67

The main charges against me are that I used magic to bewitch into marriage Pudentilla, a 60-year-old widow who had no desire to remarry, and that we signed the marriage contract out of town at a villa, all so I could take control of her substantial dowry. 

(1)

clārē dīlūcet: "it is plainly evident," introducing the indirect statement nūllam aliam rem ... esse.

aliam: "other than," + abl. (invidiā), LS alius I.B.γ.

invidiā: a key word in this passage, see below invidiōssissima (4) and invidiam meam (5).

quae: the antecedent is nūllam aliam rem, the verb prōvocā(ve)rit.

hunc: Aemiliānum.

impulsōrem huius: "his (Aemilianus's) instigator," the one urging him to pursue this prosecution.

quō: antecedent is Herennius Rufinus.

mox: in section 74.

ad nectendās magīae calumniās: purpose construction, "to contrive false charges of magic." Magīae is genitive of the charge.

prōvocārit: perfect subjunctive in a relative clause with an indefinite antecedent (nullam rem aliam), "which could have provoked."

(2)

rēs: "things," i.e., the claims from the accusers.

mē oportet: "it is right that I ...," "I should."

quod ... attinet: "as far as it (the trial and its charges) pertains."

haec obiēcēre: = obiēcērunt, "they have brought the following accusations."

(3)

ūna rēs: for prīma rēs (of the quīnque rēs mentioned at 67.2).

quod ... dīxēre: = dīxērunt, "that they said," introducing the indirect statements:

eam (numquam) voluisse

sed (eam) ... coāctam (esse)

eam: Pudentillam.

coāctam: supply esse.

dē epistulīs eius: "(one) of her letters," to be understood as the singular feminine antecedent of quam.

quam: epistulam.

putant: "they (Aemilianus et al.) consider."

deinde: the verb of this clause is obiēcēre (obiēcērunt): "they brought up the fact that," introducing:

a) an indirect statement: (Pudentilla) ... nubsisse.

b) a substantive subjunctive clause: quod ... tabulae nubtiales sint consignatae.

sexāgēsimō annō aetātis: "in the sixtieth year of her life."

ad lubīdinem: "for pleasure" (= libidinem), as opposed to procreation. 

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As Karen K. Hirsch explains, “Jurists defined the purpose of marriage as the production of legitimate children, and this phrase also surfaces prominently in descriptions of weddings and in connection to tablets. When describing the union of Messalina and Silius, Tacitus referred to their wedding as ‘coming together for the sake of having children.’ … By the time of Augustine, marriage contracts included the phrase ‘for the begetting of children.’ It may be that this phrase was normally inscribed on the tablets and perhaps even spoken as part of some now lost wedding liturgy.” (The Wedding: Ritual and Meaning in Antiquity [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010], p. 131.)

nūbsisse: nūpsisse, subject can be understood as Pudentilla.

in vīllā: i.e., out in the countryside, out of the public eye.

tabulae nubtiālēs: nuptiālēs. The marriage contract. On tabuale nuptialies, see below, sections 87-88 with notes.

sint ... consignātae: "were sealed," to make them official, OLD consigno 1.

tertiō et quārtō locō: "in the third and fourth place," of the five "things" which Apuleius introduces as needing to be refuted at 67.2, referring to the two complaints reported from deinde ... cōnsignātae.

obiēcēre: obiēcērunt.

(4)

novissima: "the final (of the five)" (LS novus II.B.3.b) but also "the strangest/most unheard of" (LS novus I.B.1), a play on the two meanings.

et eadem: "and also."

ibi: "there" = "at that point of their speech" = "on this point (about the dowry)."

omne vīrus: accusative neuter singular, "every bit of bile/venom."

tōtīs vīribus: "with all their strength."

adnīxī: supply sunt, "they strove" > adnitor.

ita: "in this state," i.e., maximally tormented and spewing bile.

mox in prīncipiō coniūnctiōnis nostrae: "directly upon the outset of our union."

mulierī amantī: "from a love-struck wife," dative of disadvantage.

remōtīs arbitrīs: "once the witnesses were gone," or just "with the witnesses (kept) at a distance," as though that were part of Apuleius's plan in conducting the wedding in the countryside where fewer people would attend.

(5)

Quae omnia: "all of which things," the five points from the accusers which Apuleius plans to refute; direct object of ostendam and refūtābō.

nihilī: dative of purpose, "for nothing" = "worthless," LS nihil II.β.

adeō ... facile: "so easily."

medius fīdius: an oath, "the god Fidius (Jupiter) [verb] me."

quīque in cōnsiliō estis: "and all of you who are in the council," the advisors, not the jury.

dēmissum et subōrnātum: supply esse for each, "was sent in and put up to it."

invidiam meam: "hatred of me," meam = meī.

repertā occāsiōne: "with an opportunity having been found," "having found an opportunity,"

(6)

quod reābse intellegētur: "(a thing) that will be understood from the case itself," "and the facts will bear me out" (Jones). reābse = reāpse,"contracted from rē and eapse, an old form for ipsā (LS). 

oppidō quam: "how very much." A colloquialism. Cicero in his letters uses mire quam and sane quam. Plautus and Terence have nimis quam and admodum quam (B/O).

nē tam frīvolam accūsātiōnem mē potius callidē excōgitāsse quam illōs stultē suscēpisse exīstimētis: order: nē exīstimētis mē callidē excōgitāsse tam frīvolam accūsātiōnem potius quam illōs stultē suscēpisse (tam frīvolam accūsātiōnem).

excōgitāsse: excōgitāvisse.