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Even if Pudentilla had expressly stated that I was a mage in the letter, that would not outweigh all the evidence that I am not a mage. Women sometimes say untrue things in letters. Consider the example of Phaedra. By the the logic of my accusers, any words written in passion or anger in a letter could be the basis of legal prosecution.

(1)

Quamquam: "Yet," as a transition from the last section. LS quamquam II.

dēstrictius: "more precisely," "in more explicit language."

vim meam quam voluntātem suam: "compulsion on my part rather than consent on hers" (Jones).

posset vidērī ... causārī māluisse: "it would be able to seem that she preferred to blame," "one might think that she would have preferred to allege" (Jones)—contrary to fact, since she did not, in fact, blame any use of force on Apuleius's part.

excūsābunda sē fīliō: "when excusing herself to her son," for wanting to get married to Apuleius. Butler lists a great number of parallel examples of a non-participial adjective with verbal force taking a direct object in his note at 72 on periclitabundus.

An sōla Phaedra: "Or did Phaedra alone ..." "Or was it only Phaedra who ...."

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Her falsum epistolium must refer to her written message to Theseus, in which she accused Hippolytus of indecent "love," that is, of assaulting her; see Euripides Hippolytus 856-57. The motif is varied in Seneca's Phaedra 864ff: Theseus meets Phaedra on the verge of committing suicide, and she tells her tale personally. Within Apuleius's works, the Phaedra motif is dominant in Metamorphoses 10.2-12 (Hunink).

Again, Apuleius's comments may be considered to be offensive to his wife. The implicit comparison of Pudentilla to Phaedra is rude as such: Phaedra is the fourth legendary wicked woman mentioned within only a few lines (cf. 78.4). More specifically, Phaedra's love was illicit, she caused the death of the 'lover', and killed herself, three points clearly not applicable to Pudentilla (Hunink).

falsum epistolium ... commenta est: "lied (in a) a false letter."

ars: "trick," "stratagem," as in Greek. τέχνη, LS ars II.

ūsitāta est: > usitor, in the passive with the sense of "well-known to," "commonly used by" + dat.

ut ... mālint: a substantive subjunctive clause describing haec ars.

aliquid eius modī: i.e., sex.

(2)

Quod sī etiam: "But even if."

animō ita putāvit: "she thought so in her soul," "she really thought so."

Van der Vliet would read ex animo (see ch. 3); but animo is probably used in accordance with Apuleius's tendency to double the force of the verb with an ablative. See ch. 10 igni deussit and ch. 1 flagitationibus provocavi (B/O).

idcircōne ... quia: "is it for this reason ... that?" looking forward to the quia clause as a statement of the reason.

magus habear: "I should be considered a mage." Deliberative subjunctive in a rhetorical question.

magum mē: supply esse, indirect statement after probātis.

nōn probātis: present in a stative sense: "you have not proven."

probāret: potential subjunctive, "could she prove (that I am a mage)?"

quantō ... gravius habendum est ... quam ...: "how much more seriously must X be taken than Y."

quod: supply id: "that which," as with the following quod.

in iūdiciō: "in the course of a legal proceeding."

subscrībitur: "is attested to," literally by signing your name underneath of your testimony.

(3)

Quīn tu: "why don't you."

revincīs: "convict."

eādem viā: "by that same path," "by that same logic."

multī reī ... postulābuntur: "many men will be required to appear in court as defendants,"  "many defendants will be summoned/accused."

cuiusvīs maleficiī: genitive of the charge, "(on an accusation) of whatever kind of misdeed you can think of."

ratum futūrum est: "will be considered (proven)," subject is the understood antecedent of the relative clause quod ... scrīpserit.

quod: supply id, "that which."

vel amōre vel odiō: ablatives of cause, "out of either love or hate."

cuiuspiam: objective genitive with amōre and odiō.

(4)

Magum tē: supply esse.

cōnsulem mē: supply esse.

sī pictōrem, sī medicum, quid dēnique, sī innocentem: supply mē esse scrīpsisset.

aliquid hōrum: "(that I was) any of these things" listed in the previous sentence.

idcircō, quod: "for this reason, that" "just because."

Nihil: supply hōrum, correlating to aliquid hōrum above: "would you consider me any of these things?" "(you would consider me) not one (of these things), obviously."

(5)

eī: "in her (Pudentilla)," construe with fidem habere: "to have faith in her," "to take her word for it."

in peiōribus: "in regards to the worse things in it," or the things that could be construed as negative about Apuleius.

cui: "in whom," i.e., Pudentilla.

in meliōribus: "in regards to the better things in it," Apuleius is complaining that his accusers are taking as gospel implications of witchcraft from the letter while dismissing parts of the letter that support Apuleius's case.

nōn habērēs: supply fidem, "you do not have faith," "you do not trust."

posse litterās ... nōn posse: continuing from periniūrium est: "that the letter should have power ... (but) not have power."

eius: Pudentillae.

ad perniciem: "for harm" against Apuleius in the trial.

ad salūtem: for Apuleius's defense.

(6)

inquiētī animī: genitive of description.

fuit: subject is Pudentilla.

Concēdō: Apuleius is "granting" this point by the accusers for the sake of argument.

interim: "for the moment."

Num tamen: "But certainly not."

hoc: "this (sentiment)," i.e., that they were "madly" in love.

quī amat: "(the person) who loves (them)."

quod ... nōn amābat: substantive clause telling us what it is Apuleius now believes.

id ... quod: "a thing which," i.e., the sentiments in her letter.

forās scrīpsit: like (scripta) foras dare, edere or proferre: "published" "sent out this writing into the world."  Jones focuses on the idea of the words being made public, translating forās as "for the eyes of others."

palam: "obviously," OLD palam 1.c.

erat mihi obfutūrum: "was going to be injurious to me in the future."