Suetonius Notes

?
proximus ... flere
It talks about a herd of horses. This builds suspense because he delays telling us what actually happens at first, rather telling us about the history of the horses and their association with Caesar.
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pertinacissime pabulo abstinere ubertimque flere
perhaps the horses were ill? Superlative of pertinacissime is striking and the alliteration with pabulo draws attention to the horses suprising behaviour not to eat. umbertique flere- the noises mimic the noises a horse would make, personifying them.
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haruspex Spurinna
the sound of haRUSpex SPURinna is engaging.
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pridie autem easdem Idus
emphasis on the date makes the day of Caesar's murder seem even more dramatic.
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avem regaliolum cum laureo ramulo Pompeianie curiae se inferentem volucres varri generis ex proximo nemore persecutae ibidem discerpserunt.
The behaviour of birds was though to predict the future and they commonly figured in portents. There is use of symbolism of the unsuspecting bird. the figura etymologica of regaliolum and rex- links with the thought that Caesar wanted to be king.
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laureo ramulo
symbolises victory as victorious generals wore a laurel wreath during their triumphant processions. Shows that he thought he would be victorious at his proposal. Mimics Caesar himself.
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Pompeianae curiae
ironic because Pompey was Caesar's greatest rival and was defeated by him in the Civil war.
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discerpserunt
a violent word, same as the word used for when Romulus died- could suggest Caesar's greatness? Also emphatically placed at the end highlights how violent te act is.
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eo vero nocte, cum inluxit dies caedis
emphasis on the day again as it dawns.with the emphatic word order the author might be suggesting that Caesar was arrogant to ignore such signs. The alliteration of the K sounds and sound play of dies caedis stress that Caesar was getting signs.
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et ipse sibi visus est per quietem interdum supra nubes voitare, alias cum Iove dextram iungere
Contrasts with the earlier violent image. His dream is quite pleasant.Seems to foretell his deification. ipse sibi is emphatic and stresses that this sign came to Caesar directly.
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et...et...ac
ascending tricolon illustrates the insensity of the bad omens.
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et Calpurnia uxor imaginata est conlabi fastigium domus maritumque in gremio suo confodi;
his wife's dream is much less pleasant, part of their house falls down, this was not uncommon for houses to do this and symbolises Caesar's fall.
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conlabi...confodi
a chiasmus allowing the similar and dramatic verbs conlabi and confodi to be emphatically positioned at the beginning and end.
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ac subito cubiculi fores sponte patuerunt.
a brief visual image adding a sense of eeriness.
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ob infirmam valetudinem
Caesar is said to have suffered from epilepsy and Suetonius suggests elsewhere that his health may now be failing.
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diu cunctatus an se contineret et quae apud senatum proposuerat agere differret,
raises suspense as Caesar doesn't know what to do.
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Decimo Brutus
he was one of the conspirators.
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adhorante
present participle conveys the persuasive tone.
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frequentes...opperientes
this represents to Caesar how urgently he is expected and by how many people.
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destitueret
a strong word shows how much Caesar would be letting down those people if he didn't come.
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quinta fere hora
the author emphasises the time again, raising the suspense, it is almost as if the time till Caesar's death is being counted down.
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progressus est libellumque insidiarum indicem ab obvio quodam porrectum libellis ceteris, quos sinistra manu tenebat, quasi mox lecturus commiscuit.
the sentence order of the words gives us the events as they occur, keeping up the suspense
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libellumque insidiarum indicem
mimesis- the note contains the plot
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sinistra manu
could represent his bad luck. maybe supposed to be unlucky?
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dein...adessent
the story's pace quickens as it comes to an end heightening the suspense as clause after clause in rapid succession.
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pluribus hostiis caesis, cum litare non posset
in spite of sacrificing several victims the omens remain bad.
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introiit curiam spreta religione
as before caesar ignores the omens. the fact that he spurned religion suggests that he was asking for trouble.
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Spurinnamque irridens et ut falsum arguens.
Spurinna is presumbly there again to check the entrails. Caesar mocks him, as we know pride goes before a fall.
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quamquam is venisse quidem eas diceret, sed non praeterisse.
Spurinna's response is chilling here. the two matching verbs venisse...praeterisse are again emphatically placed at the beginning and the end of the indirect statement , the sibilance in the line setting a sinister tone.
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Iudis quos primis consecrato ei heres Augustus edebat,
it was traditional for games to be held on the occasion of an important funeral.He skips Caesar;s death as the auduence would have known about it and he has alludeded to it sufficiently enough through his omens.
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consecrato
Suetonius says that Caesar was deified immediately after his death; however the commet which is recorded here as appearing at the games seemsto have been one of the reasons for his deification.
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stella crinita
literally a hairy star. almost certainly a real comet and one of the brightest in history. adds authenticity to the story.
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per septem ...dies
the emphatic word order highlights the length of time during which the comet shone.
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Caesaris in caelum recepti
the alliteration of K gives the phrase a convincing ring.
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stella
emphatically placed at the end.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

perhaps the horses were ill? Superlative of pertinacissime is striking and the alliteration with pabulo draws attention to the horses suprising behaviour not to eat. umbertique flere- the noises mimic the noises a horse would make, personifying them.

Back

pertinacissime pabulo abstinere ubertimque flere

Card 3

Front

the sound of haRUSpex SPURinna is engaging.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

emphasis on the date makes the day of Caesar's murder seem even more dramatic.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

The behaviour of birds was though to predict the future and they commonly figured in portents. There is use of symbolism of the unsuspecting bird. the figura etymologica of regaliolum and rex- links with the thought that Caesar wanted to be king.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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