The annals of Tacitus

100 NOTES
15. perstltit aspemarl, ' persisted in rejecting,'—a construc-
tion found also in Cic. de fin.
ii 107.
17. quod alii...uiterpretabantur, 'some explained this as
modesty, many as due to self-distrust, some as the sign of a poor
spirit.' The changes of construction are thoroughly Tacitean.
Cf. c. 29.
19. Herculem...Liberuin...Quirinum...Augustum. The allu-
sions are taken almost literally from Horace, Odes iii 3. Cf.
Suet. Aug. 71 where we are told that Augustus wrote to Tiberius,
henignitas mea me ad caelestem gloriam efferet.
21. melius, se. egisse. Cf. i 43 melius et amaiitius ille qui
gladium offerebat.
22. cetera principibus statim adesse, ' all else Emperors ////
have as a matter of course, ' i.e. on assuming the principate . /'•
23.
I III
contemptu, sociativ.£ ,— 'with contempt of fame comes jit I
/ 1 'contempt of merit.' "
^»f(p deAJfj^Mi. |[^a-j- Is 4p 'Jlj.^litSL ua^;!' ''
39
yi 1. nimia fortuna socors, ' dazed by excessive prosperity .'
2. promissum matrimoniumT" See c. 6.
4. moris tum erat. maris is possessive gen.
praesentem, i.e. in Rome.
5. eius, scripti understood, which takes the place of codi-
cillorum.
6. iudiciis, 'favourable opinions,' 'marks of favour.' Cf.
Hist, i 15 iudicii mei documentum.
1. quod pulcherrimum.crederetur, 'he had attained the
Sirest prize of all,— to be thought worthy of alliance with the
Emperor.' Cf. iii 29 filio Claudii socer Seianus destinaretur.
13. quoniam audiuerit. Cicero or Caesar would have written
midiuisset.
14. ita, i.e. following the example of Augustus.
15. haberet...U8urum .
'
let him think of a friend why w nld
^
gairi notbiuK but glory from the alliance/— i.e. Sejanus would
seek no political advancement. He was content with the command
of the Praetorians. He had no wish to give it up and become a
Senator. Cf. equitibus Romanis (above).
1
w/ / .