affront

card 1 of 7 · context meaning

What does 'affront' mean in this sentence?

But besides, that such a thought was inconsistent with the gravity of a Senate, how can one imagine that the Fathers would have dared affront the Wife of Aurelius, and the Mother of Commodus, or that they could think of giving offence to an Empress whom they afterwards Deified, and to an Emperor that was the darling of the army and people?