Tacitus Messalina Lines 27-35

Therefore the emperor's household shuddered,

igitur domus principis inhorruit,

and those who had power feared very much

maximeque ei qui potentiam habebant timuerunt

that there would be a coup:

ne res verterentur:

however, they had hope that,

spem tamen habebant,

if they persuaded Claudius about the hideousness of the crime,

si Claudio de atrocitate sceleris persuasissent,

Messalina could be crushed,

Messalinam posse opprimi

having been condemned without trial;

sine quaestione damnatam;

but there was the danger that he would listen to her defence,

sed periculum esse ne ille defensionem audiret,

and his ears would not be closed even to her confessing.

neve clausae aures etiam confitenti non essent.

Narcissus, seeking opportunities,

Narcissus, occasiones quaerens,

since Caesar was delaying for a long time at Ostia,

cum Caesar diu apud Ostiam moraretur,

forced two of his concubines with bribery and promises to undertake the denunciation.

duas eius paelices largitione et promissis perpulit delationem subire.