27

Many philosophers who study the causes of things have been called sorcerers by ignorant people. I am glad to be put into that category (1-4). These empty and foolish allegations could be thought of as criminal simply because they have been alleged but the "charges" amount to nothing - a boy's fall, a marriage, and the purchase of fish (5-12). 

(1)

Vērum: "but."

haec: crīmina.

fermē communī: "almost universal," OLD communis 6. 

imperītōrum: subjective genitive with errōre; substantive: "the ignorant."

philosophīs: dative with obiectantur, "are leveled against philosophers."

ut: "with the result that ...," looking forward to putent ... aiant.

partim eōrum quī: "some of them, (the ones) who ...," answered by partim in section 2. Partim is an old accusative of pars, for the use of which as a substantive there is warrant in Cicero, Sallust, and Livy, apart from its common adverbial use. Apuleius employs it here just as he uses the old ablative partī in 42.7 (B/O).  

eōrum: philosophōrum.

corporum causās merās et simplicēs: "the basic, unitary causes of matter” (Jones).

rīmantur: "investigate" a subject (OLD rimor 3).

irreligiōsōs: supply esse for an indirect statement with putent. Technically should be irreligiōsam, since the subject of the indirect statement is partim, but, as in English, easily attracted to the gender/number of eōrum: "they (the imperītī) think that the portion of them (philosophers) who dig up ... are irreligious."

eōque: "and because of this," "and for this reason."

deōs abnuere: subject is the same portion of philosophers as of irreligiōsōs (esse).

ut: "(such) as," introducing a list.

Anaxagoram: Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, born about 499 B.C. He came to Athens and had great influence there, being the friend of Pericles and Euripides. He was banished for unorthodoxy and died at Lampsacus, aged 72. See Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers 2.6 (B/O).

Leucippum: Leucippus, the founder of the atomic theory. The date and place of his birth are uncertain. But he is earlier than Democritus (born ca. 460 B.C.). His existence has been doubted, but wrongly (B/O).

Democritum: Democritus of Abdera developed the atomic theory of Leucippus.

Epicurum: Epicurus still further developed the atomic theory. Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus must, by the very fact of the theory which they preached, have laid themselves open to the charge of atheism. Epicurus did not deny the existence of the gods, but placed them apart from our world and denied that they had interest in or influence upon the affairs of men (B/O).

rērum nātūrae patrōnōs: the most obvious candidate is Lucretius, given his important position in the history of atomism and the title of his poem, De rerum natura. Apuleius certainly knew Lucretius, and he is one of the few ancient authors who even quote from his work; see De deo Socratis, chapters 1 and 10 (Hunink).

(2)

partim autem, quī: supply eōrum as antecedent of quī.

prōvidentiam mundī: "universal providence" (Jones). Providentia is the divine power that presciently directs the universe for the better. It was often personified, and was a special subject of Stoic thought. See Seneca's work De Providentia.   

impēnsius: "more zealously" (than the atomists), or "rather zealously."

vērō: "indeed."

vulgō: "generally," "commonly," LS vulgus II.C.

quasi facere etiam sciant quae sciant fierī: "as if they also know how to bring about the things which they know to occur." If someone studies the way natural phenomena are produced in nature, they might be able to conjure these phenomena out of nothing. "as if they also know how to do (themselves) what they know to be done (by nature)."

ut: "(such) as."

fuēre: fuērunt (i.e., nōminātī).

Epimenides: Epimenides was a seer and prophet of Crete, a holy man of the seventh or sixth century BC.

Orpheus: Orpheus was a legendary poet, musician, and sage. He was the founder of the Orphic mysteries.

Ostanes: Ostanes was a legendary Persian magus and the reputed author of works on magic and related topics. It was the pen-name used by several pseudonymous authors of Greek and Latin works from Hellenistic period onwards.

(3)

ac dein similiter suspectāta: "and then similarly (they say the following things are) suspicious." What suspecta specifically refers to, is not fully clear. Suspicion of magic, as in the second group, seems the most natural interpretation, but there may also be an echo of the atheism of the first group (Hunink).

Empedoclī: genitive, a case ending unique to Apuleius.

catharmoe: Catharmoe (Καθαρμοί) "Purifications," is the title of one of Empedocles's poems. By its very nature, it may have caused suspicions of magic, although the extant fragments (some 100 lines) show nothing of the kind (Hunink). 

Sōcratī: genitive, a case ending unique to Apuleius.

Sōcratī daemoniōn: daimonion (δαιμόνιον) or "divine sign" is the name given to an inner voice which gave Socrates warning signs to prevent him from making wrong decisions. See Plato, Republic 496c and Apuleius, De deo Socratis 18-20.

Platōnis τὸ ἀγαθόν: Plato's Good. Whereas there still could have been some doubts in the case of Socrates, Plato seems well beyond any suspicion of irreligiosity or magic. In the present list his name obviously functions as a climax (Hunink).

(4)

et ego: "I, too."

cum ... adnumeror: in early Latin cum (quom) causal and concessive usually takes the indicative (AG 549, note 3).

(5)

Cēterum: "As for the rest."

ad ostendendum crīmen: "in order to prove the charge," ad + acc. gerundive + acc. noun to show purpose AG 509.

<et> simplicia: et is not in the manuscripts but added by editors. Simplicia seems slightly negative: "naïve," "simple" (see OLD simplex 8) (Hunink).

vereor: "frankly, I fear" (B/O).

ideō tantum ... quod: "only for the fact that," i.e., "just because," "merely because."

nē ... crīmina putēs: "that you might think that they are (actual substantive) charges."

(6)

quasi ... licēret: quasi nōn liceat philosophō facere cognitiōnis gratiā id quod licēret luxuriōsō (facere) gulae causā."

id ... quod: "a thing which."

cognitiōnis grātiā: "for the sake of study," OLD cognitio 2.

quasi: "as if ... !" introducing an ironical comment, + subj. (liceat). See OLD quasi 2.

gulae causā: "for the sake of his throat," i.e., "his appetite," "his pampered palate," or "gourmet tastes."

licēret: subj. in a relative clause of characteristic with an indefinite antecedent, as normal, AG 535.

(7)

lībera: "independent."

tot annīs: "for so many years." 

(8)

quod sibi vidēbātur: "(something) which seemed good to her," LS video II.B.7.c. 

read more

Pudentilla's letter will be analyzed in 78.5-86, where it will turn out to be one of the strongest pieces of evidence in favor of Apuleius. As the question is put here, it is so vague as to elude the real issue. Apuleius focuses on a minor, ludicrous aspect ("expressing one's own opinion rather than that of someone else"). Since this will not play a role in the later passage, it is clearly chosen only for a momentary effect (Hunink).

causās aliēnae sententiae reddere: "give reasons for someone else's opinion."

(9)

iuvenem: Apuleius, a younger man than she.

hoc ipsum: the fact below, ut ... vellet.

argūmentum est: "is proof that," introducing an indirect statement.

nihil opus ... fuisse: "that there was no need for," + abl.

ut: introduces a substantive clause after hoc ipsum, AG 561.

mulier: "a woman" in general, not Pudentilla specifically.

virō: dative with caelibī and iūniōrī.

vidua caelibī, maior iūniōrī: synchysis of nominatives describing mulier and datives (after nūbere, as normal) describing her intended marriage partner.

(10)

domī: locative.

nōn habēre: "not to have," a substantive infinitive in apposition with id above: "it is more (an act worthy of) an accusation not to have."

(11)

Cecidit: "fell down."

Quid enim sī: "So what if."

corruisset: contrary-to-fact, "had fallen down."

morbō corporis impedītus: "hindered by illness of the body," describing the hypothetical old man.

lūbricō: neuter noun, "a slippery spot."

prōlāpsus: "having slipped," describing the hypothetical old man.

(12)

Hīscīne argūmentīs: "Are these here actually the arguments with which?" For the emphatic suffix, see LS hic I.B.

magīan: a Greek accusative ending, = magīam.

cāsū puerīlī: "a boy's fall," in the literal sense of a fall to the ground, rather than the word's more common extended sense of downfall and ruin. Apuleius may be playing on the ambiguity of the term to make fun of his accusers' catastrophizing of the situation.