. Cf. e. 19.
per speciem. For the modal use of per cf. c. 53 per silentium ,
C. 5fi per morftfy ^jflyfL '"
3. soceri, since Tiberius was the adoptive father of her
husband.
4. cum propter discumberet, ' reclining next to the Emperor.'
8—2