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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Like nec multo post, this word (‘then’) keeps the action racing<br />
forward, presenting us <strong>with</strong> a picture of an extremely impulsive emperor<br />
leaping from one thing to another: first Greece, then not, then considering<br />
the East, then the plan is off.<br />
Nero announces his plans to depart for the Near East in<br />
a public edict, combining the announcement of his absence from the capital<br />
<strong>with</strong> reassurances that he would not stay long <strong>and</strong> take measures to ensure<br />
the continued well-being of the capital. In other words, he counterbalances<br />
an action that could be interpreted negatively on the part of the people<br />
(departure from Rome, to honour another city <strong>with</strong> his presence) <strong>with</strong><br />
declaring his abiding affection <strong>and</strong> concern for the urban populace even<br />
in his absence. All of this formed part of the elaborate system of symbolic<br />
communication between the emperor <strong>and</strong> the groups that sustained his<br />
reign. At the same time, <strong>Tacitus</strong> conveys something of Nero’s egomaniac<br />
fantasizing: the imperial genius is frustrated in having to keep his talent<br />
close at home when he wants it to light up his world-empire.<br />
non longam sui absentiam [sc. fore]An indirect statement dependent on<br />
testificatus. This is Nero’s first reassurance to the anxious (as Nero believes)<br />
people: he will not be gone long. The sui (his own) is not grammatically<br />
necessary, but is there to underscore Nero’s realization that the people<br />
would be concerned to hear that he was going away. For a senatorial<br />
historiographer such as <strong>Tacitus</strong>, the proximity <strong>and</strong> affection between the<br />
people <strong>and</strong> the emperor would be grating. Horace, in an Ode addressed<br />
to Augustus while he was absent on campaign in Gaul, presents both the<br />
people <strong>and</strong> the senate as yearning for his return to the capital (4.5.1–8: Divis<br />
orte bonis, optime Romulae | custos gentis, abes iam nimium diu: | maturum<br />
reditum pollicitus patrum | sancto concilio, redi. || lucem redde tuae, dux bone,<br />
patriae. | instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus | affulsit populo, gratior it dies | et<br />
soles melius nitent: ‘Descended from the good divinities, excellent guardian<br />
of the Romulan race, you have been absent for too long: come back in haste<br />
as you promised the sacred council of senators. Bring back light to your<br />
country, good leader. When like springtime your face has shown upon<br />
the people, the day goes by more pleasantly <strong>and</strong> the rays of the sun shine<br />
more brightly.’) Horace’s harmonious menage à trois of princeps, senate, <strong>and</strong><br />
people contrasts sharply <strong>with</strong> the dysfunctional relationships between<br />
these three constituencies of Roman imperial rule under Nero – as well as<br />
underscording the indispensability of the emperor’s presence in Rome.
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