Annales XV:44

Symposion

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I have now read and tried to translate this section. Here are some parts that I wonder about. Some are just short questions. I list them all now here below.

ex quibus supplicatum Volcano et Cereri Proserpinaeque
Should it not be supplicatum est? Here is passive perfect singular third person.

et sellisternia ac pervigilia celebravere feminae, quibus mariti erant.
Why is it mariti when it with "quibus" refers to feminae. I would write maritae as it refers to females.

quin iussum incendium crederetur.
What does the word quin mean?

quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Christianos appellabat.
How should that be translated? I have translated it as those whom the people called hostile Christians for their shameful deeds. Are invisos and Christianos connected like hostile Christians?

repressaque in praesens exitiabilis superstitio rursum erumpebat,
I have problems translating that sentence. I have it as something like and now suppressed the delusion of essence broke out again,

quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque
The verb celebrantur is in Passive indicative presens plural third person but what does that verb mean here? I think of celebrate.

Et pereuntibus addita ludibria, ut ferarum tergis contecti laniatu canum interirent, aut crucibus adfixi aut flammandi, atque ubi defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur.
I do not see a reason why this would not have been in the original text by Tacitus. Some state that this is added to the text in the Middle ages. The only thing is of course if adfixi is not in the correct Consecutio temporum. Maybe it is a main clause because defecisset is in plauperfect and urerentur in imperfectus.

Unde quamquam adversus sontis et novissima exempla meritos miseratio oriebatur, tamquam non utilitate publica. sed in saevitiam unius absumerentur.
I get a bit confused on translating here. I get it to be Of this, though, against criminals and the latest examples, pity was brought to light, as if not behaved in public. But one was killed in the wild.
 

EstQuodFulmineIungo

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First martyrs ah!

I start off with this one:

Unde quamquam adversus (adversus needs the accusative) sontes et novissima exempla meritos ,miseratio oriebatur tamquam (hypotetic comparative) non utilitate publica. sed in saevitiam unius absumerentur.

meritos should be a past participle of mereor, deponent verb, so it should be in a relative clause. On the contrary, quamquam would introduce a concessive clause. But there is not the required verb for the concessive clause. Therefore it would be better to translate it as a concessive complement rather than as a subordinate clause.

Therefore (unde) commiseration (miseratio) was aroused, however (quamquam) toward (adversus) culprits (sontes) and people who deserved (meritos) exemplary (exempla) capital punishments (novissima) as if (tamquam) they were killed (absumerentur) not for the sake of publick utility (utilitate publica), but for the cruelty of one alone (unius= Nero).
 

EstQuodFulmineIungo

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et sellisternia ac pervigilia celebravere feminae, quibus mariti erant.
Why is it mariti when it with "quibus" refers to feminae. I would write maritae as it refers to females.
(from the description of what ROmans did to get into their deities' good books.

et sellisternia ac pervigilia celebravere (not an infinite, celebrare->celebraverunt with syncopation--> celebravere) feminae, quibus mariti erant.


The married women (= that had husbands= quibus mariti erant where quibus is the subject) celebrated banquets to feminine deities (sellisternia) and sacred vigils (pervigilia).
 
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EstQuodFulmineIungo

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ex quibus supplicatum Volcano et Cereri Proserpinaeque
relative clause: ex quibus (complement of origin- the books of the Sybill in the previous sentence) supplicatum (est) (The verb needs the dative: it's impersonal in the passive form, so the dative is a subject) Volcano et Cereri Proserpinaeque

From which Vulcan and Ceres and Proserpine were besought.
 

EstQuodFulmineIungo

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Tacitus talks about Christians, that gathered secretely.
repressaque in praesens exitiabilis superstitio rursum erumpebat,
superstitio= superstition = subject (etymology = super stare)

And the ruinous superstition repressed immediately (in praesens=adverbial locution) after it exploded (rursum erumpebat).
 

Symposion

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First martyrs ah!

I start off with this one:

Unde quamquam adversus (adversus needs the accusative) sontes et novissima exempla meritos ,miseratio oriebatur tamquam (hypotetic comparative) non utilitate publica. sed in saevitiam unius absumerentur.

meritos should be a past participle of mereor, deponent verb, so it should be in a relative clause. On the contrary, quamquam would introduce a concessive clause. But there is not the required verb for the concessive clause. Therefore it would be better to translate it as a concessive complement rather than as a subordinate clause.

Therefore (unde) commiseration (miseratio) was aroused, however (quamquam) toward (adversus) culprits (sontes) and people who deserved (meritos) exemplary (exempla) capital punishments (novissima) as if (tamquam) they were killed (absumerentur) not for the sake of publick utility (utilitate publica), but for the cruelty of one alone (unius= Nero).
Yes Emperor Nero (54-68) started thus the first large persecution of Christians.

Tacitus use here the alternative form sontis instead of the more usual form sontes that you used.

meritos is Perfect passive participle of mereo. It is a second conjugation verb.
 

EstQuodFulmineIungo

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Et pereuntibus addita ludibria, ut ferarum tergis contecti laniatu canum interirent, aut crucibus adfixi aut flammandi, atque ubi defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur.
I do not see a reason why this would not have been in the original text by Tacitus. Some state that this is added to the text in the Middle ages. The only thing is of course if adfixi is not in the correct Consecutio temporum. Maybe it is a main clause because defecisset is in plauperfect and urerentur in imperfectus.
Et pereuntibus (present participle of pereo, declined) (sunt) addita ludibria (ita), ut ferarum tergis (illi) contecti laniatu canum interirent, aut crucibus adfixi aut flammandi (I have flamma usti on my version), atque (I have aliique on my version) ubi defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur.

I guess someone hostile to the Christian cause would say that in the middle ages they made up this argument of Christians being slaughtered, but if you look at the present situation, you can see that slaughtering Christians is a common practice among the heathen to this day.

Back to business:
ludibria--> subject

Disgraceful offences (ludibria) were added (addita) to the ones sentence to death (pereuntibus) so that (ita ut), covered with animal leather, they died (interirent) by means of the dog's bites (laniatu canum) or crucified (adfixi crucibus) or scorched through flames (flammandi) and burnt like a torch (in usum nocturni luminis urerentur) after day declined (ubi defecisset dies)

Take heed of the nominative plurals:
contecti, affixi, usti, alii (the last two only in my version)= these are subject or attributes of the subjects of the verbs "interire" et "urerentur".

Ubi= means place, but also time.

Regarding the consecutio temporis you are right about the plusperfect!
 
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Symposion

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Location:
Helsingia (Finnia)
relative clause: ex quibus (complement of origin- the books of the Sybill in the previous sentence) supplicatum (est) (The verb needs the dative: it's impersonal in the passive form, so the dative is a subject) Volcano et Cereri Proserpinaeque

From which Vulcan and Ceres and Proserpine were besought.
I think those are in dative because the prayers were given to Vulcan, Ceres and her daughter Proserpina.
 

EstQuodFulmineIungo

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Maritus is a noun.

Femina cui maritus est is a female that has a husband... So a married woman.

Feminae quibus maritus sunt
are females that have husbands (= married women)
 

Symposion

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Location:
Helsingia (Finnia)
Et pereuntibus (present participle of pereo, declined) (sunt) addita ludibria (ita), ut ferarum tergis (illi) contecti laniatu canum interirent, aut crucibus adfixi aut flammandi (I have flamma usti on my version), atque (I have aliique on my version) ubi defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur.

I guess someone hostile to the Christian cause would say that in the middle ages they made up this argument of Christians being slaughtered, but if you look at the present situation, you can see that slaughtering Christians is a common practice among the heathen to this day.

Back to business:
ludibria--> subject

Disgraceful offences (ludibria) were added (addita) to the ones sentence to death (pereuntibus) so that (ita ut), covered with animal leather, they died (interirent) by means of the dog's bites (laniatu canum) or crucified (adfixi crucibus) or scorched through flames (flammandi) and burnt like a torch (in usum nocturni luminis urerentur) after day declined (ubi defecisset dies)

Take heed of the nominative plurals:
contecti, affixi, usti, alii (the last two only in my version)= these are subject or attributes of the subjects of the verbs "interire" et "urerentur".

Ubi= means place, but also time.

Regarding the consecutio temporis you are right about the plusperfect!
From where do you have your edition? Those differ from my editions. I wonder what they might have in Manuscript 2 in Firenze as the manuscript we have from the 11th century is only in one copy. For that see here http://mss.bmlonline.it/s.aspx?Id=AWOIyXbxI1A4r7GxMPoB&c=I. Cornelii Taciti ab excessu divi Augusti libros XI ab undecimo nimirum usque ad vigesimum primum inclusive#/oro/81
 

EstQuodFulmineIungo

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Well, I have an anthology of Roman history. Maybe yours is more correct. The sense doesn't change however.
If you worked on the manuscript, you went really ad fontes so yours is definitely better.
 
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