2

Embarrassed, Aemilianus suddenly withdrew the allegation of murder, and focused on the crime of magic (1-2); he did not make the charge openly, but under the name of Sicinius Pudens, his brother's son and my step-son (3-4); Maximus, you tried to compel him to make the charge under his own name, but he insists on hiding behind Sicinius Pudens (5-8); if the charges had any substance, he surely would have made them under his own name (9); Aemilianus made another false accusation before, claiming his own uncle's will to be false, even when this was proven in court not to be the case (10-12).

[clausulated text]

(1)

clāmitārat: clamitāverat.

ad subscrībendum: “to confirm the application by formal signature.” (Hunink). Subscriptio (in a criminal trial) was a written accusation or an oral accusation written down in the records of the competent office and signed by the accuser. The accuser and those who signed the accusation together with him to support the accusation were the subscriptores (Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law).

(2)

tacēre: "fell quiet," historical infinitive (AG 463).

crīminis dēscrīptiōne:  "recording of the charge," "indictment" (OLD descriptio 2). dēscrīptiōne is abl. after dēsistere, "to cease prosecution of an action."

īnfāmātur: "is alleged as an accusation" (Hunink).

eam: i.e. calumniam [magiae].

(3)

nē id quidem: "not even that" (i.e. the accusation of witchcraft).

dē professō: "openly" > profiteor.

vērum: "but."

libellum: a petition, legal document. A libellus is a small booklet (liber), a pamphlet. The term is applied to all kinds of petitions or letters addressed to the emperor or a high official. Written complaints in civil or criminal matters (accusations) as well as written declarations (attestations, issued by an official or a private person) are also termed libellus. (Berger, libellus).

eius: Sicinius Pudens. 

optentū eius aetātulae: "under the cover of his young age."

ipse: Sicinius Aemilianus.

īnsimulātiōnis falsae: genitive of charge or penalty, AG 352.

plecterētur: in the passive, “to suffer punishment,” + GEN (of what he is being punished for, i.e. īnsimulātiōnis falsae).

(5)

Quod: connective relative, referring to Aemilianus' ruse: "this."

tu: addressing the judge, Claudius Maximus.

propriō nōmine: "under his own name."

accūsātiōnem dēlātam sustinēre: "undertake the suit which had been lodged." defero is a standard verb for reporting a crime to the authorities with a view to prosecution (OLD defero 9).

(6)

pollicitus ita factūrum: supply esse, "having promised that he would do so."

nē sīc quidem: “not even so,” “not even under these circumstances.”

quitus est ut comminus ageret percellī: order: quitus est percelli ut comminus ageret, "could not be driven to engage face to face" (Jones). queo is sometimes used in the passive with meaning identical to the active. See LS queo ad fin. Percello meaning "drive, bludgeon (into action)," is confined to Apuleius. Normally the verb means "to knock down."

et adversum tē: "even against you," Claudius Maximus.

comminus ... ēminus: “hand to hand” “from a distance,” -minus > manus.

vēlitātur: "fires off," like lightly armed warriors (velites) who shoot arrows from a distance.

(7)

in assistendī veniā: “in his excuse of 'assisting' (Sicinius Pudens)." OLD venia 2.c. 

(8)

intellēctū: "to understand," the supine (AG 510), a common construction after facilis.

cuius: connecting relative, "(he who had been the initiator and deviser of this (suit)." 

īdem: "this same person," referring back to (is) qui.

auctor: "sponsor" (Jones).

(9)

ac praesertim: "and especially [with it being] Sicinius Aemilianus"  who has a track record of being vecordissimus in court, as will be demonstrated presently.

quippiam vērī: “any kernel of truth,” “anything of substance.”

in mē: "against me."

explōrāsset: explōrā(vi)sset, "had investigated (and found)."

quī …  postulāsset: order: qui numquam tam cunctanter hominem extraneum tot tantorumque criminum postulasset, si quippiam veri in me explorasset.

tam cūnctanter: with postula[vi]sset: “he never would have accused me so hesitantly.”

hominem extrāneum: "an outsider," i.e., Apuleius.

(10)

quī: Sicinius Aemilianus.

quod vērum sciēbat: "which he knew was genuine."

prō falsō īnfāmārit: "alleged as false;" take testamentum as the direct object.

īnfāmārit: infamaverit, "smeared with suspicion," "(falsely) defamed."

(11)

cum … prōnūntiāsset: order: cum Lollius Urbicus V. C. dē cōnsiliō cōnsulārium virōrum prōnūntiāsset (id testamentum) dēbēre vidērī  vērum et esse ratum. Apuleius' order foregrounds the key word, verum, "genuine."

Lollius Urbicus: the city prefect (praefectus urbi) of Rome from 146 to 160, an exceptionally long period (Hunink).

V. C.: Vir Clarissimus – a title designating a man of senatorial rank, though evidently merely an honorific at this period, not implying actual service as a senator.

dēbēre: subject: testamentum.

cōnsiliō: the city prefect, though normally pronouncing verdicts by himself, could use the help of an ad hoc council of advisors in cases of importance (Hunink).

prōnūntiāsset: pronuntiavisset.

clārissimam vōcem: vocem = "utterance," "words" (OLD vox 7). clarissimum = "very clear," "unambiguous" (OLD clarus 4), but perhaps with an undertone of reference to Maximus' status as a vir clarissimus, "man of senatorial standing."

(12)

aegrē: "barely," "with difficulty."

eius: objective genitive: "from his destruction," i.e. "from destroying him (Aemilianus)." Aemilianus kept on protesting that the will was a forgery, although it had been formally declared authentic. He thereby risked a punishment for calumnia (Hunink).

temperārit: temperaverit.