Notes to Tacitus, Annales 13.32.2-3

insignis, -e
eminent, distinguished; modifies femina, in apposition to Pomponia Graecina.
Plautius: Aulus Plautius commanded the invasion of Britain in 42 CE and governed the province until 47 CE; upon his return to Rome, he celebrated an ovation.
ovo (1)
celebrate an ovation (a minor triumph); rejoice; perfect infinitive in indirect statement
Britanni, -orum m. pl.
the inhabitants of Britain; ablative case after de (click SPQR for map).
refero, -ferre, rettuli, relatum
recount, report, mention; bear back, give back, restore; followed by indirect statement with accusative subject quem (Plautius).
nubo -ere, nupsi, nuptum
veil for; be married to; perfect passive participle modifying Pomponia Graecina, followed by the dative (Plautio).
superstitio, -onis, f.
unreasonable religious belief; dread of the supernatural; wonder; genitive of the charge with rea.
externus, -a, -um
foreign, strange; modifies superstitionis.
rea, -ae f.
the accused, a defendant; in apposition with Pomponia Graecina.
maritus, -i m.
husband; genitive after iudicio.
iudicium, -i n.
judgment, trial sentence; dative after permissa.
permitto, -ere, misi, missum
commit, consign, surrender + dative; supply est (the subject is Pomponia). The consignment of a woman to her husband for judgment was a Republican practice. Elsewhere in the Annals, those accused of practicing foreign creeds are punished by the Emperor and/or the Senate (e.g. 12.59.1-2, 15.44.2-5).
isque = is + que (is refering to Aulus Plautius).
priscus, -a, -um
old-fashioned, ancient; modifies instituto.
institutum, -i n.
practice, design, institution; ablative of means.
propinquus -a, -um
near of kin, related; as a substantive adjective, can refer to relatives or friends; ablative with coram.
coram adverb + ablative
in the presence of, before.
caput, -itis n.
life; head; person; chief; object of preposition de, along with fama.
coniunx, -iugis m./f.
spouse; wife, to whom capite famaque belong.
cognosco, -ere, -novi, -nitum
investigate judicially, examine a case in law; know; subject of cognovit et nuntiavit is is (Aulus Plautius).
insons, -sontis
innocent, referring to Pomponia Graecina.
nuntio (1)
declare, report; subject is is (Aulus Plautius).
aetas, -tatis f.
age; modified by longa, it is the object of a dative of possession construction: huic Pomponiae . . .fuit.
tristitia, -ae f.
grief; sadness; modified by continua.
Iulia, -ae f.
Julia Livia, daughter of Drusus the Younger and Livilla, was a cousin and close friend of Pomponia; Iuliam is object of the preposition post.
Drusus, -i m.
Drusus Julius Caesar, only son of the emperor Tiberius and his first wife Vipsania Agrippina (for his image, click SPQR)
dolus, -i m.
trick, deceit; strategem, plot; ablative of means followed by the genitive Messalinae) (see her statue with her son Britannicus at SPQR).
interficio, -ere, -feci, -fectum
kill, destroy; translate as Iuliam. . . interfectam erat.
quadraginta indeclinable number
forty.
cultus -us m.
dress, appearance; ablative of description.
nisi conjunction
if not, unless; except.
lugubris, -e
mourning; mournful, doleful; modifies cultu.
animus, -i m.
spirit; mind; soul; ablative of description.
maestus, -a, -um
sorrowful, gloomy; modifies animo.
ago, -ere, egi, actum
live, spend life; act, do, manage. Pomponia's self-presentation was a form of resistance to the imperial system that allowed for Julia's murder to take place.
id refers to the previous clause (Pomponia’s public grieving) and it is the subject of vertit.
imperito (1)
rule over, in political command of + dative (illi), referring to Pomponia, the object of imperitante, the present participle in ablative absolute with Claudio (click on SPQR for image).
impune adverb
safely, with impunity. Pomponia's status safeguards her from persecution while Claudius lives.
mox adverb
soon, afterwards; i.e., after Claudius' death.
gloria, -ae f.
praise, honor; understand Pomponiae.
verto, -ere, verti, versum
turn; subject is id, her persistent public grieving.


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