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Sicinius Aemilianus has rashly accused me (1-2); I will both defend myself and clear the name of Philosophy, as best I can on short notice (3-4); Aemilianus' lawyers accuse me of black magic, and of murdering my stepson (5); they made these slurs informally at first, but I myself challenged them to bring a formal charge (6).

[clausulated text]

Title: the exact title of the work, if there was one, is not known. The most authoritative manuscript, Codex Laurentianus Mediceus 68.2, known as F, lacks an inscription. A copy taken from it, φ (Codex Laurentianus Mediceus 29.2) calls the work De magia. The conventional modern title Apologia  (ἀπολογία, "speech of self-defense," like Plato's Apology of Socrates) pro se de magia, is descriptive of the contents, but has no ancient authority.

(1)

prōque vērō obtinēbam: "and I took it to be true," introducing indirect statement, Sicinium Aemiliānum ... implētūrum (esse).

Maxime Claudī: Claudius Maximus was the judge at the trial. He is known to have been proconsul (governor) of the province of Africa in 158-9 AD (Hunink). He was likely the same Maximus who was a teacher of Marcus Aurelius. Marcus speaks highly of him in the Meditations (Book 1):

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From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness; and a just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity, and to do what was set before me without complaining. I observed that everybody believed that he thought as he spoke, and that in all that he did he never had any bad intention; and he never showed amazement and surprise, and was never in a hurry, and never put off doing a thing, nor was perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever laugh to disguise his vexation, nor, on the other hand, was he ever passionate or suspicious. He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive, and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the appearance of a man who could not be diverted from right rather than of a man who had been improved. I observed, too, that no man could ever think that he was despised by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a better man. He had also the art of being humorous in an agreeable way. (trans. George Long)

quīque in cōnsiliō estis: "and you who are in the advisory body." Members of the consilium gave judicial advice to a magistrate in judging a case. It consisted of persons he had chosen himself, both among his own retinue and among local dignitaries." (Hunink). The consilium should not be confused with the jury in the American legal system which is defined as a group of persons selected according to law and given the power to decide questions of fact and return a verdict in the case submitted to them (Black's Law Dictionary, 12th Ed.,2024).

Sicinium Aemiliānum: Apuleius' main opponent in this trial. 

accūsātiōnem meī: "accusation of me," "suit against me." In Roman law, prosecution began at the initiative of a citizen (not a magistrate) who assumed the role of the accuser by denouncing the wrongdoer and filing a charge against him with the chairman of the competent criminal court (quaestio) . . . If the magistrate accepted the accusation . . . he ordered its registration (inscriptio) in the official record of persons to face a criminal trial (Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law, p. 340)

prius apud tē coeptam quam apud sē cōgitātam: modifying the accūsātiōnem, "filed in your (Claudius Maximus') court before (it was) thought out (completely) in his own head."

apud tē: "in your (Claudius Maximus') court."  

coeptam:"filed."

pēnūriā crīminum: ablative of cause, "due to a lack of (actual) charges."

sōlīs convīciīs: i.e., instead of with actual charges.

implētūrum: supply esse. The subject is Sicinium Ameilianum.

(2)

quippe īnsimulārī quīvīs innocēns potest, revincī nisi nocēns nōn potest: "for one can defame an innocent man, but only convict a guilty one" (Jones).

(3)

Quō ... ūnō … cōnfīsus:  "relying on this one fact," i.e. that he wouldn't be convicted because he isn't guilty.

medius fīdius: an oath: "by the gods," "so help me," "heaven help me," "most certainly." Not uncommon in Cicero and other oratorical writers.

tē iūdice: ablative absolute, "with you (as the) judge," "in your court."

pūrgandae ... philosophiae et probandī meī: genitive gerundive phrases dependent upon cōpia et facultās, "of clearing my philosophy's name and of proving myself innocent."

apud imperītōs: "before the uninitiated," i.e., people who are unfamiliar with Apuleius' philosophical beliefs.

(4)

ut ... graves ... ita ... repentinae: "as serious as they were sudden."

ad difficultātem dēfēnsiōnis:  "so that they have made the work of defense very difficult.' The uses of the preposition ad become very widely extended in post-classical Latin (B/O).

fuēre: fuērunt.

(5)

abhinc ... cum: "from (the time) when."

causam ... agere: "to press a case," "defend an action." See LS causa II.E. The nature of this case is unclear. Presumably Apuleius was defending his wife in some business-related litigation.

adversus Grāniōs: many speculations have been made about the nature of this trial but we can only guess (Hunink).

dē compositō: "in accordance with a prearranged plan," "in concert," as opposed to necopinantem, "not expecting (anything of the sort)."

patrōnī: nominative. These patrons are either the opposing lawyers in the present suit, or those in the earlier suit in which Apuleius was defending his wife.

eius: antecedent is Sicinius Aemilianus.

coepēre: coepērunt.

(6)

Quae: connecting relative, "these things."

cum intellegerem: causal cum clause, "since I understood," introducing the indirect statement quae ... prōlāta (esse).

nōn tam ... quam: "not as much ... as ..."

crīmina ... obiectāmenta: in apposition to the connecting relative quae:  "as charges ... as reproaches."

ultrō ... prōvocāvī: an important detail. Apuleius has challenged his enemies to take him to court on the basis of a formal accusation. He shows himself eager to use the occasion to improve his reputation, and may even have provoked the trial as such for this very reason. Apuleius' enemies must have been astonished by this sudden turn: unexpectedly, they were required to make a formal charge (Hunink).

ad accūsandum: "to file legal charges."

(7)

Ibi: i.e. at the point at which I called him out.

mōtum: supply esse in an indirect statement after videret: "were greatly disturbed."

ex verbīs rem factam: supply esse: "that an actual situation (rem) had been created from his words," i.e. that his slander had given rise to an actual lawsuit, because Apuleius unexpectedly issued the challenge just referred to.

occēpit: = coepit.

ex diffīdentiā: "from loss of confidence" in his accusation.

latibulum aliquod temeritātī: apart from repeating the element of temeritās, the phrase introduces the metaphor of 'hiding' and the notion of 'cowardice' (Hunink).