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Rufinus had already spent the four million sesterces he anticipated deriving from Pudentilla's dowry, so he urged Pontianus to do all he could to prevent her from marrying me, even threatening to withdraw his consent to Pontianus's marriage to his daughter. Under the sway of his new wife and her father, Pontianus attempted to dissuade Pudentilla from marrying me. She responded angrily.

(1)

iste: Herennius Rufinus.

reī modicus: "moderate of means," res for res familiaris, the family wealth.

speī immodicus: Rufinus's hopes and ambitions far outstrip his actual wealth.

quadrāgiēns: four million sesterces, the sum mentioned at 71.6.

praesūmptiōne cassā: "in fruitless anticipation" that he would be getting the money from Pudentilla. He had already spent the four million, according to Apuleius.

eōque: "and for this reason."

mē āmōliendum: supply esse in a passive periphrastic in indirect statement after the participle ratus: "that I needed to be removed."

ratus: "having come to the conclusion" > reor.

quō facilius ... circumvenīret: quō + a comparative adverb and a subjunctive to express purpose: "by which (act, i.e., getting Apuleius out of the picture) he could more easily get around."

īnfit: "he begins," not "he says," OLD infit 1. We return, after the digression on Herennius's past, to the brisk narrative in the historical present in which Apuleius set out to present the basic facts of the objections to his marriage to Pudentilla.

(2)

Suādet: "He (Herennius) urges (Pontianus)," introducing the indirect commands (ut) pedem referat and (ut) potius habeat quam ... trānsmittat. The omission of ut is rare, but classical, LS suadeo I.A.ζ.

quam prīmum: "as soon as possible."

pedem referat: supply ut, "that he should go back" on the deal he had made with Apuleius regarding marriage to his mother.

rem mātris: "his mother's money."

habeat: supply ut, "that he should hold onto."

hominī extrāriō: a man outside the family. Herennius is repeating the advice of Pontianus's grandfather, who also demanded Pudentilla remarry inside their family.

sciēns: "knowingly," "willingly."

(3)

Nī ita faciat, inicit scrūpulum amantī adulēscentulō veterātor, minātur sē fīliam abductūrum: veterātor inicit scrūpulum amantī adulēscentulō: minātur sē, nī(si) (Pontianus) ita faciat, fīliam abductūrum (esse).

inicit scrūpulum: "instilled a worry in" (OLD inicio 8.a) + dat.

veterātor: "old fox," "old hand."

abductūrum: "take away," i.e., not allow her to marry Pontianus.

(4)

Quid multīs: supply verbīs, "(for) what (reason) with many (words)?" "why should I draw this out?"

A colloquial expression, normally in the form quid multa? (Hunink).

inlecebrīs obfrēnātum: "reined in by the allurements," "under the sway of the allure," "led by the nose."

suō arbitrātū: "in accordance with his own (Rufinus's) inclination," "for his own purposes."

(5)

ille: Pontianus.

gerulus: "a (mere) courier," in apposition to ille (Pontianus), with the objective genitive verbōrum.

nēquicquam temptātā eius gravitāte: "with her steady character having been tested in vain," i.e., he tried to get around her seriousness of purpose when it came to marrying Apuleius, but was unable to. Gravitāte is used to contrast with levitās, just below.

ultrō ipse . . . increpitus: "he instead got himself a scolding" (Jones), OLD ultro 4.

levitātis et incōnstantiae: genitives of the charge with increpitus, "having been accused of."

haud mollia: supply verba, a Vergilian litotes, "no pleasant message" (Jones).

(6)

matri suae ... iram ... accessisse: an indirect statement conveying the outcome of Pontianus' encounter with Pudentilla to Herennius Rufinus: "that anger had come to his mother," i.e., that his mother had also become angry. See LS accedo II.B.1.

praeter: "contrary to" + acc. (ingenium placidissimum). LS praeter II.B.1.

immōbilī: modifies mātrī suae, "unmovable" on the point of whether or not to marry Apuleius, at least—even if this is not her usual sort of docile nature.

alumentum: in apposition to iram, "a fuel" for her stubbornness, a reason for her to dig in her heels, = alimentum.

(7)

respondisse eam dēnique nōn clam sē esse Rufīnī exōrātiōne sēcum expostulārī: order: (Pontiānus dīcit) eam respondisse nōn clam sē esse expostulārī sēcum exōrātiōne Rufīnī. In direct speech, Pudentilla said nōn clam mē est mēcum expostulārī exōrātiōne Rufīnī.

clam: "unknown to," LS clam II.

sēcum expostulārī: "that she was being argued with," "was being disputed about." See LS expostulo II.

eō: "for that reason."

vel magis: "all the more."

sibi: dative of agent with the passive periphrastic auxilium ... comparandum (esse).

marītī: "of a husband," in general, who would look out for her affairs, not "of her husband," Apuleius, specifically, since they were not yet married.

eius: Rufinus.