41

How can a philosopher be charged with examining a fish? You might as well accuse Aristotle and our judge Maximus too. This charge is rife with contradictions. 

(1)

ferat: "would endure," potential subjunctive introducing an indirect statement, hoc ... esse crimen.

philosophō: "against a philosopher."

quod ... nōn fuisset: supply crimen.

(2)

Quod crūdum: "the fact that it (the fish) was raw."

coctō: supply pisci: "of a fish once it had been cooked," dative of possession with ventrem and hēpatia.

ruspārer: impf. subj. > ruspor, a very rare synonym for quaero or scrutor found in pre-classical tragic poets.

apud tē ... suōmet obsōniō discit: "is learning to do when he banquets with you" (Jones). obsonio = "dinner" (OLD 1.b). The implication is that Aemilianus is corrupting young Sicinius by accustoming him to waste money on luxurious dining. Roman gourmets sometimes spent large sums on fish.  The contrast between apud tē and suōmet obsōniō is pointed: Aemilianus is hosting the dinner, but the extravagant groceries are on Sicinius's dime.

accūsandam: "worthy of a formal accusation."

maius crīmen est philosophō comēsse piscēs: because of the wasteful expense.

(3)

hariolīs: a general word for a soothsayer, one who predicts the future through divination of various sorts or divine inspiration. Here Apuleius uses it as a synonym for haruspex, a special class of diviner whose discipline originated in Etruria and who interpreted the internal organs, such as the liver (iecur or iocur) of sacrificial animals.

contemplārī: "study," OLD contemplo 2. The verb is often treated as deponent.

quī: antecedent is philosophō.

sciat: introduces the indirect statement sē ... haruspicem (esse), sacerdōtem (esse). The subjunctive might be thought of as a relative clause of characteristic ("the sort of person who knows), or perhaps jussive ("who ought to know").

deum: deōrum.

(4)

Hoc ... quod ... : "this (same thing) ... which ...," i.e., the dissection of animals as scientific inquiry.

in Aristotele mīrāmur: "we admire in (the works of) Aristotle." The construction with in + abl. is classical.

Cuius: Aristotelī.

nisi ... exēgerīs et ... extorserīs: "unless you (first) drive out and wrench away." Aristotle's works are commonly read by scholars and found in libraries, so doing what Aristotle did (study the anatomy of fish by dissection) cannot be blameworthy.

bibliothēcīs ... manibus: ablatives of separation.

plūra: supply dixi.

(5)

Nunc praetereā: it is only now that the real alibi is given. It looks as if the defendant has kept his most convincing argument until the very end (Hunink).

quam: "how."

revincant: "refute," even without even Apuleius's help.

petītam: supply esse, "was courted" (OLD peto 10.b), "seduced" (Jones). Normally the verb would imply an honorable seeking of a woman's hand in marriage, but marīnīs illecebrīs suggests improper magical means.

eō in tempore, quō: apparently the accusers had specified a certain date for the magical practice. Apuleius argues that by that time he had been in the south, in the mountains of Gaetulia. It remains unclear what Apuleius was doing there. He may have been visiting an estate inherited from his father, but he may just as well have been searching for fossils (Hunink).

mē nōn negābunt ... fuisse: nōn negābunt mē fuisse.

in Gaetūliae mediterrāneīs montibus: Gaetulia lay in the interior North Africa, south of Numidia and Mauretania. It was inhabited by wandering tribes, the Gaetuli. The area, not clearly defined, included the southern slopes of the Atlas Mountains, from the Aurès Massif westward as far as the Atlantic. It was in any case hundreds of miles west of Sabratha.

per Deucaliōnis dīluvia: "as a result of Deucalion's flood," that is, fossils of fish left over from the primordial flood, and certainly no fresh fish for Apuleius to dissect this far from sea level.

repperientur: "will be discovered."

(6)

Quod: a connective: "Well (based on that argument)," referring to his accusers' argument that since Apuleius has read the works of Aristotle on fish he must be engaged in magical practices involving fish.

περὶ δακέτων καὶ βλητικῶν: "On Poisonous and Venomous Animals."

θηριακά: "Poisonous Beasts." Nicander's Theriaca survives.

cēterum: "otherwise," introducing the contrary to fact imperfect subjunctive postulārent.

venēficiī reum: "(as) a defendant in court (on a charge) of poisoning."

(7)

at quidem: "but in fact." 

hoc negōtium: "this pursuit," research on fish.

nactus sum: the verb (nanciscor) suggests casual encountering or, as we would say, "falling into" an occupation.

nōnnihil et Platōne meō adhortante: "with my man Plato also encouraging me somewhat," "with some encouragement from my beloved Plato, too." Platonists were not known, like Aristotelians, for an interest in biology. Apuleius himself was a committed Platonist.

eum, quī: "a person who," the accusative subject of παίζειν in indirect statement after ait.

ista: biology.

vestīget: subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic.

ἀμεταμέλητον παιδιὰν ἐν βίῳ παίζειν: "is engaged in a hobby he won't regret for the rest of his life." The Greek quotation is loose and imprecise reference to Timaeus 59 d (Hunink).