99

Pudens's moral deterioration is Aemilianus's fault. I will no longer intercede with Pudentilla on Pudens's behalf, as I did when Pudentilla was on the point of adding a codicil to her will disinheriting him. I insisted that she not do so, and promised to divorce her if she did. This revelation has obviously shocked Aemilianus. He thought I would be trying to get Pudentilla's fortune, but in fact I fought to have it go to Pudens.

(1)

Testor ... tē ... vōsque ... vōsque etiam: "I call you to witness ... and you ... and even you," introducing the indirect statements:

      haec damna et dēdecora ... adsignanda (esse)

      mē ... bonī cōnsultūrum (esse)

      (mē) ... supplicātūrum (esse)

tribūnal mēcum adsistitis: "are standing at the tribunal with me" to lend moral support. 

damna et dēdecora mōrum: "blemishes and stains on his character" (Jones).

candidātō illō socerō: "that would-be father-in-law of his," Rufinus.

adsignanda: supply esse, "should be attributed to."

(2)

mēque ... bonī cōnsultūrum, quod: "and that I will be satisfied that," LS consulo II.B, continuing the indirect statement from testor above.

tālis: in a negative sense, "such (an awful)."

cūrae meae iugum: "the yoke of my concern (for him)," and the resulting attempts to restrain his bad behavior.

prō eō: "on his (Pudens's) behalf."

supplicātūrum: supply esse; we are still in the indirect statement beginning with testor; subject is mē.

(3)

Nam: indicates that Apuleius will now explain that he has interceded with Pudentilla on Pudens's behalf before.

quod: "(a thing) which.”

testamentum: in Apuleius’s days, a woman could draw up a will by herself, but the law required formal consent by her guardian (Hunink).

in malā valētūdine: Pudentilla fell ill after the death of her son.

adversus illam: "against her," i.e., arguing against what she wanted to do.

nē ... exhērēdāret: indirect command conveying the substance of Apuleius's argument to his wife.

hunc: Pudentem.

exhērēdāret: "disinherit," "take out of her will."

(4)

Ēlogium gravissimum: "a very severe clause," a codicil added to the will (OLD elogium 2).

medius fīdius: a common oath, analogous to "I swear to god."  The phrase originally invoked Jupiter as a guarantor of good faith agreements (compare Zeus Pistios).

ut abolēret: indirect command after ōrāvī; subject is Pudentilla; direct object is the ēlogium gravissimum.

impēnsīs: "excessive," "fervent."

Postrēmō, nī impetrārem, dīversūrum mē ab eā comminātus sum: Postrēmō, comminātus sum mē ab eā dīversūrum (esse) nī(si) impetrārem (quod ōrāvissem).

dīversūrum mē: Apuleius openly declared, so he claims, that he would have divorced her if she had disinherited her son. (As a matter of fact, Pudentilla could never have prevented her son from obtaining his bona paterna, on which the grandfather was to decide. She could only disinherit him as far as her own property was concerned, notably what she had brought into the marriage as a dowry). At first sight this extreme altruism seems hardly plausible. There is a clue in the text that Apuleius also had personal interests: see below, mē invidiā omnī līberāret (Hunink).

mihi: "for my sake," as the proper recipient of the venia will be Pudens.

vinceret: "win over," and so save him from his evil path.

mē invidiā omnī līberāret: the last of the three clauses here shows Apuleius's motivation to reconcile mother and son: with Pontianus dead, if Pudentilla were to disinherit Pudens, people would rightly begin to talk about Apuleius as a possible source of the family disharmony and to question his motives for marrying the wealthy widow.

(5)

me prius destiti: Apuleius shows that his influence on Pudentilla was quite considerable. In a way he betrays himself here: the charges of illegal manipulation appear less absurd than he wants the audience to believe (Hunink).

ita fēcit: "she did so," i.e., all the things that Apuleius asked of her.

Doleō: ironic.

hunccē scrūpulum: the anxiety that Apuleius had come between Pudens and his mother. 

That is, by saying that he begged Pudentilla not to disinherit Pudens, Apuleius has proved that he will not try to make her cut Pudens out of her will (Jones).

tam inopīnātam rem: "something so unexpected," i.e., that Apuleius had prevented Pudentilla from cutting Pudens out of her will.

The exact contents of Pudentilla’s will appear to be unknown to the prosecution. In the next lines Apuleius fully exploits this for strong effects (Hunink).

eī: Aemilianō.

ut ... ut ...: "how," "in what manner," introducing two indirect questions. LS ut I.A.3.β.

(6)

longē sequius: comparative of secus, "far more otherwise (than how it really was)," "far differently.”

ratus fuerat: "he (Aemilianus) had come to believe."

contumēliīs īnfectam: "smeared with insults" (Jones), supply esse.

officiis: "services," "helpful or beneficial acts" (OLD officium 1).

dēvīnctam: "held under (moral) obligation," i.e., generally under Apuleius's sway, OLD devinco 4.

fuit quod: "there was (something) which."

vel aequē ut ego spernēns hērēditātis: "even one as scornful of inheritance as I am," "even a person who cares as little about inheriting money as I do."

tamen: "nevertheless," i.e., despite having a level of disdain for inheriting wealth befitting a philosopher.

vindicārī dē: "take vengeance upon," OLD vindico 6.b.

Apuleius "does not care for vengeance." Even by modern standards this would seem remarkable. In the context of the ancient pagan norms, which recommended benefitting one's friends and harming one's enemies, it is almost inconceivable (Hunink).

(7)

sollicitūdō: i.e., the worry that Apuleius would convince Pudentilla to disinherit Pudens.

relictam: supply esse or fore.

falsō: adv., construe with coniectāvēre.

ex suā avāritiā: i.e., by projecting their own greedy motivations onto Apuleius.

in praeteritum: "as to the past" (Jones), looking forward to the past tense verbs that follow, potuit ... pugnavi ... fuit. He is making no promises about the future.

locō dēmovēre: "to move from its place" = "to shake from its convictions."

(8)

velutī pater prō optimō fīliō adversus novercam: Apuleius throws some light on how topsy-turvy his whole situation was by comparing it to this more "typical" family situation.

nec satis fuit, nī: "I did not rest until" (Jones), supplying mihi.

prōlixam līberālitātem circā mē: "ample generosity where I was concerned," i.e., the money Pudentilla spent on Apuleius.

nimiō plūs aequō: "much more than was fair," aequō > aequum, a substantive noun meaning "that which is fair," (LS aequus II.B.3).

coercērem: "kept in check."