Tacitus, Annals, 15.20-23, 33-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary, 2013a
Tacitus, Annals, 15.20-23, 33-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary, 2013a
Tacitus, Annals, 15.20-23, 33-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary, 2013a
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The asyndetic<br />
tricolon, which consists of three ablatives of means, enumerates what<br />
Vatinius had gained under Nero: (i) gratia, by seeming to be particularly<br />
loyal to the emperor <strong>and</strong> by inspiring fear in the other courtiers; (ii) pecunia,<br />
because the confiscated property of the accused was often given in part<br />
to the informer; <strong>and</strong> (iii) vi nocendi, since influence at court <strong>and</strong> financial<br />
resources under Nero’s regime yield great power to cause even further<br />
damage <strong>and</strong> harm. The punch-line comes at the end: Vatinius’ influence at<br />
court is such that he st<strong>and</strong>s out even among the mali – in <strong>Tacitus</strong>’ imperial<br />
Rome that took some doing. The word (‘bad men/crooks’), which refers to<br />
Nero’s other courtiers, casts them as a thoroughly reprehensible lot, while<br />
the fact that Vatinius outdid ‘even’ (etiam) them makes clear how abysmal a<br />
character he was. <strong>Tacitus</strong> uses the verb praeminere (‘to become pre-eminent<br />
over’, ‘to excel’) <strong>with</strong> cutting sarcasm: like the English ‘pre-eminent’, it<br />
is usually a very positive word, implying superiority <strong>and</strong> nobility; but<br />
in the twisted world of Nero’s court, Vatinius became ‘pre-eminent’ by<br />
being even more appalling <strong>and</strong> immoral than the rest. Turning physical<br />
impairment into a double plus, the jester turned informer rose to be a<br />
powerful – towering – strongman (valuit, vi, praemineret).<br />
Chapter 35<br />
<br />
sceleribus cessabatur. isdem quippe illis diebus Torquatus Silanus<br />
<br />
<br />
Nero, so <strong>Tacitus</strong> implies, was such an inveterate criminal that he planned<br />
his misdeed even during hours devoted to public entertainment. That<br />
he did not even cease from plotting murder while indulging in pleasure<br />
suggests that far from being mutually exclusive voluptas <strong>and</strong> scelus<br />
coincide in Nero’s case, highlighting the emperor’s savage <strong>and</strong> sadistic<br />
cruelty. The effect is enhanced by the use of the plural for both pleasures<br />
(voluptates) <strong>and</strong> crimes (a sceleribus): Nero is a perverse <strong>and</strong> criminal<br />
polymorph. Here the victim is Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus, one<br />
of the consuls of AD 53 (at the end of the emperor Claudius’ reign: see<br />
<strong>Annals</strong> 12.58). Like Nero, he was a great-great-gr<strong>and</strong>son of Augustus – a<br />
lineage that turned him into a potential rival to the throne (see Family
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