23

I inherited about two million sesterces from my father, but that has been substantially diminished over time (1-2), through my studies and gifts to my friends and teachers (3). But only people as coarse as you think that the amount of a man's inheritance (patrimonium) is important (4). You were in fact a poor dirt farmer until recently, when you were enriched by legacies from your relatives, hence your nickname, "Charon" (6-7).  

(1)

nihilī:  genitive of indefinite value (AG 417.a), "worthless," "irrelevant."

ad cēnsum disserendum: "to discuss my wealth," LS census II.C.

vocāstī: vocāvistī.

sī tamen nescīs: "if you actually are unaware."

relictum: supply esse, indirect statement after profiteor.

HS XX: although the amount remains imprecise due to the added paulo secus, it is clear that some two million sesterces constitutes a considerable fortune: the rich Pudentilla possesses four million (71.6), and Rufinus's ample patrimony amounted to three million (75.8) (Hunink).

paulō secus: "a little less."

(2)

idque ... imminūtum: supply esse in a continued indirect statement after profiteor; id refers to Apuleius's inheritance. 

līberālitātibus: "acts of generosity."

peregrīnātiōne ... imminūtum: The money has been spent on honorable and socially accepted causes, although no precise amounts are given. The remark seems to have been added to avoid a charge of being extravagant. (Hunink).

<nōn> modicē: a common litotes. The nōn is added by editors, as being more likely what Apuleius wrote.

(3)

quōrundam: "of some certain of these (friends and teachers)."

dōte: the question [of what the amount of these gifts may have been] seems irrelevant. The detail is functional at the rhetorical level, both as a proud and self-confident echo of 18.9  fīliae ob paupertātem dē pūblicō dōtibus donōtae, and as a preliminary denial of his interest in any dōs offered to himself, e.g., by Pudentilla, see chapter 90 ff. (Hunink).

auxī: > augēre, "to furnish x (acc.) with y (abl.)," LS augeo I.B.

(4)

dubitāssem: dubitāvissem, potential subjunctive: "(given the opportunity,) I would not have hesitated."

maius: "more important."

patrimōniī: objective genitive with contemptum: "scorn of my inheritance." Now that he has countered the accusers’s attempt to pillory him as a poor man attached to material possessions and bent on enriching himself, Apuleius launches the same charges against them (Hunink).

(5)

id genus ... utī tū es: "of the (same) type as you are."

tantī ... quantum: "worth as much as."

īnfēcunda: "unfruitful."

īnfēlīx: "unproductive."

tantī ... quantī: "worth as much ... as ... is worth."

(6)

At tamen: "even so" (Jones).

parce: "stop," "cease," + infinitive (obiectāre), LS parco II.B.

quī nūper usque ... exarabas:  "since until recently you plowed." The relative clause tells why Aemilianus has no right to reproach anybody with poverty, since he is himself so poor. For nuper usque = "until recently," see chapter 20.15. Surprisingly, Apuleius turns out to be fully informed about Aemilianus's agricultural practices, something he had expressly denied in 17.1. He knows even the name Zarath, the small village near Oea where Aemilianus lived, and the manner in which he works on his estate (Hunink).

Zarathēnsem: The site is unknown. From the contempt with which Apuleius speaks of it, it is presumably a small village near Oea. It can have nothing to do with the Mauretanian Zaratha mentioned by Ptolemy (B/O).

quem ūnicum: "the only one which."

solus: i.e., without hired labor or slaves, a sign of Aemilianus's poverty.

ad tempestīvum imbrem: "at an opportune rainfall.” The soil was too hard to plough without oxen. Aemilianus had no beast available save the ass, and had to wait for rain (B/O).

trīduo: "over a period of three days," a long time for such a small field, due to lack of help and the poor quality of the soil and draft animal.

(7)

Neque enim diū est: "and it has not been long since (the time)," "and it wasn't that long ago."

fulsērunt: "propped you up" (> fulcio, not fulgeo), "made you rich" (Jones).

unde ... nōmen tibi est: "for which reason you have the (nick)name." Tibi is dative of possession.

potius quam ob: "rather than because of." 

Charōn: Charon, the ferryman of souls over the River Styx to the underworld, traditionally collected tolls.