The annals of Tacitus

ON CHAPTERS 21—23 83
interdicto igni atque aqua, impers. abl. abs., lit. ' fire and
water havinfj been forbidden him.'
19. saxo Seripho, contemptuous. It was a small island, one
of tbe Cyclades (now Serplio), a frequent place of banishment.
Cf. Juv. X 170 ut Gyari clausus scopuUs paruaque Seripho.
22
1. praetor. He wn,s praetor urbanus.
2. in praeceps, either from the window or down the stairs.
Cf. vi 49 iacto in praeceps corpore. In vi 17 we have praeceps
dare.
?). tractus ad Caesarem, in the first instance. Afterwards
Tiberius remits the case to the Senate.
4. tamquam ipse, sc. fuisset. Translate :
' alleging that he
had been fast asleep.' P.F. quotes Germ. 39 superstitio respicit
tamquam hide initia gentis.
7. reluctantis et impulsae uestigia, lit. ' traces of one
struggling and thrown by violence.'
8. refert ad senatum, ' he remitted the case to the Senate,'
after some investigations of his own.
datis iudicibus, ' the case having been sent for trial,' i.e.
before a commission i auaestio) . The full phrase is dare actionem
et indices .
10. quasi principis monitu, so. factum. Translate :
was taken as a hint from the Emperor himself.'
' this
12. uenas praebuit exsoluendas, a very common method of
suicide at this time.
13. Numantina accusata iniecisse. For this use of the nom.
and infin. ef. xiii 23 deferuntnr consensisse Pallas ac Burrus.
I
^^
1. longo...bello. The war with Tacfarinas began in 17 a.i> . | I \
See ii 52. He was a Numidian who Bad^Bfyfed amongTB?
auxiliaries of the Eoman army, and, having gained a knowledtz e
of mili tary science, deserted, and collected a body of fippbnntp.rs
He was chosen as leader of the Musulamii. a powerful people in
the interior of Numidia, on the soutnern siae ol Mount Anrasiu s.
6—2