Latin Literature OCR GCSE - Messalina Lines 49-59 Translation and Style

atque interim, tribus omino comitantibus - tam repens erat sollitudo - postquam per urbem pedibus ivit, vehiculo, quo purgamenta hortorum eripiuntur, Ostiensem viam intrat.

And meanwhile, with three at the most accompanying them - so sudden was the isolation - after she went on foot through the city, she entered the Ostian road in a cart, by which the refuse of the gardens was being taken away.

nullam misericordiam civibus commovit quia flagitiorum deformitas praevalebat.

She aroused no pity in the citizens, as the hideousness of the scandals prevailed.

et iam erat in aspectu Claudii clamitabatque ut audiret Octaviae et Britannici matrem.

And now, she was in sight of Claudius and kept shouting that he should listen to the mother of Octavia and Britannicus.

Narcissus tamen obstrepuit Silium et nuptias referens; simul codicillos libidinum indices tradidit, quibus visus Caesaris averteret.

Narcissus, however, shouted her down, referring to Silius and the marriage; at the same time, he handed over a writing tablet as proof of her lusts, by which he might divert the glances of Caesar.

nec multo post urbem ingredienti offerebantur liberi sed Narcissus amoveri eos iussit.

Not long afterwards, the children tried to present themselves to Claudius as he was entering the city, but Narcissus ordered them to be taken away.

‘interim’ ‘et iam’ lines 49 and 54

‘meanwhile’ ‘and now’ - the changes of scene create excitement in the story

‘tribus omnino comitantibus’ line 49

‘with three at the most accompanying her’ - the specific details make the scene more vivid which helps us to imagine the scene

‘tam repens’ line 50

‘so sudden’ - the sudden change said here makes the scene dramatic and emphasises how quick and unusual the situation is

‘sollitudo’ line 50

‘solitude’ - the subject of the sentence has been postponed to the end (quote phrase) which emphasises the solitude

‘postquam per urbem pedibus ivit’ line 51

‘after she went on foot through the city’ - the plosive alliteration of ‘p’ emphasises Tacitus’s disgust and also how suddenly Messalina has fallen from power - the wealthy would only travel through the streets in sedan chairs

‘vehiculo’ line 51

‘cart’ - a cart is a very undignified mode of travel especially when it carries waste - emphasises the opinion of Messalina as the lowest of the low and her fall from power - the change in word order (before everything else, quote phrase) places emphasis on the mode of travel

‘quo purgamenta hortorum eripiuntur’ line 51

‘by which the refuse of the gardens was being taken away’ - the alliteration of ‘r’ places emphasis on this phrase and the undignification

‘Ostiensem’ line 52

‘Ostia’ - as Claudius was coming from Ostia, this shows how Messalina was facing him head-on

‘intrat’ line 52

‘she entered’ - this is a historic present which makes the scene more vivid and engaging

‘nullam misericordiam civibus commovit quia flagitiorum deformitas praevalebat’ line 52/3

‘She aroused no pity in the citizens, as the hideousness of the scandals prevailed.’ - the alliteration of ‘m’ and ‘n’ express the pity of which there is none (nullam)

the alliteration of hard ‘c’ emphasises how the citizens have no mercy for her

commovit is a historic present which makes scene more vivid and seem like real time

‘flagitiorum deformitas’ line 53

‘hideousness of the scandals’ - the tetra- and penta- syllabic words emphasise the bad behaviour (of M+S)

‘praevalebat’ line 53

‘prevailed’ the prefix emphasises the meaning - how everyone hates her

‘Claudii clamitabatque’ line 54

‘of Claudius and kept shouting’ - the repeated first syllable suggests repeated shouting

‘ut audiret’ line 54

‘should listen to’ - the indirect command given by Messalina ordering Claudius emphasises her desperation

‘Octaviae et Britannici matrem’ line 55

‘the mother of Octavia and Britannicus’ - the description by M of herself as a mother rather than a wife takes the focus away from her adultery and emphasises that children are not replaceable - sympathy

‘Narcissus tamen obstrepuit,’ line 55

‘Narcissus, however, shouted her down’ - the short phrase shows the abrupt interruption of Narcissus

‘Narcissus tamen obstrepuit, Silium et nuptias referens; simul codicillos libidinum indices tradidit’ line 55/6

‘Narcissus, however, shouted her down, referring to Silius and their marriage, at the same time, he handed over a writing tablet as proof of her lusts’ - the sibilance of ‘s’ shows the conflict and arguement between Claudius and Messalina

‘Silium et nuptias referns’ line 56

‘referring to Silius and the marriage’ - the mention of Silius is deliberate to anger claudius and so build tension in the scene, the deliberate use of the word ‘nuptias’ is used to emphasise not only the unfaithful but illegal behaviour

‘simul’ ‘nec multo post’ line 56/8

‘simultaneously’, ‘not long afterwards’ - the time phrases shows how the scene is happening rapidly and urgently - makes it vivid and exciting

‘codicillos’ lien 56

‘writing tablet’ - the inclusion of this by Tacitus shows how determined and thorough Narcissus is - has a legalistic touch

‘tradidit’ line 57

‘handed over’ - this is to convince Claudius as we have seen he can be manipulated easily; the action would also block his view of Messalina who we know to be attractive - again reduce chances of Messalina being forgiven - demonstrates commitment of Claudius

‘Caesaris…ingredienti’ line 57/8

‘Caesar…Claudius (inferred from translation)’ - this is variatio, here, Claudius is referred to in oblique cases - shows that he is passive in this situation and others are taking initiative - Narcissus

‘offerebantur’…’amoveri’ - line 58/9

‘to present themselves’ ‘to be taken away’ - the passive tenses shows how the children are being unfairly used as pawns in this situation

‘liberi’ - line 58

‘the children’ - this as the last word of the phrase (subject postponed), creates suspense prior as to what is being offered

‘iussit’ line 59

‘ordered’ - the command shows how Narcissus is in full control - Claudius does not speak at all in this section - he is preventing the children distract Claudius which makes him seem ruthless and unaffectionate.