81

The next part of the letter was written in my defense, but has been twisted into exactly the opposite meaning by my accusers.

(1)

usque adhūc: "so far."

similiter: "in the same way (as the rest of the letter)."

prō mē scrīpta: concessive, "(though) written on my behalf," "though written in my defense."

in mēmet ipsum vertit cornua: "turned and gored me" (Jones). A proverbial expression: see Plautus, Pseudolus 1021 ne in re secunda nunc mihi obvortat cornua (B/O). The words of the letter are personified.

ad expellendum: a purpose construction after the concessive missa: "(though) having been sent in order to remove ...."

magīae: genitive of charge.

sēdulō: "expressly (for this purpose)," LS sedulus II.B, a rare and post-Augustan meaning.

vicem mūtāvit: "reversed its position."

ultrō: "all on its own," "all by itself." Personification continues.

contrāriam mihi opīniōnem: "the opposite opinion in respect to me" = "the opposite opinion of me."

quōrundam Oeēnsium: describing the opīniōnem almost parenthetically, "one that belonged to certain citizens of Oea."

quasi magō: magō is dative to match mihi: "as if I were a mage," as an explanation of the contrāriam opīniōnem.

quaesīvit: "obtained"; more personification.

(2)

fandō: "in conversation," "by hearsay" (OLD for 1.b).

experiendō: "by experience."

versūtiam tam insidiōsam: "a plot so crafty." Versūtia ("cunning," "subtlety," "craftiness") is a rare word derived from the adjective versūtus, "shrewd," (or in bad sense) "cunning," itself derived ultimately from the verb verto "to turn." Rufinus is bending the meanings of the words back on themselves. Livius Andonicus's Latin translation of the Odyssey from the third century BC describes Odysseus as virum versūtum (Greek πολύτροπον).

cōnflātam: "concocted" (OLD conflo 4).

Quis Palamēdēs: "what Palamedes," vivid particularization, as, "what (person as bad as) Palamedes (or worse)," as with Sisyphus, Eurybates and Phrynondas to follow.

Rufinus is compared to four legendary scoundrels and symbols of cunning (Hunink).

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Palamedes: famous for having detected the pretended madness of Ulysses, by which he sought to avoid going on the expedition to Troy (B/O).

When Odysseus feigned madness in order to avoid going to Troy, Palamedes used a trick to expose him, and became proverbial for cunning (Jones).

Sīsyphus: "the master of cunning par excellence, outwitted even the archthief Autolycus, and was finally cast into Tartarus for having discovered the amour of Zeus with Aegina (B/O).

Sisyphus cheated death in various ways until he was condemned to eternal punishment in the underworld (see Homer Odyssey 11.593–600; Alcaeus fragment 38A Campbell) (Jones).

Eurybātēs: Eurybates is mentioned as a typical traitor by Plato Protagoras 327 d (where he is coupled with Phrynondas); Demosthenes 18.24; Alciphron 2.17. The origin of his reputation is to be found in Ephorus fragment 100. He received money from Croesus with which to levy troops against the Persians, but gave the money to Cyrus (B/O).

Phrynōndās: another typical scoundrel, of whom however nothing is known. The Suda (s. v. Phrynondas) says that he lived at the time of the Peloponnesian war. See Aristophanes Thesmophoriazusae 861 (with Rogers's note); Aeschines 3.137; Plato, Protagoras 327; Isocrates in Call. 382 a (B/O).

tālem: "such (a feat)" as to make a letter mean the exact opposite of what it says. The first two exempla of deceit listed here exposed the truth about someone else's wrongdoing.

(4)

sī quī: = "if (there are any others) who."

memorandī dolō: "notable for their trickery."

contendantur: "they were to to be compared," OLD contendo 9.

maccī ... et buccōnēs: "clowns and fatheads," "clowns and bumblers" (Jones). The words allude to two stock characters in the Roman fabula Atellana (Atellan farce) (Hunink).

(5)

commentum: substantive, "falsehood."

subtīlitās: "sneakiness," "craftiness."

rōbore: literally "oak," or "oak-tree," possibly a type of prison cell (LS robur II.A.2). The late lexicographer Festus says that "the robur in a jail is the place in which a type of criminal is thrown who previously was confined in a strongly fortified cell," which OLD (robur 2.c) takes to mean a wooden post to which a criminal was chained.

efficī potuisse: the subject is the substantive clause ut ... trānsverterētur.

quae: supply epistula as antecedent.

dēfēnsiō fuerat: "had been (written) as a defense."

manentibus eīsdem litterīs: "with all the same letters (of the alphabet) staying in place," i.e., without actually changing any of the words that were written at all.

Sed hoc incrēdibile quī sit factum, probābō: order: sed probābō quī hoc incrēdibile factum sit. Hoc and incrēdibile are brought forward from their clause for emphasis, a rhetorical device called prolepsis and charmingly nicknamed the "lilies of the field" construction after the biblical quote at Matthew 6.28.

quī: "how."