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Perhaps some of the bystanders are curious why I specified that the statuette should be made of wood. I was following the principles laid out by Plato in his last work, the Laws.

(1)

nōmine: the name by which Apuleius addressed his statuette (βασιλεύς); by metonymy, the accusations from Aemilianus concerning that name, on which see the previous chapter.

ut inpraesentiārum: "as for the moment." Inpraesentiārum is an indeclinable adverb.

Quod superest: "as for that which remains," a common transitional formula.

nec ipse sum nescius: "I am also not, myself, unaware," introducing the indirect statement quōsdam ... cupere.

circumstantium: those in the corona, listening to the trial.

potissimum: "specifically."

voluerim: pf. subj. in an indirect question.

(2)

id: i.e., to hear the answer to the question just raised. Object of dēsīderāre.

eōs: the bystanders, accusative subject of dēsīderāre in indirect statement after arbitror.

ignōscendī: supply causā: "in order to excuse (any offense of mine)," "in order to find me innocent," after hearing an explanation for the use of the wood. (AG 504.b).

cognōscendī causā: "out of curiosity."

(3)

scrūpulō: "worry," "source of misgivings" regarding the material of the statuette, ablative of separation with līberentur.

ut ... līberentur: purpose clause, subject is the audience.

cōnfūtātam: supply esse.

(4)

Audī ... potes ... audītūrus: generic second person, directed at anyone listening.

cui cūra cognōscere est: cui = sī alicuī, dative of possession with est. "If anyone has an interest in learning." (AG 373). Or else just with the indefinite second person addressee as antecedent: "listen, (you) who have an interest in learning."  Cura est + infin. appears in poetry and post-Augustan prose (LS cura I.A.1.η).

quantum potes ērēctō et attentō: "as alert and attentive as you can manage," describing animō in an ablative of manner.

quasi: introducing an actual, not a hypothetical, comparison: "as (is the case) if." See OLD quasi 4.

verba ipsa: object of audītūrus.

iam senis: according to Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 3.37, Plato's Laws were published by Plato's disciple Philip of Opus, having been left unfinished (B/O).

novissimō ... librō: "the final book," Book 12.

(5)

θεοῖσιν etc.: Plato, Laws 12.955E: "A modest man's gifts in the way of offerings to the gods should themselves be modest. Now the soil and the household hearthstone are sacred, in our universal conviction, to all gods that are. No man, then, shall reconsecrate what is dedicated already." Trans. A.E. Taylor.

(6)

Hoc: consecrating afresh what is already sacred.

eō: "for this reason" (LS eo2 B), answered by ut introducing a purpose clause.

cōnstituere: "to set up."

satis esse: subject is templa pūblica.

templa pūblica: placed last for emphasis, in antithesis with prīvātim.

subnectit: "he adds."

(7)

χρυσὸς etc.: Plato, Laws 12.956A, continuing the previously quoted passage: "In other societies you will find gold and silver in temples as well as in private houses, but they are possessions which breed ill will against their owner. Ivory, a body that soul has forsaken, is no clean offering; bronze and iron are tools of battle. But any man, at his pleasure, may dedicate in our public temples and image of wood, carved in one piece, or of stone similarly fashioned." Trans. A.E. Taylor.

μονόξυλον: "made from a solid trunk," "in a block," an inopportune detail in view of the nature of Apuleius's statuette, which was composed of several layers of ebony (61.8). It may have escaped the attention of the audience, because Apuleius quotes the text in Greek (Hunink).

(8)

Ut omnium assēnsus dēclārāvit: "As the general applause makes clear" (Jones). See OLD assensus 1, LS declaro II.

quīque: "and those who."

cōnsiliō: "his group of advisors," such as normally accompanied Roman magistrates.

competentissimē: "most appositely." The adverb competenter is not found before Apuleius, but occurs with some frequency in later writers (B/O).

videor ūsus: supply esse: "I seem to have made use of," + abl.

ut ... ita: "both ... and" (= cum ... tum, LS ut II.2.a.α), or "as ... likewise."

magistrō ... patrōnō: "as a teacher ... as a (legal) advocate." Note that unlike the opposition Apuleius is not using a real legal advocate.

causae: "for my case," probably dative (see LS patronus II).

cuius lēgibus: "whose laws," antecedent is Plato, referring to the precepts of Plato in general and his Leges, the specific work just quoted.

obēdientem: "obedient to," + dat.