_Dignum est_. A general remark, applicable to any such province. Hence
the present, for which some would substitute _erat_ or _esset_.
_Ne incresceret_, sc. ipse: _lest he should become too great_, i.e. rise
above his superior and so excite his jealousy. Referred by W. to
_ardorem_ for its subject. But then _ne incresceret_ would be
superfluous.
_Consularem_, sc. Legatum==Governor, cf. 7, note.
_Petilius Cerialis_. Cf. 17. Ann. 14, 32. His. 4, 68.
_Habuerunt--exemplorum. Had room for exertion_ and so for _setting a good
example_, cf. Ann. 13, 8: videbaturque locus virtutibus patefactus. The
position of _habuerunt_ is emphatic, as if he had said: _then had
virtues_, etc. See Rit. in loc.
_Communicabat_, sc. cum A.--_Ex eventu_, from _the event_, i.e. _in
consequence of his success_.
_In suam famam_. Cf. in jactationem, 5, note.
_Extra gloriam_ is sometimes put for _sine gloria_, especially by the
late writers. His. 1, 49: _extra vitia_. Hand's Turs. 2, 679.
IX. _Revertentem_, etc. Returning from his command in Britain.--_Divus_.
Cf. notes, G. 28; His. 2, 33.
_Vesp.--ascivit_. By virtue of his office as Censor, the Emperor claimed
the right of elevating and degrading the rank of the citizens. Inasmuch
as the families of the aristocracy always incline to run out and become
extinct, there was a necessity for an occasional re-supply of the
patrician from the plebeian ranks, e.g. by Julius Caesar, Augustus and
Claudius (Ann. 11, 25), as well as by Vespasian (Aur. Vic. Caes. 9. Suet.
9.)--_Provinciae--praeposuit_. Aquitania was one of seven provinces, into
which Augustus distributed Gaul, and which with the exception of Narbonne
Gaul, were all subject to the immediate disposal and control of the
Emperor himself. It was the south-western part of Gaul, being enclosed by
the Rhone, the Loire, the Pyrenees and the Atlantic.
_Splendidae--destinarat. A province of the first importance both in its
government_ (in itself considered), _and the prospect of the consulship,
to which he_ (Vesp.) _had destined him_ (A.), sc. as soon as his office
should have expired.
_Subtilitatem_==calliditatem, nice discernment, _discrimination_.--
_Exerceat_, Observe the subj. to express the views of others, not of the
author. H. 531; Z. 511.
_Secura--agens. _Requiring less anxious thought and mental acumen_, and
_proceeding more by physical force. Secura_==minus anxia. Dr. Cf. note,
His. 1, 1. _Obtusior_==minus acuta.
_Togatos. Civilians_ in distinction from military men, like A. The _toga_
was the dress of civil life to some extent in the _provinces_ (cf. 21,
His. 2, 20), though originally worn only in _Rome_. (Beck. Gall., Exc.
Sc. 8.)
_Remissionumque_. The Greeks and Romans both used the pl. of many
abstracts, of which we use only the sing. For examples see R. Exc. 4. For
the principle cf. Z. 92.
_Curarum--divisi_. This clause means not merely, that his time was
divided between business and relaxation; but that there was a broad
line of demarcation between them, as he proceeds to explain.
_Divisa_==diversa inter se. Dr. So Virg. Georg. 2, 116: divisae
arboribus patriae==countries are _distinguished from_ each other by
their trees. _Jam vero_. Cf. note, G. 14.
_Conventus_, sc. juridici==_courts_. The word designates also the
districts in which the courts were held, and into which each province was
divided. Cf. Smith's Dict. of Ant.: Conventus. So Pliny (N.H. 3; 3.)
speaks of juridici conventus. Tacitus, as usual, avoids the technical
designation.
_Ultra_. Adv. for adj., cf. _longe_, 6.--_Persona_. 1. A mask (_per_ and
_sono_). 2. Outward show, as here.
_Tristitiam--exuerat_. Some connect this clause by zeugma with the
foregoing. But with a misapprehension of the meaning of exuerat,
which==_was entirely free from_; lit. had divested himself of. Thus
understood, the clause is a _general_ remark touching the character of
A., in implied contrast with other men or magistrates with whom those
vices were so common. So in Ann. 6, 25, Agrippina is said to have
divested herself of vices (_vitia exuerat_) which were common among
women, but which never attached to her. _Facilitas_. Opposed to
_severitas_==kindness, indulgence.
_Abstinentiam_. This word, though sometimes denoting temperance in food
and drink, more properly refers to the desire and use of money.
_Abstinentia_ is opposed to _avarice; continentia_ to _sensual pleasure_.
Cf. Plin. Epis. 6, 8: alieni abstinentissimus. Here render honesty,
integrity.
_Cui--indulgent_. See the same sentiment, His. 4, 6: quando etiam
sapientibus cupido gloriae novissima exuitur.
_Ostentanda--artem_, cf. 6: _per--anteponendo_; also G. 15, note.
_Collegas_. The governors of other provinces. The word means _chosen
together_; hence either those chosen at the same election or those chosen
to the same office. Cf. H. 1, 10.
_Procuratores_. There was but one at a time in each province. There may
have been several however in succession, while A. was Proconsul. Or we
may understand both this clause and the preceding, not of his government
in Aquitania in particular, but as a general fact in the life of A. So E.
For the office, see note, 4; and for an instance of a quarrel between the
Proconsul and the Procurator, Ann. 14, 38.
_Atteri_==vinci as the antithesis shows, though with more of the
implication of dignity _impaired_ (worn off) by conflict with inferiors.
_Minus triennium. Quam_ omitted. See H. 417, 3; Z. 485.
_Comitante opinione. A general expectation attending him_, as it were, on
his return.
_Nullis sermonibus_. Ablative of _cause_.
_Elegit_. Perf. to denote what _has in fact_ taken place.