13

Since Plato wrote love poems, I think I am in good company (1-2). Thank you, Claudius Maximus, for listening patiently to these preliminaries (appendicēs) before the main charges (crīmina) (3-4); now I must address another preliminary item, the charge that I, despite being a philosopher, possess a mirror (5-6). I do possess a mirror, but that does not mean I use it to beautify myself (7-8).

(1)

veniam: "forgiveness for" + genitive of charge (versuum) (LS venia II).

nē ego … Enniānī: order: nē ego habeam (id) necesse (esse) plūribus (verbīs) philosophārī, contrā sententiam Neoptolemī Enniānī.

habeam: "consider."

Neoptolemī Enniānī: "Ennius's Neoptolemus," i.e., the character Neoptolemus who appeared in a play by the old Roman poet Quintus Ennius. Cicero and Apuleius's contemporary Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticae 5.15.9) quote the line: philosophandum est, paucis; nam omnino haud placet, "it is necessary to philosophize (but only) in a few (words); for in general it is not pleasing (to philosophize)."  This is fragment 147 in volume two of the fragments on Ennius in the Loeb series.

plūribus: supply verbīs: Apuleius threatens having to break Neoptolemus's rule by  philosophizing in more words unless the prosecution concedes the point he's making about pederastic poetry.

(2)

id ... facis: i.e., veniam das.

mē ... patiar ... culpārī: "I will endure that I am being accused," "I will put up with being accused."

in huiuscemodī versibus: "in (the matter of writing) verses of this sort."

facile: "readily, without hesitation," LS facilis II.B.1.b.

cum Platōne: "alongside (such a man as) Plato."

(3)

prōpēnsam: "ready,” “willing,” “eager”  LS propendeo II.B.3.δ.

cum … audīs:  "because you are listening." Cum + indic. after verbs of thanks, giving the reason for the thanks, is ante-classical and colloquial, found in Roman comedy and Cicero's letters (Plautus, Captivi 923 loui disque ago gratias . . . quom te . . . reddiderunt;  Terence, Andria 771 dis pol habeo gratiam quom . . . adfuerunt; Cicero, Letters to Friends 13.24.2 tibi inaximas gratias ago quom tantum litterae meae potuerunt (B/O).

idcircō necessāriās, quia: "(which are) necessary for this reason, because."

rependuntur: "are weighted out for," i.e., "compensate for," "are due return for," + dat. (accusātīonī).

(4)

hoc etiam petō … audiās: order: petō hoc etiam: (ut) audiās (id) quod mihi superest ante ipsa crīmina.

ante ipsa crīmina: “before (I come to) the main charges." Apuleius comes to the central charges in section 67.2.

(5)

dē speculō: Seneca in Natural Questions, discussing how mirrors work, attacks the use of excessively luxurious mirrors. 

prō reī atrōcitāte:  "in proportion (I suppose) to the shocking nature of the affair." Ironic.

dīruptus est: "blew apart," "burst open."

Pudēns: Tannonius Pudēns, one of the opposing advocates.

Habet … Possidet: the distinction between the words is drawn as follows in the treatise ascribed to Fronto, De differentiis 524.13: habere potest etiam fur nequam. possidet nemo, nisi qui aut testamento relictae aut donatae rei aut emptae dominus est. ita in habente onus; in possidente ius est, "even a lowdown thief can have something; only one who owns by virtue of inheritance, gift, or purchase can possess. Thus in having there lies a burden, in possessing a right" (B/O).

(6)

ut ... concēdam ... nōn tamen ... necesse est: "though I concede ... it is not, however, necessary ...." For ut as concessive, "although," equivalent to etsi, see  LS ut C.3.e.β.

habēre: supply mē as subject of indirect statement after concēdam; supply speculum as direct object.

aliquid obiēcisse: "to have (successfully) made any accusation," "to have scored a point" (Jones).

negārō: negāverō.

ex eō: "because of this," i.e., the fact that he owns a mirror. LS ex III.E.

mē ... accipī: "'that I  be inferred.” The use of the infinitive with accipior is not paralleled. The direct would have been accipior exornari solere (B/O).

exōrnārī ... solēre: after accipī, "to be in the habit of being beautified." The implication is that such primping before a mirror would be discreditable and inconsistent with a profession of philosophy. Apuleius accepts in its essence the prosecution's view, which he caricatures below: magis piāculum dēcernis speculum philosophō quam Cereris mundum profānō vidēre.

(7)

Quid enim: supply dicam: "What, then, am I to say (in response)?" For this common ellipsis, see LS enim II.A.2. Needless to say, the self-doubt is entirely feigned.

chorāgium thymelicum: two Greek words, meaning "equipment of an actor" (Hunink).

argūmentārēre: argūmentārēris.

utī: “to wear” > utor + ablatives (syrmāte, crocōtā, centunculō).

syrmāte ... crocōtā ... centunculō: three special theatrical costumes. The first is a long trailing robe; the second a saffron-colored robe worn by women and effeminate men; the third a patchwork robe typical of the mime. These details are used for a rather self-mocking comparison ("Apuleius dressed up like an actor"), which at once reduces the force of the charge (Hunink).

[orgia]: this word is deleted by most editors. See B/O.

plūrimīs rēbus: “in (regards to) many things," ablative of specification AG 418.

(8)

Quod sī: "But if."

habēre: "having (something)," subject of est.

ūtendī argūmentum: objective genitive, "proof of using (it)."

nōn ūtendī: as above, "of not using (it)."

nōn habēre: "not having (something)," supply est argumentum.

illud etiam doceās necesse est: order: necesse est (ut) doceās illud etiam.

culpātur: "is being brought as an accusation."

ut doceās: "that you show."

illud etiam: "the following, as well," i.e., the indirect questions introduced by quando, quibus praesentibus.

magis …  vidēre: dēcernis magis piāculum (esse) philosophō vidēre speculum quam profānō mundum Cereris (vidēre).

ut rēs est: parenthetical, "as things stand," "evidently."

dēcernis: "judge," "believe," LS decerno I.A.2.

magis piāculum: supply esse: "that it requires more expiation," "that it is more of a sin," + dative (philosophō, profānō) + subject infinitive (vidēre).

Cereris mundum: "equipment," "symbols," OLD mundus 2.B. There was also a pit at Rome called mundus Cereris which was opened three times per year (Festus, De verborum significatione 142.9). 

profānō: "an uninitiated person," LS profanus I. See Ovid, Ars Amatoria 2.601: Quis Cereris ritus ausit vulgare profanis?