91

Reading out the names of famous sorcerers has created a stir among my accusers, ignorant as they are that such names are found in reputable books in public libraries. Rather than respond to their foolishness I will point out that I had no financial motive to bewitch Pudentilla. Though she is rich, I received little in the dowry agreement, according to which the vast majority of her property goes to her children on her demise.

(1)

suscitārint: suscitāverint, subject is Apuleius' accusers.

nōminātim: "by name."

(2)

Doceam: "should I explain," introducing the indirect statement mē lēgisse.

rūrsum: "yet again," LS rursus II.B.

haec: nōmina.

in bybliothēcīs publicīs: Apuleius can hardly refer to magical treatises, which would assuredly not have been kept in the public libraries. Such works were publicly banned in the third century B.C.; see Livy 25.1.12. He must refer to learned works such as Pliny's Natural History, which contains much information on the subject (B/O).

apud: "in the works of."

disputem: "should I argue," introducing the indirect statements:

notitiam nominum ... esse

communionem ... (esse)

nec instrumentum et memoriam ... debere

longē aliud esse: "is a far different thing." Aliud is correlative with a second aliud just below

artis eiusdem: "of the same skill," i.e., of magic.

commūniōnem: "a share of," "participation in" + gen.

īnstrūmentum: "the (mental) equipment," OLD instrumentum 3.a.

memoriam: "the power of remembering," "recall" (Jones), OLD memoria 1.

prō cōnfessiōne ... habērī: “to be considered equivalent to a confession.”

(3)

quod: "a thing which."

frētus: "relying upon" + abl.

contemnam: deliberative subjunctive, "should I not bother to," "scorn to," + infin.

ad haec: "on these points."

(4)

potius: "rather" than calling them out on their ignorance.

quid illī exīstiment: take the full clause as the direct object of putābō and that on which the genitive naucī depends.

naucī: genitive of cost or value, "(the value) of a trifle."

Quod: "that which."

disputāre: "to argue," complementary to both īnstituī and pergam.

nūllam ... causam fuisse: indirect statement relating the substance of Apuleius' chosen argument.

Pudentillam: direct object of the genitive gerund prōlectandī.

venēficiīs: "sorcery," "use of the magical arts" (OLD veneficium 1).

(5)

ipsī ultrō: "(my accusers) themselves, unprompted." It would be suboptimal for Apuleius to call his wife ugly and old, but he can certainly take the opportunity of reminding his accusers that they didn't seem to think she was much of a catch. Of course, Apuleius is being disingenuous, here, since the accusers have said his motive was Pudentilla's money, not her beauty.

improbāvērunt: "have disparaged."

id: direct object of dedērunt, setting up the indirect statement (me) ... concupisse ... rapuisse, "the fact that I...".

mihi vitiō dedērunt: "have attributed to me as a fault," "have marked up as a point against me," LS do II.K. Dative of purpose AG 382.

causā avāritiae: "for greed's sake."

adeō prīmō ... in congressū: "as early as upon our first meeting."

(6)

Ad haec: "on these points."

nōn est cōnsilium: supply mihi,  "it is not my intention."

Nihil: adverbial, "in no respect" = nōn.

multō: ablative of degree of difference, construe with disertius.

ipsae tabulae: the tabulae nuptiales, which presumably held all the details of the dowry agreement and other arrangements.

quibus: antecedent is tabulae.

omnia ... facta impraesentiārum et prōvīsa in posterum: "everything settled for the present and arranged for the future" (Jones).

contrā quam: "contrary to."

Post-Augustan. In classical Latin contra atque or ac was used, quam is used with contra by Seneca, the elder Pliny, and Gellius (B/O).

ex suā rapācitāte: Apuleius supposes his accusers are projecting their own greed-motivated behaviors onto him; that Rufinus married his daughter to Pontianus in order to get his hands on Pudentilla's fortune, and so obviously he assumes Apuleius has married Pudentilla for the same reason.

dē mē quoque: "about me, too (in addition to them)."

dēprehendis: "you (can) read," "you (will) find."

(7)

iam prīmum: "first of all."

modicam dōtem: supply esse in an indirect statement representing the contents of the tabulae nuptiales which the court is now considering, "that the dowry was a moderate one."

eam: dōtem.

neque ... datam: supply esse, "and that it had not (yet) been given," countering the argument that Apuleius took the dowry the first time he met Pudentilla.

tantum modo: "only," sometimes written as one word, tantummodo, OLD tantum 9.

<prōmissam>: "promised (in the marriage contract)." 

A word for something less than 'given' must obviously be supplied. Many solutions have been brought forward; e.g. commodatam, creditam, or sed <dictam> tantummodo (Hunink).

(8)

praeter haec: "on top of these (facts).”

eā condiciōne: "with the following stipulation," setting up two clauses:

utī dōs omnis ... manēret

utī ... pars dōtis ... cēderet

factam coniūnctiōnem: supply esse, continuing the indirect statement that represents the contents of the tabulae nuptiales.

coniūnctiōnem: "connection," i.e. marriage, OLD coniunctio 3.c; alternatively, a special legal meaning may be at play. In Roman law a coniunctio was an institution of several heirs for the same estate or of several legatees for the same thing in common. The estate (or legacy) became common property of the coheredes (or collegatarii) (Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law, p. 407). This is how the offspring of Pudentilla, whether of her first husband or of both Apuleius and her first husband, will inherit.

nūllīs ex mē susceptīs līberīs: ablative absolute. 

This was apparently considered as a real possibility, although Pudentilla was already in her forties. In ancient medicine a woman was thought to be fertile until she was between forty and fifty (Hunink).

sī vītā dēmigrā(vi)sset: "If she departs from life" = "if she dies."

ūnō ūnāve superstite: ablative absolute, "with one son or daughter surviving her," specifically one fathered by Apuleius.

diem suum obīsset: "she meets her (final) day," = "she dies."

tum: "in that case."

dīvidua pars: "a share," either a third, since there would be then three children to divide the dowry between, or, as B/O take is, "half."

posteriōrī fīliō: "to the more recent child," the one fathered by Apuleius.

priōribus: supply fīliīs.