Latin OCR GCSE - Messalina, lines 8-17 - translation + style/context

illa non furtim sed multis cum comitibus ventitat domum, egredienti adhaeret, dat opes honoresque; postremo servi, liberti, paratus principis apud adulterum saepe videbantur.

She visited the house frequently, not secretly, but with many companions, clung to him when he went out, gave him wealth and honours, finally, slaves, freedmen, the furnishings of the emperor were often seen at the adulterer’s house.

at Claudius matrimonii sui ignarus.

But Claudius was unaware of (the state of) his own marriage.

iam Messalina propter facilitatem adulteriorum ad novas libidines versa est.

Now, Messalina, because of the easiness of the adulteries, turned to new (i.e. unheard of) lusts.

Silius, sive fatali insania an ipsa pericula remedium imminentium periculorum ratus, abrumpi dissimulatioinem urgebat: quippe non exspectandum, dum priniceps senesceret.

Silius, whether because of his fateful folly or thinking that the very dangers were a cure for the imminent dangers, pressed for the concealment to be cast aside: certainly, they should not wait for the emperor to grow old.

‘non furtim’ line 8

‘not secretly’ - litotes/double negative - suggests that maybe it should have been secret

‘sed’ line 9

‘but’ - suggests that it’s obvious - creates contrast between how Messalina behaves and how she should behave.

‘multis’ line 9

‘many’ - shows sheer number of companions

‘ventitat’ line 9

‘visited…frequently’ - the verb is in the frequentative form which emphasises how often Messalina goes to Silius

‘adhaerat’ line 10

‘[she] clung [to him]’ - shows how Silius has the upper hand, it also suggests that Messalina is a) annoying and b) needs Silius more than he needs her.

‘dat opes honoresque’ line 10

‘gave him honours and wealth’ - suggests that Messalina feels insecure

‘ventitat…dat’ lines 9+10

these verbs are historic presents, which make the scene more vivid

‘ventitat domum, egredienti adhaeret, dat opes’ lines 9+10

this has an ABBAAB structure (double chiasmus) which emphasises Messalina’s overactive/unsuitable behaviour by linking phrases about what she does together

also they have asynedton (lack of connectives) - so the actions run into each other which suggests a long time/quickly.

‘paratus principis apud’ line 11

this plosive alliteration of ‘p’ emphasises an unusual situation. It links together the words for ‘emperor’ ‘furnishings’ and ‘at the home of’, which show Tacitus’ disgust at the situation

‘novas’ line 13

‘unheard of’ behaviour - shows Tacitus’ outrage at her behaviour

‘at’ line 12

signposts a change of scene. This highlights the rift between C+M and contrasts their knowledge

‘at Claudius matrimonii sui ignarus.’ line 12

This short sentence emphasises surprise at Cl’s ignorance. The prefix ‘in’ (repeated 2x) also means ‘against’ which shows conflict.

‘ignarus’ is variatio of nescius (l5), which contrasts the knowledge of Claudius with Silius/Junia.

‘Iam Messalina’ line 13

The immediate contrast of this with Claudius’s ignorance draws attention to it.

Sive…an: Line 14

Variatio - Sive +abl, an+ participle -suggests Silius’s disjointed thought process

pericula…periculorum: Line 14/15

Polyptoton - different forms of the same word, which suggests that it is dangerous either way (very/imminent) - no good option

remedium imminentium periculorum: Line 15

Alliteration of m and n emphaises the dangers as m and n were frequently used to emphasise gloom/danger

‘ipsa, imminentium’: Line 14/15

Shows both kinds of dangers - making it public+keeping it a secret - ‘i’ links these phrases together to show how they are the same

‘non exspectandum’ - Line 16

This is a passive gerundive, which obscures the agent. This shows the unwillingness of Silius to take responsibilty for exposing the affair

‘dum princeps senesceret’ - Line 17

This shows how they expect the affair to go on for a very long time - or the opposite as Silius wants an excuse for it to end. This is diesrespectful to the emperor - M’s husband - suggests how things go on behind his back forever+anticipate Claudius becoming weak, so are probably used by Tacitus to emphasise his disgust.