Tacitus, Annals, 15.20­-23, 33­-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary, 2013a

sed omnibus quae huic urbi per violentiam ignium acciderunt gravior
atque atrocior [sc. erat]omnibus picks up clades, i.e. omnibus cladibus, and
is the antecedent of quae. Rome had suffered many fires in its history, as
its location, layout and closely packed, frequently wooden buildings left
it highly vulnerable. This Great Fire was remarkable only for the scale
of its devastation. The hyperbaton of omnibus (an ablative of comparison
dependent on gravior atque atrocior) emphasises the pre-eminent power of
this fire, while huic helps to make the event more vivid for Tacitus’ Roman
readers – ‘this city of ours.’ Tacitus has already pulled out all the superlative
stops in Histories 3.71–72 for the disaster of disasters, arson in civil war of
the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter (see below).
38.2 initium in ea parte circi ortum quae Palatino Caelioque montibus
alitur, simul coeptus ignis et statim validus ac vento citus longitudinem
circi corripuit. neque enim domus munimentis saeptae vel templa muris
cincta aut quid aliud morae interiacebat.
initium ... ortum [sc. est]This is technically a tautology (‘the beginning
began...’), and serves to give emphasis to the outbreak of the fire.
The
Circus Maximus was Rome’s great chariot racing track. It occupied the low
land between the Palatine, Caelian and Aventine Hills (see Map of Rome).
The part Tacitus refers to here is the south east corner of the Circus, in the
vicinity of the Porta Capena.
There
was a huge mall of shops (tabernas) in the arches of the tiered seats of
the Circus. The rare word mercimonium (wares) is an archaism, there for
variation and interest as usual but also perhaps evoking the creaking old
shops where the fire started. In addition, the flames are personified (not for
the last time in this description): quo flamma alitur provides the image of the
fire greedily devouring the flammable goods.
simul coeptus [sc. est] ignis et statim validus ac vento citus longitudinem
The two adverbs simul and statim make clear the immense
speed with which the fire took hold. The fire’s progression is rapid, from