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The main reason we decided to get married in the country was to avoid seeing you, Aemilianus. It is no crime to be married in the country rather then the city; indeed, it is better when it comes to insuring the fertility of the union. Roman statesmen of old did this and many more important things in the countryside.

(1)

tabulae nuptiālēs: the marriage contract.

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"In various parts of the Roman empire, from the first century A.D. on, there developed the practice of having signed and witnessed marriage contracts (tabulae nuptiales). These were not ‘marriage contracts’ in our sense, since they did not testify to the performance of any legally required ceremony, nor were they subscribed by an authorized public official. In essence, they were agreements of a financial character, and were not themselves constitutive of marriage, unlike the syngraphai of Greek law. The wealthy widow whom Apuleius eventually married had previously, under pressure, made tabulae nuptiales with Sicinius Clarus, but had managed on various pretexts to avoid marriage." Jane F.Gardner, Women In Roman Law and Society (Bloomington: Indiana University Press),1991: orig. 1986: 49-50.

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

nummum: genitive plural, as is usual for nummus rather than nummōrum. Probably sesterces are meant.

dēnuō: "a second time." See 87.10 for details of the first instance of squandering.

profundenda essent: "needn't be squandered."

tēcum aut apud tē: the former presumably refers to having dinner at their house with Aemilianus as a guest, and the latter certainly refers to being guests at Aemilianus's house for dinner.

idōnea: "good enough."

(2)

Mīror ... quod: "I am amazed that.”

tantopere abhorreās: "you have such horror of" + abl.

quī: "you, who are," "since you are."

versēre: versēris, "are involved," "stay."

(3)

Lex ... Iūlia dē marītandīs ōrdinibus: "The Julian law concerning the marriage of the (social) classes."

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"The law of Augustus concerning the regulation of marriage (18 BC), a plebiscite often treated in conjunction with the consular law of Papius and Poppaeus (lex Papia Poppaea, AD 9, together as lex Iulia et Papia), primarily obliges all Roman citizens to enter into marriage with the purpose of producing legitimate offspring. With this goal, the law probably contained set age limits at which point one was expected to have been married, an age likely reflective of the fertility age, and an extensive list of rewards and privileges for those producing (legitimate) offspring." (Jacob Giltaij, "lex Iulia de Maritandis Ordinibus" in the Oxford Classical Dictionary).

The present reference can be considered jocular, in particular the quasi-legal formula uxorem in villa ne ducito. But it is to the point: it is not illegal to marry in a country house (Hunink).

nusquam suī: "in no part of it."

ad hunc modum interdīcit: "issues a prohibition of the following type."

(4)

ad prōlem: "where future offspring are concerned," construe as modifying multō auspicātius, i.e., in terms of her ability to bear and rear healthy children.

silice: the term applies to any hard rock or stone, especially that used in stone pavers.

(5)

in ipsō māternō sinū: "in the maternal lap itself," "in the very arms of her mother" (Jones), i.e., Mother Earth.

super: standing on.

enim: strengthens vel as in other passages where it is used with sed, immo, and et (B/O).

ulmō marītā: "a married elm." 

Vines were trained on, and thus “married” to, elm trees (OLD marito 4): Catullus exploits the same idea in one of his wedding poems, 62.49–55 (Jones).

inter subolēs herbārum et propāginēs vītium et arborum germina: "amid the growing grass, the spreading vines, the budding trees" (Jones). These are examples of the poetic genitive of quality (hypallage), by which an adjectival idea is expressed through a genitive noun. See Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.173: umbra arborum, “the shade of trees” = “the shady trees."

(6)

ibi ... dē proximō congruit: "fits aptly there," in the countryside. See OLD proximus 9.b "(of an argument, etc.) apposite, relevant; dē proximō, very closely, aptly."

παίδων ἐπ’ ἀρότῳ, γνησίων ἐπὶ σπορᾷ: "for the tilling of legitimate offspring, for the sowing of children" (Jones). A line from an unknown comedy.

(7)

Rōmānōrum ... maiōribus: "to the Romans of old times."

Quīntīs et Serrānīs: examples of the Romans of old. The first refers to L. Quin(c)tius Cincinnatus (5th cent. BC), who was offered the consulship while at the plow on his farm. Serranus was the cognomen of several consuls from the gēns Atilia in the 3rd century BC.

in tam prōlixō locō: "on so broad a topic" (Jones), implying he could go on at length.

nē tibi grātum faciam: "so as not to gratify you." By praising the countryside, Apuleius praises Aemilianus. Before this point can be made against him, he anticipates it himself. The moment appears, as usual, well-chosen: it justifies his breaking off the theme as a whole, after he has dealt with it only briefly (Hunink).

vīllam: via metonymy, "life in the countryside," "the country-villa life," rather than the actual villa in which they got married.