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

45.2 enimvero per Asiam atque Achaiam non dona tantum, sed simulacra
numinum abripiebantur, missis in eas provincias Acrato ac Secundo
ore tenus exercitus animum bonis artibus non induerat.
Highly emphatic, denoting the culmination of the list of Nero’s
victims.
The provinces of Achaea (mainland Greece)
and Asia (Turkey) were the richest in statuary and religious wealth.
The non ...
tantum, sed ... construction emphasises Nero’s lack of restraint, whilst
the violent verb abripiebantur underlines his rapacity. And again, Tacitus
points to the sacrilegious nature of Nero’s plunder. The Greek travel writer
Pausanias (writing in the mid-second century) tells us that Nero stole 500
statues from Delphi alone (10.7.1), while also swooping up treasures from
other sanctuaries such as Olympia (6.25.9; 6.26.3).
Tacitus uses an
ablative absolute to name Nero’s agents: Acratus, one of Nero’s freedmen,
mentioned later in the Annals but otherwise unknown, and Secundus
Carrinas, who was believed to have been the son of an orator exiled by
Caligula. A right pair, this, ‘Uncontrollable’ Greekling [akrates in Greek
ethics is someone without command over himself or his passions] plus
Roman-sounding ‘Winner’, for the dirty work.
ille [sc. erat] A freedman rather
than a senatorial official being sent to collect money was, for Tacitus, a
sign of the unhealthy influence of ex-slaves at the imperial court. Almost
by definition, such creatures were depraved and Acratus is no exception:
Tacitus stresses that his immorality knew no bounds.
Secundus Carrinas apparently studied philosophy (Graeca
doctrina), but only superficially (ore tenus: lit. ‘as far as his mouth’, i.e. he
talked the talk but did not bother to walk the walk): his mind (animus)
remained unaffected by the exposure to the excellent education (cf.