48

Now I come to the charge that I bewitched a free woman. I examined the woman as her doctor testified. Although Claudius Maximus, the judge, has already ascertained that I had no motive to cast a spell, I will explain why I asked about the ringing in her ears. 

(1)

Mulierem etiam līberam:  the concealment of her identity could be due to Apuleius’ choice to protect the woman’s privacy and decorum. Hunink wonders about the absence of the woman from the courtroom, but according to the Roman law her presence was not necessary since women’s testimonies did not count, see 1.4 with reference to Pudentilla (Costantini, 156, n. 237).

perductam: supply esse in an indirect statement after dīxistis.

ad mē domum: "to me at my home."

eiusdem Thallī valētūdinis: genitive of description, "of the same medical condition (as that) of Thallus," i.e., a woman with epilepsy.

pollicitus sim: subjunctive inside of the indirect statement, but perhaps also with a sense of "allegedly."

Cūrātūrum: = mē cūrātūrum esse.

eam: mulierem.

(2)

Ut videō: "apparently," an ironic parenthesis common in Cicero.

accūsātum: accusative supine, showing purpose with vēnistis.

vēnistis: "you have come (here)."

ita: introduces a paratactic remark justifying the previous one, "so true is it that ...," "since ...," OLD ita 14. 

omnēs quī mē accessēre dīcitis cecidisse: order: dīcitis omnēs cecidisse quī mē accessēre.

accessēre: accessērunt, "have come near me" > accedo, "to go to, approach (a person, usu. for a specific purpose)," DMLBS accedo 2.

(3)

Negavit ... magis: order: Tamen Themisōn medicus, ā quō mulier perducta est ad īnspiciendum, quaerente tē, Maxime, negāvit (eam) passam (esse) quicquam ultra, nisi quaesīsse mē ecquid illī aurēs obtinnīrent, et utra eārum (obtinnīret) magis. Apuleius's word order foregrounds the idea that with witness contradicted the prosecution's claim (negavit), and that the questioning happened in an official setting (quaerente te, Maxime).

quaerente tē: "when asked by you."

ad īnspiciendum: "in order to examine her," "for an examination."

quicquam ultrā ... nisi quaesīsse mē: "anything more than my asking her," direct object of passam (esse).

ecquid illī aurēs obtinnīrent: "whether her ears were ringing at all."

utra: supply auris.

eārum: aurum.

magis: supply obtinnīret.

(4)

responderit: subject is the woman.

inquiētam: supply esse.

discessisse: subject is the woman (still in indirect statement after Negāvit ... Themisōn in 48.2, though the negative force from negāvit has dissipated by now).

(5)

inpraesentiārum: adv. "for the present."

ā laudibus tuīs: construe tuīs as if the objective genitive tuī, "from your praises" = "from praising you."

temperō: "refrain from" + ab + abl. (ā laudibus tuīs) LS tempero II.A.γ.

nēcubi ... videar: "so that at no point I might seem."

ob causam istam: "because of this trial," i.e., looking for a favorable outcome. iste = hic, with no reference to the second person, is not uncommon in second century authors, see OLD iste 4.

nequeō quīn: "I cannot keep from," + subj. (laudem).

(6)

Dūdum: modifying quaesīstī below.

agitārentur: "were being discussed," LS agito II.F.

illī: the prosecutors.

incantātam mulierem: supply esse, indirect statement dependent upon dīcerent.

medicus quī adfuerat abnueret: still in the cum clause in asyndeton, supply et or sed.

adfuerat: at the actual event in question.

abnueret: supply mulierem incantātam esse.

tū: Maximus.

nimis quam: "very," LS nimis II.

ēmolumentum: "the benefit of," + gen., LS emolumentum II.β.

incantandī: mulieris incantandae.

(7)

Ut mulier rueret: purpose clause intended as an answer to the proposed question, indicating the supposed purpose of Apuleius's incantation.

Quid deinde? Mortua est?: "what next? Did she die?" as a result of falling down.

Negārunt: Negāverunt.

Quod Āpulēī commodum: supply fuisset. "What good would have come to Apuleius?"

ruisset: contrary-to-fact; Apuleius is not conceding the fact that the woman did indeed fall down.

(8)

quaesīstī: quaesīvistī.

ut quī scīrēs: "as one (does), who knows," relative clause of characteristic, in imperfect tense due to quaesīvistī being in secondary sequence.

ratiōnēs: "motives."

exāminandās: supply esse.

causās: "reasons" behind a criminal act.

quaerī: i.e., quaerendās esse.

saepius causās quaerī, facta concēdī: "that very often examination of motives leads to admission of facts" (Jones).

concēdī: "are admitted" under questioning.

eōque ... nōminārī: "and this is why ... are called." The etymology is false. The first part of the compound causidicus (advocate) in fact derives from causa, not in the sense of “cause” but of “legal case” (Jones).

quod cūr ... expediant: "because they explain why ..." (LS expedio II.B.2).

(9)

Cēterum: "moreover," moving on to a new point, OLD ceterus 5.b.

negāre factum: "to deny a deed," the full phrase being the subject of est and indiget.

rēctē factum vel perperam docēre: docēre (utrum) factum (esset) rēctē vel perperam, substantive infinitive phrase.

vērō: "on the other hand."

multō: "very," an extremely rare use of this adverb with the positive degree of an adjective, rather than the comparative (OLD multo 1.d, cites only this passage; TLL multus VIII.B.2 adds a few late parallels; but compare Italian molto).

Frūstrā igitur an factum sit anquīritur: "this is is fruitless to inquire whether something has been done or not." 

quod: "(a deed) which."

nūllam mālam causam: "no malicious purpose."

ut fieret: purpose clause, "why it should happen," "that it should happen for."

(10)

factī reus: "a person accused of a deed."

apud: "in the court of," "before," "in front of."

scrūpulō quaestiōnis: "from concern about being cross-examined" (Jones).

eī: reō, dative of possession.

ratiō peccandī: "reason of wrongdoing," "motive for wrongdoing."

(11)

neque incantātam neque prōstrātam: supply esse.

petītū medicī: "at the request of a doctor."

īnspectam: supply esse.

illud ... quaesierim: "I asked her that question."

(12)

nōn tam ... gratia ... quam ut ne: "Not so much for the sake of (genitive gerundive phrase) ... as so as to not" with variatio between the gerundive of purpose and the purpose clause between the two halves of the correlative phrase.

pūrgandī meī grātiā: Apuleius goes on to explain not why he asked about the ringing in her ears but why he's going to explain why he asked about the ringing in her ears.

quam: relative pronoun with the antecedent eā rē, not correlative with tam.

praeiūdicāstī: praeiūdicāvistī, "you previously ruled," "you already made a judgment."

cōnfīnem: supply esse, subject is quam (rem) in an indirect statement dependent upon praeiūdicāvistī, "relevant to," + dat (neque culpae neque crīminī).

quam ut: correlative with the earlier nōn tam.

nē quid ... reticuerim: "that I may not be silent on any point," quid = aliquid.

doctrīnae tuae congruēns: "matching (the level of) your education." i.e., something you're smart enough to be interested in.

(13)

Dīcam: future indicative.

quam brevissimē potuerō: "as briefly as I am able."

admonendus es mihi, nōn docendus: because Maximus already knows about it.