22

You intend to insult me by saying I had nothing to my name but a knapsack and a walking stick (1); if only my needs were so few, like those of Crates the Cynic philosopher, who donated his considerable fortune and property to the people of his native Thebes and praised the convenience of his ascetic lifestyle in a well-known poem (2–5); a walking stick and knapsack are the proper gear for any philosopher, though they are specifically associated with Cynics, not Platonists (6–8); this was all Hercules had to his name before his deification (9–10).

(1)

grātum habuī: "I took it as a compliment."

ad contumēliam: "as an insult."

rem familiārem mihi: “(the sum total of) my family wealth," mihi is a dative of possession after fuisse.

pēram et baculum: "satchel and walking stick," marks of the itinerant philosopher, especially Cynics. 

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The pēra (Gk. πῆρα) was a bag or satchel for carrying bread, seeds, or herbs and vegetables, which belonged to the equipment of hunters, shepherds or fishermen and was worn at the hip by means of a strap over the shoulder. The pēra was already an item characterizing beggars in Homer (Odyssey 13.437), and later became, along with the walking staff (βάκτρον), Latin baculum), a symbol used by wandering philosophers to demonstrate their poverty (Martial, Epigrams 4.53; Palatine Anthology, Epigrams 6.298). Such satchels were especially associated with Cynic philosophers such as Crates of Thebes and Diogenes of Sinope (Brill, Pera).

(2)

Quod: "In regard to this accusation."

tantus animī: "so great of spirit," genitive of specification, AG 349. An extension of the genitive (originally locative) found with words like furens, aeger, dubius (B/O). 

forem: = essem (AG 170.a).

eundem: looks forward to quem, "the same ... (as that) which."

ōrnātum: "attire."

Cratēs: Crates of Thebes, a Cynic philosopher of the late 4th century BC, a pupil of Diogenes of Sinope. Apuleius was especially interested in this Cynic, who is the central figure in Florida 14 (Crates and Hipparche) and 22 (Crates as Hercules); further Florida 20.5 (Hunink).

ultrō: "willingly," "unprompted," take closely with the abl. absolute. He was not forced by danger or politics.

(3)

sī quid crēdis: "if you can believe it," pointing out that what follows is amazing.

domī inter Thēbānōs procerēs dīves et nōbilis: "rich and noble among the elite of his native Thebes." domi nobilis, "noble at home," is a Ciceronian phrase for the upper class of places other than Rome. 

huius habitūs: objective genitive after amōre.

solitātem: "being on his own," without slave attendants.

prae: "in favor of."

mūtāvit: "exchanged for," + abl.

(4)

compertā ūtilitāte: "after having discovered its (the satchel's) convenience."

flexīs ad hōc Homēricīs versibus: "with verses adapted from Homer for the purpose." The original verse is Odyssey 19.172.

quibus: "with which (verses)."

Ille: Homer.

(5)

Prīncipium: "the first line." Diogenes Laetrius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 6.5.85 quotes a longer section.

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"There is a city Pera in the midst of wine-dark vapor,

Fair, fruitful, passing squalid, owning nought,

Into which sails nor fool nor parasite.

Nor glutton, slave of sensual appetite,

But thyme it bears, garlic, and figs and loaves,

For which things' sake men fight not each with other,

Nor stand to arms for money or for fame." (trans. R.D. Hicks)

ad dēfēnsiōnem: "for the sake of my defense."

πήρη τις πόλις ἐστὶ μέσῳ ἐνὶ οἴνοπι τύφῳ: "There is a town called Satchel, in the midst of the wine-dark Folly." 

τύφῳ: literally "smoke," metaphorically "the folly of the world," a technical term among Stoics in this sense (B/O).

mīrifica: "wonderfully written."

quae sī tū lēgissēs: "that, if you had read them."

magis mihi pēram ... invīdissēs: "you would have been more jealous of my satchel."

invidisses: > invideo + acc., "to envy the possession of," "begrudge" (LS invideo II.A.ι).

(6)

tū: supply exprobrās.

exprobrārēs igitur et: "So maybe you'd also reproach..." potential subjunctive.

faleras: metal ornaments worn by horses. A set of Roman silvered bronze horse-trappings found in Xanten, Germany is now in the British Museum. They are inscribed  PLINIO PRAEF(ECTO) EQ(VITUM) ("while Pliny was Prefect of the cavalry"). This suggests that these horse-phalerae belonged to a cavalryman under his command when Pliny was stationed in Germania Inferior in approximately 50 AD.

clipeōs: the clipeus was a large circular shield.

vexilla: the vexillum was a rectangle of fabric that hung down from a horizontal pole; this was again fastened to a long lance. It was entrusted to a signifer and used for the transfer of commands from the commander; in this case they were accompanied by the sound of the cornu (Vegetius, Epitoma rei militaris 2.22). Due to their importance, they achieved an almost religious validity (see for instance Tacitus, Annals 1.39.4). According to tradition, Romulus provided the first legion with animal symbols such as the eagle, the wolf, the horse, the wild boar and the minotaur (Brill, Ensigns).

togam palmatam: "palm-embroidered toga," also called the toga picta, worn by triumphing generals.

(7)

Nōn sunt quidem ista: "Those things (i.e., the satchel and walking-stick) aren't even ..."

quidem:  looks forward to verum tamen.

Platōnicae sectae: the sect of philosophers to which Apuleius belonged.

gestāmina: "trappings."

familiae: "sect," "school," LS familia II.B.1.

Vērum tamen hoc Diogenī et Antisthenī pēra et baculum: order: Vērum tamen hoc -- pēra et baculum -- (est) Diogenī et Antisthenī quod diadēma (est) regibus ....

rēgibus diadēma: a portrait on a coin from the late 3rd century BC now in the Yale University Art Gallery shows Antiochus III, the Seleucid King, wearing a diadem.

paludamentum: the paludamentum was a cloak or cape fastened at one shoulder, worn by military commanders.

galērum: the characteritic cap of Roman priests, seen on a marble statue of a Roman priest now in the Munich Glyptotek, dating to around AD 120. Flamines were forbidden by law to go into public, or even into the open air, without the proper headgear (Gellius, Attic Nights 10.15.17), known variously as an apex or galerus. Hence we find the expression of alicui apicem dialem imponere used as equivalent to the appointment of a flamen dialis. (Livy 6.41)

lituus: an altar from Rome dating to the Augustan period show Augustus himself, presented as pontifex maximus and bearing the lituus, as he presides over an augural event.

(8)

de veritate regni: "on the true nature of kingship," as a topic for philosophical discussion.

certābundus: "disputing."

vice scēptrī: "in the place of a scepter," "over the sceptre," that his walking-stick was preferable to a royal sceptre.

glōriābātur: "used to pride himself on," + abl.

(9)

haec: supply exempla, i.e., Diogenes and Crates.

tibi: ethical dative, construe with nimis sordent: "are too gross for you."

mandicabula: "instruments of the beggar's trade," a sonorous word borrowed from Plautus Auluaria 703.

(10)

is tamen deus: "he, notwithstanding that he was a god," "even though he was a god."

ūnā pellī vestītior: "more clothed than by one skin."

ūnō baculō comitātior: "more equipped than by one stick."