71

Pudentilla chose me above other suitors. In so doing she followed the will of her son Pontianus. When Pontianus learned she intended to re-marry he had come quickly to Oea from Rome, worried that she had chosen some greedy man as a husband who would deprive Pontianus and his brother of their rightful inheritance via the dowry. 

(1)

Satis putō ... posse cuivīs liquere: "I think that it is able to be clear enough to anyone you want," introducing the indirect statement: Pudentillam nōn ... compulsam (esse), sed ... māluisse.

ex istīs: supply argūmentīs or something similar.

ōlim suā sponte: "long now of her own volition." Construe with nōn aliēnam.

ā nūbendō ... aliēnam: "averse to marrying," LS alienus B.4, modifying Pudentillam.

mē ... maluisse: this clause and the remarks in 71.2 anticipate the events to be told in the following chapters. It has not yet been made clear that Pudentilla had chosen Apuleius (Hunink).

(2)

tam gravis fēminae: "so respectable a woman" (Jones). The adjective implies seriousness, thoughtfulness, and earnestness (OLD gravis 11.a), qualities consistent with Apuleius's portrayal of her actions regarding the inheritance and estate management.

mihi crīminī ... danda sit: "should be given to me for an accusation," "should count against me as an accusation."

nōn reperiō: pres. with stative force, "I have not discovered." "I have no idea."

nisi tamen mīror quod: "I merely wonder why" (Jones). The tone is sarcastic.

id iūdicium mulieris: Pudentilla's decision to marry Apuleius.

aegrē ferant: "should take [the decision] badly," "should grumble about."

sibi: "to them," i.e., the rest of the suitors.

praelātum: supply esse.

(3)

Quod: connecting relative, referring to the decision to marry Apuleius specifically. 

That her son Pontianus was the initiator of this plan will be demonstrated in the next chapter (Hunink).

ut faceret: an indirect command following obsecūta est, "obeyed (the command of)."

animō: supply suō, "her own feelings," LS animus II.B.1.a.

Ita factum: supply esse, "that it happened this way," "that that's how it happened," indirect statement after negāre.

nec: "not even."

(4)

acceptīs litterīs mātris: Pontianus did receive Pudentilla's letter, unlike that of Aemilianus, which had probably been intercepted by her. See 70.4 (Hunink).

virum nacta esset: "she had acquired as a husband," OLD nanciscor 3.a.

omnia ... cōnferret: supply bona or something similar: "she would bring with her all (her goods, resources, etc.)," i.e., that this greedy man would convince her to give him control over all her finances, possibly jeopardizing her sons' inheritances.

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This would depend on the terms of the dos. See ch. 91. By this period the wife did not in practice pass into the manus of her husband. The manus was virtually obsolete, and the wife had free disposal of her property. That Pudentilla was not in the manus of Apuleius is shown by ch. 101, where Cassius Longinus appears as her tutor auctor, after the marriage (B/O).

Pudentilla's sons were to inherit everything she owned. They feared that she reserved much money for the dowry, which then could come under the jurisdiction of her new husband for as long as the marriage was to last (Hununk).

domum: "household" (LS domus II.B) not necessarily the physical house.

(5)

Ea sollicitūdō: i.e., the concern over losing his inheritance.

nōn mediocriter: "in no small degree," i.e., "in a major way."

facultātibus: "resources," "means," OLD facultas 5.b.

(6)

modicum: "a moderate amount," which has presumably already gone to the boys. 

Now it appears that the high hopes which the boys' grandfather had raised when he had put pressure on Pudentilla (68.4) have not come true (Hunink).

sēstertium quadrāgiēs: four million sesterces. sestertium is a conventional abbreviation for centena milia sestertium, one hundred thousands of sesterces. 40 x 100,000 = 4,000,000. This is a very large sum. 

An important piece of information about Pudentilla's capital: it amounted to 4,000,000 sesterces, which makes her a locupletissima mulier; it consisted mainly of estates (Hunink).

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Information from Pompeii indicates that wages for skilled laborers were typically between five and sixteen asses a day (about 1-4 sesterces; 1 sesterce = 4 asses) in the mid-first century AD. From 46 BC to AD 84 Roman legionaries received a daily wage of ten asses, which came to 225 denarii (= 900 sesterces) a year. Members of the elite praetorian guard received two denarii a day (= 730 denarii or 2,920 sesterces per year).

ex quō ... debēbat: it remains unclear what money this refers to. Apuleius's words could refer to some sort of loan of the boys to their mother (Hunink).

aliquantam pecūniam: object of dēbēbat.

nūllīs tabulīs, sed ... merā fide: "with no tablets, but with pure trust," i.e., she and her sons never wrote up the agreement in an official or legal document, but they trusted each other about it, as it's fair for a mother and sons to trust one another.

acceptam: "credited," a common financial term (OLD acceptus 2).

(7)

mussitābat: "he was silent regarding," i.e., he never mentioned it out loud.

Adversārī: supply Pudentillam as direct object.

nē vidērētur: "so as not to seem."

diffīdere: supply Pudentillae.