[70] (1) Scrīpsistīne haec, Aemiliāne, quae lecta sunt? 'Nūbere illam velle et dēbēre sciō, sed quem ēligat nesciō.' Rectē tū quidem: nesciēbās. Pudentilla enim tibi, cuius īnfēstam malignitātem probē nōrat, dē ipsā rē tantum, cēterum dē petītōre nihil fatēbātur. (2) At tū dum eam putās etiamnum Clarō frātrī tuō dēnuptūram, falsā spē inductus fīliō quoque eius Pontiānō auctor adsentiendī fuistī.
(3)Igitur sī Clarō nubsisset, hominī rūsticānō et dēcrepitō senī, sponte eam dīcerēs sine ūllā magīā iam ōlim nupturisse; quoniam iuvenem tālem quālem dīcitis ēlēgit, coāctam fēcisse ais, cēterum semper nuptīās aspernātam. (4) Nescīstī, improbe, epistulam tuam dē istā rē tenērī, nescīstī tē tuōmet testimōniō convictum īrī. Quam tamen epistolam Pudentilla testem et indicem tuae voluntātis, ut quae tē levem et mūtābilem nec minus mendācem et impudentem scīret, māluit retinēre quam mittere.
(5) Cēterum ipsa dē eā rē Pontiānō suō Rōmam scrīpsit, etiam causās cōnsiliī suī plēnē allēgāvit. (6) Dīxit illa omnia dē valētūdine: nihil praetereā esse, cūr amplius dēbēret obdūrāre; hērēditātem avītam longā viduitāte cum dēspectū salūtis suae quaesīsse; eandem summā industriā auxisse; (7) iam deum voluntāte ipsum uxōrī, frātrem eius virīlī togae idōneōs esse; tandem aliquandō sē quoque paterentur sōlitūdinī suae et aegritūdinī subvenīre; (8) cēterum dē pietāte suā et suprēmō iūdiciō nihil metuerent; quālis vidua eīs fuerit, tālem nūptam futūram. Recitārī iubēbō exemplum epistolae huius ad fīlium missae. (...)
Vocabulary
Aemiliānus –ī m.: Sicinius Aemilianus, principal accuser, uncle of Sicinius Pontianus and Sicinius Pudens.
nūbō nūbere nūpsī nūptum: to marry
Pudentilla –ae f.: Aemilia Pudentilla, married first to Sicinius Amicus and then to Apuleius; mother of Sicinius Pontianus and Sicinius Pudens.
(2)
īnfestus –a –um: hostile, aggressive
malignitas –tātis f.: spite, ill-will
probus –a –um: good, honest
petītor –ōris m.: one who tries to obtain something; a candidate for office
etiamnum or etiamnunc: yet, even at this (or that) time.
(2)
dēnūbō –nūbere –nūpsī –nuptum: to marry
indūcō inducere indūxī inductus: to lead on, persuade, influence
adsentiō –īre –sēnsī –sēnsus: to agree
Pontiānus –ī m.: Sicinius Pontianus: Roman knight, elder son of Sicinius Amicus and Aemilia Pudentilla, now dead.
rūsticānus –a –um: hillbilly, rustic
(3)
dēcrepitus –a –um: very old, decrepit
sponte: voluntarily
magīa –ae f.: magic, sorcery
nupturiō –īre –īvī —: to desire to marry
nuptiae –ārum f. pl.: marriage
aspernor –ārī –ātus sum: to reject
improbus –a –um: shameless, wicked
(4)
-met: an enclitic intensifies personal pronouns
testimōnium testimōni(ī) n.: testimony
convincō convincere convīcī convīctus: to prove wrong, refute
index indicis m.: indication, sign, witness
mūtābilis –e: changeable, fickle
mendāx –ācis: false, deceitful, lying
impudēns –ntis: shameless
allēgō (adl–) –āre: to relate, set out, relay
(5)
valētūdō valētūdinis f.: state of health
(6)
amplius: further
obdūrō obdūrāre obdūrāvī obdūrātus: hold out, endure
hērēditās hērēditātis f.: inheritance
avītus –a –um: of a grandfather, ancestral
viduitās –ātis f.: widowhood, staying single
dēspectus -ūs m.: disregard, neglect
industria industriae f.: diligence
toga virīlis: the toga of manhood, adopted by males at around age 14
(7)
idōneus –a –um: appropriate
sōlitūdō –inis f.: solitude
aegritūdō –inis f.: sickness, grief
subveniō subvenīre subvēnī subventum: to aid
suprēmum iudicium: last will and testament
(8)
vidua viduae f.: unmarried woman, widow
nupta –ae f.: wife, bride
recitō recitāre recitāvī recitātus: to read aloud