101

You decline to look at the will, Pudens. Well, I hereby renounce any further interest in Pudentilla's testament and will no longer advocate on your behalf. You are on your own. 

I have now demolished both the specific charge against me (magical practices) and its root cause (ill will over the imagined inheritance). There is one further matter, the alleged purchase of a farm in my name using Pudentilla's money. In fact, Pudentilla purchased the small farm in her own name and pays the tax on it herself. The public tax collector and Pudentilla's legal guardian are here to attest to these facts.

(1)

reppulistī: “you have shed your worry” (Jones). OLD repello 6, "discard."

hāsce tabulās: "this will."

prō pedibus tuīs abiciō: "I throw before your feet,” "I leave with you," renouncing any further interest in dealing with it.

mē deinceps incūriōsius habitūrum: indirect statement after testor, "that in the future I will hold myself with less concern (about)," "that moving forward I will care less about," introducing the indirect question quid ... scrībat. He does not mean that he does not care what Pudentilla wrote in this present copy of her will, he is threatening to no longer interfere if she wishes in the future to disinherit Pudens.

(2)

Ipse: Pudens, i.e., instead of me.

dē cēterō: "as far as concerns the rest (of our lives)" = "in the future," LS ceterus I.1.c.

exōret: jussive subjunctive.

(3)

ut ... dēprecer, locum: "cause for me to intercede (with Pudentilla)." LS locus II.C. Apuleius is all out of cares to give on this matter.

ut suī potēns ac vir: "since he is in control of his affairs and a real man." For suī potēns of general autonomy and adult independence, see Horace, Odes 3.29.41 and Livy 1.35.4.

Of course, these words must be taken ironically (Hunink). 

dictet ... dēlēniat: jussive subjunctive.

quī potuit perōrāre, poterit exōrāre: the antecedent is Pudens. 

A fine sententia, exploiting the close verbal resemblance of perorare ("plead," "argue a case to the end") and exorare ("win over by entreaty") (Hunink).

"He could plead in court, he can surely plead for himself" (Jones).

est: "has been" (regular with iam dūdum).

crīmina obiecta: "the accusations brought against me."

hērēditātis quaesītae invidiam: “resentment over a hoped-for legacy” (Jones).

rādīcem ... funditus sustulī: "I have brought up from the depths the root (cause)," a bipartite metaphor: Apuleius has both revealed (brought from darkness into light) the reason that the accusers have brought the case against him, and also utterly destroyed their case as one destroys a plant by pulling it up roots and all.

(4)

illud: "the following (charge)," OLD ille 13.

quid omnium: "any (charge) out of all (of the charges which have been brought against me)."

falsō obiectum: supply esse, "that it was brought falsely."

magnā pecūniā mulieris: "with a lot of money belonging to my wife"

(5)

Dīcō: "I declare," followed by indirect statements:

exiguum hērēdiolum (emptum esse)

nōn mē, sed Pudentillam ... ēmissē

nomen ... esse

tribūtum dēpendī

LX mīlibus numm(ōr)um: "for 60,000 sesterces."

suō nomine: this means that it fell under the terms of Pudentilla's will and could not come into Apuleius's possession (Hunink).

in tabulīs: "on the deed."

tribūtum: i.e. the tributum soli paid on all land in the provinces except in the cases of communities, such as civitates liberae et immunes or coloniae with the ius Italicum, which had special immunity (B/O).

dēpendī: passive infinitive, "is being paid.”

(6)

quaestor publicus: the magistrate in charge of collecting taxes, to whom the tributum for the estate is paid. He is probably a  local civil servant. Of this Corvinius Celer, nothing else is known. In 101.7 his name is spelled as Corvinius Clemens (Hunink).

dēpēnsum est: supply tribūtum as subject.

ōrnātus: "distinguished."

tutor auctor: "(temporary) legal guardian," a legal formula seen in the Digest.

In certain official procedures, such as the conveyance of property, a Roman woman needed formal authorization for her acts by a man who had full legal capacity. If she married sine manu, as Pudentilla did, she would have a guardian beside her husband. In practice, Pudentilla probably was free to act as she pleased, and the role of the guardian was only a formality (Hunink).

mihi: dative of agent with the gerundive nōminandus.

(7)

cuius ēmptiōnis: objective genitive with auctor, introducing an indirect question: "of what purchase."

fuerit: perfect subjunctive in an indirect question; subject is Pudentilla, auctor is predicate.

quantulō pretiō: ablative of price or value, introducing a second indirect question: "at how little a price."

praestinā(ve)rit: a Plautine word (B/O).

[Testimōnium Cassī Longīnī tūtōris et Corvīnī Clēmentis quaestor]: most editors delete these words as a scribal addition. It is not clear why Corvinius's cognomen is given as Clemens, rather than Celer, as above.

(8)

Estne ita ut: "Is it just as ... ?"

ēmptiōne: "bill of sale," "record of purchase."

ascrīptum est: "was added (in writing to the purchase agreement)."

invidiōsum: "a cause for ill will" towards Apuleius.

num vel hoc saltem in mē collātum: "or, I should say, it (the estate, or its value) surely wasn't even bestowed upon me." OLD confero 5.a "confer, bestow (benefits, etc.)."