| [53] And then --what
I omitted-- there are things which you admit you don't know, yet you
charge me with these very things as if you do know! You claim that I had
certain items wrapped in a napkin at Pontianus' household shrine. You
admit that you don't know exactly what (or what sorts of things) these
hidden objects were, and also that no one saw them. But still you insist
that they were instruments of magic. Let no one flatter you, Aemilianus.
There is no cleverness in making the accusation, not even impudence. Don't
even think it. What then? The unhappy madness of a bitter soul and the
miserable insanity of raw old age. With almost these exact words, you
brought this charge before so earnest and keen a judge: |
[53] Quin etiam -- quod praeterii -- sunt
quae fatearis nescire, et eadem rursus, quasi scias, criminari[s]. ais
enim me habuisse quaedam sudariolo inuoluta apud lares Pontiani. ea
inuoluta quae et cuius modi fuerint, nescisse te confiteris, neque
praeterea quemquam esse qui uiderit; tamen illa contendis instrumenta
magiae fuisse. nemo tibi blandiatur, Aemiliane: non est in accusando
uersutia ac ne impudentia quidem, ne tu arbitreris. quid igitur? furor
infelix acerbi animi et misera insania crudae senectutis. his enim paene
uerbis cum tam graui et perspicaci iudice egisti: |
| "Apuleius kept some things wrapped in a napkin at
Pontianus's household shrine. I do not know what they were, I therefore
insist that they were magic charms. So believe what I say, because I say
what I do not know." |
'habuit Apuleius quaepiam linteolo inuoluta apud lares Pontiani. haec
quoniam ignoro quae fuerint, iccirco magica fuisse contendo. crede igitur
mihi quod dico, quia id dico quod nescio.' |
| What beautiful arguments, ones that clearly disprove the
charge! "It was this, since I don't know what it was." Only you have been
found to know exactly what you do not know, Aemilianus. You have surpassed
all others in stupidity by far, since the most diligent and careful
philosophers say that we must not even be confident about what we see. But
you are actually confident about what you have never seen or heard.
|
o pulchra argumenta et aperte crimen reuincentia. 'hoc fuit, quoniam
quid fuerit ignoro.' solus repertus es, Aemiliane, qui scias etiam illa
quae nescis; tantum super omnis stultitia euectus es, quippe qui
sollertissimi et acerrimi philosophorum ne is quidem confidendum esse
aiunt quae uidemus, at tu de illis quoque adfirmas, quae neque conspexisti
umquam neque audisti. |
| If Pontianus were alive and you questioned him about what
was in that wrapping, he would answer that he didn't know. That freedman
-- over there -- who has the keys to the place to this day and stands by
you, says that he never looked into it, although as a librarian of the
books stored there he opened and closed it almost daily. Often with me,
even more often alone, he entered and saw the napkin placed on the table
with no seal, no binding. Certainly, why not? Magic charms were hidden in
it! I guarded it rather carelessly, in fact, I casually left it out to be
scanned freely and looked into and, if it were allowed, taken away. I left
it under someone else's protection, entrusted it to another's judgment. So
what do you want us to believe about you in these circumstances? That what
Pontianus, who lived with me in inseparable companionship, did not know,
YOU know, though I've never seen you except in front of the tribunal? Or
that what the continually present freedman had every opportunity to look
into, what this freedman never saw, that YOU who never had access to it
saw it? Let's even assume that what you did not see turned out exactly as
you say: all the same, you idiot, if today you had acquired that
handkerchief, no matter what evidence you brought forth from it, I would
still deny any magic. |
Pontianus si uiueret atque eum interrogares, quae fuerint in illo
inuolucro, nescire se responderet. libertus eccille, qui clauis eius loci
in hodiernum habet et a uobis stat, numquam se ait inspexisse, quanquam
ipse aperiret utpote promus librorum, qui illic erant conditi, paene
cotidie et clauderet, saepe nobiscum, multo saepius solus intraret,
linteum in mensa positum cerneret sine ullo sigillo, sine uinculo. quidni
enim? magicae res in eo occultabantur: eo neglegentius adseruabam, sed
enim libere scrutandum et inspiciendum, si liberet, etiam auferendum
temere exponebam, alienae custodiae commendabam, alieno arbitrio
permittebam. quid igitur inpraesentiarum uis tibi credi? quodne Pontianus
nescierit, qui indiuiduo contubernio mecum uixit, id te scire, quem
numquam uiderim nisi pro tribunali? an quod libertus adsiduus, cui omnis
facultas inspiciendi fuit, quod is libertus non uiderit, te qui numquam eo
accesseris uidisse? denique ut, quod non uidisti, id tale fuerit, quale
dicis: atqui, stulte, si hodie illud sudariolum tu intercepisses, quicquid
ex eo promeres, ego magicum negarem. |
| [54] I give you
permission: contrive what you will, invent, think up what could seem
magical. But I would still dispute it with you. I could say it was planted
there or taken as a remedy or kept for a sacred rite or ordered in a
dream. There are a thousand other ways I could truthfully refute you in an
ordinary manner and with the most basic habits of observation. Now you
claim that this uncertain, unknown thing condemns me based on empty
suspicion -- a thing which would not harm me in the least, seized and
presented before a good judge. |
[54] Tibi adeo permitto, finge quiduis,
[r]eminiscere, excogita, quod possit magicum uideri: tamen de eo tecum
decertarem. aut ego subiectum dicerem aut remedio acceptum aut sacro
traditum aut somnio imperatum; mille alia sunt quibus possem more communi
et uulgatissima obseruationum consuetudine uere refutare. nunc id
postulas, ut, quod deprehensum et detentum tamen nihil me apud bonum
iudicem laederet, id inani suspicione incertum et incognitum condemnet.
|
| I have no idea whether you'll say again, as you tend to,
"What was it, then? What did you put way into the shrine covered with a
napkin?" Is that what we can expect, Aemilianus? You make your accusations
in such a way that you acquire all your information by interrogating the
defendant while you offer nothing you know yourself. "WHY do you seek
fish? WHY did you examine a sick woman? WHAT did you have in the
handkerchief?" Did you come to accuse me or interrogate me? If to accuse,
provide your own proof of what you claim. If to question, do not prejudge
what happened since it is because you do not know that you must ask. With
this procedure, everyone will prepare cases if a person indicting someone
doesn't need to prove a charge, but on the contrary, has every opportunity
for interrogation. In fact, there will be trouble over magic for all,
regardless of what they actually did. |
haud sciam an rursus, ut soles, dicas: 'quid ergo illud fuit, quod
linteo tectum apud lares potissimum deposuisti?' itane est, Aemiliane? sic
accusas, ut omnia a reo percontere, nihil ipse adferas cognitum. 'quam ob
rem piscis quaeris?' 'cur aegram mulierem inspexisti?' 'quid in sudario
habuisti?' utrum tu accusatum an interrogatum uenisti? si accusatum, tute
argue quae dicis, si interrogatum, noli praeiudicare, quid fuerit, quod
ideo te necesse est interrogare, quia nescis. ceterum hoc quidem pacto
omnes homines rei constituentur, si ei, qui nomen cuiuspiam detulerit,
nulla necessitas sit probandi, omnis contra facultas percontandi. quippe
omnibus sic, ut forte negotium magiae facessitur, quicquid omnino egerint
obicietur. |
| You left your written vow on the thigh of some statue.
=>You're a magician, why else would you do it? |
uotum in alicuius statuae femore signasti: igitur magus es; aut cur
signasti? |
| You offered silent prayers to the gods at the temple.
=>You're a magician, what else would you ask for? |
tacitas preces in templo deis allegasti: igitur magus es; aut quid
optasti? |
| Reverse it: you offered no prayers at the temple.
=>You're a magician, why wouldn't you ask the gods? |
contra: nihil in templo precatus es: igitur magus es; aut cur deos non
rogasti? |
| Similarly, if you left some gift, if you sacrificed, if
you used some herb. Even if I wanted to, the day is not long enough for me
to pursue every possible method a trickster could manipulate. In
particular, no matter what is stored, sealed, or closed up at home and
kept, everything will by the same logic be called magic or brought from
the supply room to the forum and into court. |
similiter, si posueris donum aliquod, si sacrificaueris, si uerbenam
sumpseris. dies me deficiet, si omnia uelim persequi, quorum rationem
similiter calumniator flagitabit. praesertim quod conditum cumque, quod
obsignatum, quod inclusum domi adseruatur, id omne eodem argumento magicum
dicetur aut e cella promptaria in forum atque in iudicium proferetur.
|
| [55] Maximus, the
quantity and type of such things, how broad a field is opened to false
charges by this path of Aemilianus, and how much sweat is poured by
innocents over this one handkerchief, all this and more I could discuss,
but I'll do what I set out to do. Even though it isn't necessary, I'll
testify and respond to Aemilianus' questions. You ask, Aemilianus, what I
had in the napkin. Now, I could deny that any napkin of mine was ever
placed in Pontianus' library. If at most I grant that it was there, I
could still claim that nothing was wrapped in it. If I claimed that, no
testimony or argument would refute me, since no one touched it and a lone
freedman, as you say, saw it. STILL, I grant that it was stuffed. Fine,
believe that if you wish, just as Ulysses' men believed they'd found a
treasure when they cut open that very windy bag. Would you like me to say
what sort of stuff I entrusted all bundled up in a napkin to Pontianus'
shrine? I'll humor you. |
[55] Haec quanta sint et cuiusce modi,
Maxime, quantusque campus calumniis hoc Aemiliani tramite aperiatur,
quantique sudores innocentibus hoc uno sudariolo adferantur, possum
equidem pluribus disputare, sed faciam quod institui: etiam quod non
necesse est confitebor et interrogatus ab Aemiliano respondebo.
interrogas, Aemiliane, quid in sudario habuerim. at ego quanquam omnino
positum ullum sudarium meum in bybliotheca Pontiani possim negare ac, [si]
maxime fuisse concedam, tamen habeam dicere nihil in eo inuolutum fuisse,
-- quae si dicam, neque testimonio aliquo neque argumento reuincar, nemo
est enim qui attigerit, unus libertus, ut ais, qui uiderit -- tamen,
inquam, per me licet fuerit refertissimum. sic enim, si uis, arbitrare, ut
olim Vlixi socii thesaurum repperisse arbitrati sunt, cum utrem
uentosissimum manticularentur. uin dicam, cuius modi illas res in sudario
obuolutas laribus Pontiani commendarim? mos tibi geretur. |
| I participated in several sacred rites in Greece. I keep
certain tokens and objects of these rites which the priests gave to me. I
claim nothing unusual, nothing unknown. Even you initiates of the one
father Liber who are here know what you keep hidden at home and honor
silently, away from all non-initiates. Certainly I, as I was saying, have
learned complex rituals, many rites, and various ceremonies out of an
eagerness for truth and service to the gods. And I didn't invent this for
the occasion. It has been almost three years since the first days when I
was lecturing at venerable Oea about the grandeur of Asclepius, and I
recounted these same things about myself and counted the sacred rites I
knew. This lecture is well known, widely read, and has passed through
everyone's hands not so much because of my eloquence but because the
mention of Asclepius recommended it to the religious Oeans. Someone recite
it, if anyone happens to remember the beginning of the passage |
Sacrorum pleraque initia in Graecia participaui. eorum quaedam signa
et monumenta tradita mihi a sacerdotibus sedulo conseruo. nihil insolitum,
nihil incognitum dico. uel unius Liberi patris mystae qui adestis scitis,
quid domi conditum celetis et absque omnibus profanis tacite ueneremini.
at ego, ut dixi, multiiuga sacra et plurimos ritus et uarias cerimonias
studio ueri et officio erga deos didici. nec hoc ad tempus compono, sed
abhinc ferme triennium est, cum primis diebus quibus Oeam ueneram
p[l]ublice disserens de Aesculapii maiestate eadem ista prae me tuli et
quot sacra nossem percensui. ea disputatio celebratissima est, uulgo
legitur, in omnibus manibus uersatur, non tam facundia mea quam mentione
Aesculapii religiosis Oeensibus commendata. dicite aliquis, si qui forte
meminit, huius loci principium. |
| **** ********* *** ******* **** ** ** ********* |
**** ********* *** ******* **** ** ** ********* |
| --do you not hear, Maximus, many quoting it? Yes, look:
the book is even offered up. I'll ask for these passages to be recited,
since from your very courteous expression you appear to be an audience
that is not annoyed by this. |
audisne, Maxime, multos suggerentis? immo, ecce etiam liber offertur.
recitari ipsa haec iubebo, quoniam ostendis humanissimo uultu auditionem
te istam non grauari. |
| ******* ***** ******* ** ******* ******** ***** *** ******* ***** **
******** ******** ******* |
******* ***** ******* ** ******* ******** ***** *** ******* ***** **
******** ******** ******* |
| [56] Can anyone who
has any recollection of religious practice really be astonished at seeing
a man who has knowledge of so many mysteries of the gods guard in his home
certain amulets of these sacred rites and wrap them in a linen cloth,
which is the purest covering for divine things? Of course, you know that
Orpheus and Pythagoras consider wool, the refuse stripped away from sheep,
the most sluggish of beasts, unfit for clothing. But an immaculate batch
of flax arises from the earth among the best fruits and is used by the
most pious priests in Egypt not only for covering and for clothing, but
also for concealing sacred objects. |
[56] Etiamne cuiquam mirum uideri potest,
cui sit ulla memoria religionis, hominem tot mysteriis deum conscium
quaedam sacrorum crepundia domi adseruare atque ea lineo texto inuoluere,
quod purissimum est rebus diuinis uelamentum? quippe lana, segnissimi
corporis excrementum, pecori detracta iam inde Orphei et Pythagorae scitis
profanus uestitus est; sed enim mundissima lini seges inter optumas fruges
terra exorta non modo indutui et amictui sanctissimis Aegyptiorum
sacerdotibus, sed opertui quoque rebus sacris usurpatur. |
| Still I know some people, and prominent among them that
Aemilianus, who think they are witty when they make fun of religion. For,
as I hear from some people in Oea who know him, he has never up to this
point in his life offered a prayer to any god, he hasn't visited any
temple, and if he should happen to pass some consecrated place, he thinks
it's a crime to kiss his hand out of reverence. In addition, the man has
never shared any of the first harvest or the pick of the vine or flock
with the gods of the countryside who nourish and clothe him, there is no
cleansing shrine in his villa, no sacred grove or consecrated place. Why
should I speak of sacred groves and shrines? Those who have been on his
property say they haven't seen a single anointed stone or wreathed bough
there. So he has two nicknames: Charon, as I already mentioned, on account
of the cruelty of his face and his soul, and the other, which he
ackowledges readily on account of his hatred of the gods, is Mezentius.
|
atque ego scio nonnullos et cum primis Aemilianum istum facetiae sibi
habere res diuinas deridere. nam, ut audio partim Oe[e]nsium qui istum
nouere, nulli deo ad hoc aeui supplicauit, nullum templum frequentauit, si
fanum aliquod praetereat, nefas habet adorandi gratia[m] manum labris
admouere. iste uero nec dis rurationis, qui eum pascunt ac uestiunt,
segetis ullas aut uitis aut gregis primitias impertit; nullum in uilla
eius delubrum situm, nullus locus aut lucus consecratus. ecquid ego de
luco et delubro loquor? negant uidisse se qui fuere unum saltem in finibus
eius aut lapidem unctum aut ramum coronatum. igitur adgnomenta ei duo
indita: Charon, ut iam dixi, ob oris et animi diritatem, sed alterum, quod
libentius audit, ob deorum contemptum, Mezentius. |
| So it's easy for me to understand why the catalog of so
many mysteries seems like nonsense to him. Perhaps because of his defiance
of the gods he does not believe my testimony to be true, that in the most
pious manner I keep watch over the emblems and tokens of so many sacred
rites. But I couldn't care less what Mezentius thinks about me. To others,
however, I declare publicly in the clearest voice: if someone happens to
be here who has participated with me in these same solemn ceremonies, give
me some sign, and you may hear what I am guarding. For no threat will ever
force me to announce to the uninitiated what I have received under a vow
of silence. |
quapropter facile intellego hasce ei tot initiorum enumerationes nugas
uideri, et fors anne ob hanc diuini contumaciam non inducat animum uerum
esse quod dixi, me sanctissime tot sacrorum signa et memoracula custodire.
sed ego, quid de me Mezentius sentiat, manum non uorterim, ceteris autem
clarissima uoce profiteor: si qui forte adest eorundem sollemnium mihi
particeps, signum dato, et audias licet quae ego adseruem. nam equidem
nullo umquam periculo compellar, quae reticenda accepi, haec ad profanos
enuntiare. |
| [57] So I think,
Maximus, that I appear to have satisfied even the most prejudiced people
and, as relates to the handkerchief, wiped away every blemish of the
crime. Now I may safely pass from the suspicions of Aemilianus to that
testimony of Crassus, which they read afterwards as if it were of a most
serious nature. You heard from the deposition the testimony of a certain
gourmand and desperate glutton Junius Crassus, that in his house I
performed sacred rites at night with my friend Appius Quintianus, who was
paying for lodging there. And Crassus, although he was actually in
Alexandria at that time, still affirmed that he had discovered this from
the smoke of a torch and the feathers of a bird. |
[57] Vt puto, Maxime, satis uideor cuiuis
uel iniquissimo animum explesse et, quod ad sudarium pertineat, omnem
criminis maculam detersisse, ac bono iam periculo ad testimonium illud
Crassi, quod post ista quasi grauissimum legerunt, a suspicionibus
Aemiliani transcensurus. testimonium ex libello legi audisti gumiae
cuiusdam et desperati lurconis Iuni Crassi, me in eius domo nocturna sacra
cum Appio Quintiano amico meo factitasse, qui ibi mercede deuersabatur.
idque se ait Crassus, quamquam in eo tempore uel Alexandreae fuerit, tamen
taedae fumo et auium plumis comperisse. |
| Obviously, as he was engaging in drinking parties at
Alexandria (since this is the same Crassus who is not unwilling to slink
into brothels in daylight), he lay in wait like a bird hunter in some
stench-filled haunt for the feathers conveyed by his household gods, and
he recognized the smoke of his home rising up from his paternal rooftop,
so far away. If he saw this with his eyes, that gives him even better
eyesight than Ulysses, with all his vows and requests. Ulysses desired in
vain for many years to see from the shore smoke rising up from his home:
Crassus, in the few months when he was away, caught sight of this smoke
with no toil at all, loitering in some tavern. |
scilicet eum, cum Alexandreae symposia obiret -- est enim Crassus
iste, qui non inuitus de die in ganeas conrepat -- , in illo cauponii
nidore pinnas de penatibus suis aduectas aucupatum, fumum domus suae
adgnouisse patrio culmine longe exortum. quem si oculis uidit, ultra Vlixi
uota et desideria hic quidem est oculatus; Vlixes fumum terra sua
emergentem compluribus annis e litore prospectans frustra captauit:
Crassus in paucis quibus afuit mensibus eundem fumum sine labore in
taberna uinaria sedens conspexit. |
| But if he actually perceived the smoke of his home with
his nose, he has conquered hounds and vultures with his sharp sense of
smell. For what hound, what vulture in the sky above Alexandria could
smell anything from within the borders of Oea? Actually, Crassus is an
outstanding glutton and not at all uninformed about every type of smoke,
but because of his passion for drinking, the only thing for which he is
recognized, the smell of wine rather than of smoke would more easily have
reached him in Alexandria. |
sin uero naribus nidorem domesticum praesensit, uincit idem sagacitate
odorandi canes et uulturios; cui enim cani, cui uulturio Alexandrini caeli
quicquam abusque Oeensium finibus oboleat? est quidem Crassus iste summus
helluo et omnis fumi non imperitus, sed profecto pro studio bibendi, quo
solo censetur, facilius ad eum Alexandria[m] uini aura quam fumi
perueniret. |
| [58] He realized
this would be an unbelievable story, so it's said that he sold that
testimony before the second hour of the day, while fasting and abstaining
from drink. So he wrote how he he'd discovered these things: after he
returned from Alexandria, he'd hurried directly to his house, from which
Quintianus had already departed. There, in the courtyard, he'd come upon a
heap of birds' feathers, and what's more, the walls were soiled with soot.
He sought an explanation from the slave he left behind in Oea, and the
slave had told him about the rites which Quintianus and I had performed by
night. |
[58] intellexit hoc et ipse incredibile
futurum; nam dicitur ante horam diei secundam ieiunus adhuc et abstemius
testimonium istud uendidisse. igitur scripsit haec se ad hunc modum
comperisse: postquam Alexandria reuenerit, domum suam recta contendisse,
qua iam Quintianus migrarat; ibi in uestibulo multas auium pinnas
offendisse, praeterea parietes fuligine deformatos; quaesisse causas ex
seruo suo, quem Oeae reliquerit, eumque sibi de meis et Quintiani
nocturnis sacris indicasse. |
| What a truly fine invention and probable contrivance!
|
quam uero subtiliter compositum et uerisimiliter |
| That I, if I wished to do any of this, wouldn't rather
have done these things in my own house. That Quintianus, who supports me,
whom I name with the favor of honor and praise because of the very firm
friendship that exists between us, and also because of his eminent wisdom
and most polished eloquence, that this Quintianus, if he'd prepared these
birds for dinner or, as they assert, he'd slain them for magical purposes,
wouldn't have had a slave to sweep up the feathers and throw them outside.
And furthermore, that there was so much force in the smoke that the walls
turned black, and that Quintianus would have endured this ugliness as long
as he occupied his room. You speak nonsense, Aemilianus, and nothing of
what you say is even likely, unless Crassus happened not to return to his
room, but as is his custom proceded straight to the hearth. And what's
more, why did Crassus' slave suppose that the walls had become stained by
smoke chiefly at night? From the color of the smoke? It's obvious that
nocturnal smoke is blacker and differs from day-smoke. Why, moreover, did
such a suspicious and attentive slave allow Quintianus to depart before
he'd returned the room to its pristine condition? Why did those feathers
wait so long for the return of Crassus, as if they were full of lead?
Don't let Crassus blame his slave: he himself is more likely to have
invented these things about the soot and the feathers, since even while
giving testimony, he can't separate himself for an extended period from
his kitchen. |
commentum me, si quid eius facere uellem, non domi meae potius
facturum fuisse, Quintianum istum, qui mihi assistit, quem ego pro
amicitia quae mihi cum eo artissima est proque eius egregia eruditione et
perfectissima eloquentia honoris et laudis gratia nomino, hunc igitur
Quintianum, si quas auis in cena habuisset aut, quod aiunt, magiae causa
interemisset, puerum nullum habuisse, qui pinnas conuerreret et foras
abiceret; praeterea fumi tantam uim fuisse, ut parietes atros redderet,
eamque deformitatem, quoad habitauit, passum in cubiculo suo Quintianum.
nihil dicis, Aemiliane, non est ueri simile, nisi forte Crassus non in
cubiculum reuersus perrexit, sed suo more recta ad focum. unde autem
seruus Crassi suspicatus est noctu potissimum parietes fumigatos? an ex
fumi colore? uidelicet fumus nocturnus nigrior est eoque diurno fumo
differt. cur autem suspicax seruus ac tam diligens passus est Quintianum
migrare prius quam mundam domum redderet? cur illae plumae quasi plumbeae
tam diu aduentum Crassi manserunt? non insimulet Crassus seruum suum: ipse
haec potius de fuligine et pinnis mentitus est, dum non potest nec in
testimonio dando discedere longius a culina. |
| [59] Why then did
you read this testimony from a deposition? Where in the world is Crassus
himself? Has he returned to Alexandria out of disgust at his house? Is he
cleaning his walls? Or, as is more likely, is the glutton being attacked
by a hangover? For I did catch sight of this man here in Sabratha
yesterday, remarkably enough in the middle of the forum, Aemilianus,
belching in your face. Ask your secretary, Maximus, although that man is
better known to innkeepers than to secretaries. Anyway, inquire whether
they've seen this Junius Crassus from Oea; they won't deny it. Let
Aemilianus produce for us this most respectable young man on whose
testimony he relies. |
[59] Cur autem testimonium ex libello
legistis? Crassus ipse ubi gentium est? an Alexandriam taedio domus
remeauit? an parietes suos detergit? an, quod uerius est, ex crapula
helluo adtemptatur? nam equidem hic Sabratae cum hesterna die animaduerti
satis notabiliter in medio foro tibi, Aemiliane, obructantem. quaere a
nomenclatoribus tuis, Maxime, quamquam est ille cauponibus quam
nomenclatoribus notior, tamen, inquam, interroga, an hic Iunium Crassum
Oeensem uiderint; non negabunt. exhibeat nobis Aemilianus iuuenem
honestissimum, cuius testimonio nititur. |
| You can see what time of day it is: I say that Crassus has
already for some time been snoring drunkenly, or, in the midst of a second
bathing in preparation for an after-dinner drinking bout, is sitting in
some bath sweating profusely a wine-soaked perspiration. He is present
with you, Maximus, speaking through a note, only because he is not so
divorced from all shame that if he were to appear before your eyes, he
could lie without any blushing. But perhaps he is not even capable of such
a little thing as restraining his drunkenness, so that he could hope to
arrive to this hour in a sober condition. Or, perhaps, it's possible that
Aemilianus planned this strategy, that Crassus not appear before your
strict eyes, fearing that you'd disapprove of that brute with his shaved
jaw and the abominable appearance of his face, when you took notice of the
young man's head, stripped of its beard and hair, and his drunken eyes,
his swollen eyelids, his open mouth, his slobbering lips, his inharmonious
voice, his trembling hands, his vulgar belching. He long ago consumed his
entire inheritance in luxury, and nothing survives to him from his good
parents, except a single house for selling false accusations. Still, he
has never rented it out for a higher price than he has in this testimony;
for he sold that drunken lie to this Aemilianus for 3000 sesterces, and no
one in Oea is unaware of it. |
quid sit diei uides: dico Crassum iam dudum ebrium stertere, aut
secundo lauacro ad repotia cenae obeunda uinulentum sudorem in balneo
desudare. is tecum, Maxime, praesens per libellum loquitur, non quin adeo
sit alienatus omni pudore, ut etiam, sub oculis tuis si foret, sine rubore
ullo mentiretur, sed fortasse nec tantulum potuit ebria[mine] sibi
temperare, ut hanc horam sobrie expectaret: aut potius Aemilianus de
consilio fecit, ne eum sub tam seueris oculis tuis constitueret, ne tu
beluam illam uulsis maxillis foedo aspectu de facie improbares, cum
animaduertisses caput iuuenis barba et capillo populatum, madentis oculos,
cilia turgentia, rictum [latum], saliuosa labia, uocem absonam, manuum
tremorem, ructus[s]piram[en]. patrimonium omne iam pridem abligurriuit,
nec quicquam ei de bonis paternis superest, nisi una domus ad calumniam
uenditandam, quam tamen numquam carius quam in hoc testimonio locauit; nam
temulentum istud mendacium tribus milibus nummis Aemiliano huic uendidit,
idque Oeae nemini ignoratur. |
| [60] We all knew of
this even before it happened, and I could've prevented the accusation, if
I hadn't thought that such an idiotic lie would be more prejudicial to
Aemilianus, who purchased it in vain, than to me, who justifiably despised
it. I wished Aemilianus to suffer a loss and Crassus to be prostituted by
the disgrace of his testimony. In addition, something not at all concealed
was done the day before yesterday in the home of a certain Rufinus, about
whom I will soon speak, as Rufinus himself and Calpurnianus were both
acting as intermediaries and pleaders. Rufinus did it that much more
willingly because he was sure that his wife, whose crimes he knowingly
covers up, would bring him a large portion of Crassus' gift. I saw that
you, Maximus, through your wisdom, were also suspicious of their
conspiracy and union against me, and even as the deposition was submitted,
you showed contempt on your face for this whole affair. And finally,
although they are endowed with unusual boldness and ill-omened rashness,
still, even they didn't try to read out or rely upon any of Crassus'
testimony, when they saw that it smelled like shit. I have recounted my
opponents' doings, not because I feared the threats of feathers or the
stain of soot, especially with you as my judge, but so that Crassus would
not get off unpunished for selling crass smoke to Aemilianus, a country
hick. |
[60] Omnes hoc, antequam fieret,
cognouimus, et potui denuntiatione impedire, nisi scirem mendacium tam
stultum potius Aemiliano, qui frustra redimebat, quam mihi, qui merito
contemnebam, obfuturum. uolui et Aemilianum damno adfici et Crassum
testimonii sui dedecore prostitui. ceterum nudiustertius haudquaquam
occulta res acta est in Rufini cuiusdam domo, de quo mox dicam,
intercessoribus et deprecatoribus ipso Rufino et Calpurniano. quod eo
libentius Rufinus perfecit, quod erat certus ad uxorem suam, cuius stupra
sciens dissimulat, non minimam partem praemii eius Crassum relaturum. uidi
te quoque, Maxime, coitionem aduersum me et coniurationem eorum pro tua
sapientia suspicatum, simul libellus ille prolatus est, totam rem uultu
aspernantem. denique quamquam sunt [in]solita audacia et importuna
impudentia praediti tamen testimonio Crassi, cuius oboluisse faecem
uidebant, -- nec ipsi ausi sunt perlegere nec quicquam eo niti. uerum ego
ista propterea commemoraui, non quod pinnarum formidines et fuliginis
maculam te praesertim iudice timerem, sed ut ne impunitum foret [Crasso],
crassum quod Aemiliano, homini rustico, fumum uendidit. |
| [61] They mentioned another
crime when they read Pudentilla's letter, about the construction of a
certain figurine. They claim I had it prepared from the most carefully
chosen wood for the sake of secret, evil black magic, and, although it is
in the foul and disgusting shape of a skeleton, that I still worship it
and call it in the Greek language, king. Unless I'm mistaken, I'm
pursuing their tracks in order and by seizing every bit of their false
accusations one by one, I'm unraveling them. |
[61] Unum etiam crimen ab illis, cum
Pudentillae litteras legerent, de cuiusdam sigilli fabricatione prolatum
est, quod me aiunt ad magica maleficia occulta fabrica ligno
exquisitissimo comparasse et, cum sit [s]celeti forma turpe et horribile,
tamen impendio colere et Graeco uocabulo $BASILE/A& nuncupare. nisi
fallor, ordine eorum uestigia persequor et singillatim apprehendens omnem
calumniae textum retexo. |
| How could the construction of the figurine be hidden, as
you say, if you know the maker well enough that you have summoned him here
as a witness? The craftsman Cornelius Saturninus is present, a man whose
art is praised among his colleagues and whose character is approved. Under
your careful examination a short while ago, Maximus, he reviewed the
entire series of events with the highest honesty and veracity. He said
that I, when I was at his shop, saw many geometric shapes made finely and
skillfully from boxwood, and that I was so attracted by his craftsmanship
that I asked him to develop certain devices for me. At the same time I
asked him to carve the image of any god to which I could pray following my
own custom, out of any material, as long as it was wood. So at first he
tried to carve it out of boxwood. In the meantime, while I was spending
time in the country, my stepson Sicinius Pontianus, who wanted to do
something for me, brought some tablets of ebony I had requested from
Capitolina, a most respectable woman, to Saturninus, and asked him to make
the image from this rarer and more durable material, saying that this gift
would be very pleasing to me. So he did this, as the tablets were
available. In this way he was able gradually to cut out a little Mercury
of dense thickness from the tablets. |
Occulta fuisse fabricatio sigilli quod dicitis qui potest, cuius uos
adeo artificem non ignorastis, ut ei, praesto adesset, denuntiaueritis? en
adest Cornelius Saturninus artifex, uir inter suos et arte laudatus et
moribus comprobatus, qui tibi, Maxime, paulo ante diligenter sciscitanti
omnem ordinem gestae rei summa cum fide et ueritate percensuit: me, cum
apud eum multas geometricas formas e buxo uidissem subtiliter et adfabre
factas, inuitatum eius artificio quaedam mechanica ut mihi elaborasset
petisse, simul et aliquod simulacrum cuiuscumque uellet dei, cui ex more
meo supplicassem, quacumque materia, dummodo lignea, exculperet. igitur
primo buxeam temptasse[t]. interim dum ego ruri ago, Sicinium Pontianum
priuignum meum, qui mihi factum uolebat, impetratos hebeni loculos a
muliere honestissima Capitolina ad se attulisse, ex illa potius materia
rariore et durabiliore uti faceret adhortatum: id munus cum primis mihi
gratum fore. secundum ea se fecisse, proinde ut loculi[s] suppetebant. ita
minutatim ex tabellis compacta crassitudine Mercuriolum expediri potuisse.
|
| [62] You heard all
the things which I am now saying. In addition, when the son of Capitolina,
a really decent youth who's right here, was under examination he said the
same things: Pontianus sought the tablets, and then Pontianus brought the
tablets to the craftsman Saturninus. Furthermore, he doesn't deny that
Pontianus received from Saturninus a completed figurine, and that
afterwards he gave it to me as a gift. Since all these things were openly
and publicly proven, what, then, remains in which any suspicion of magic
lies hidden? On the contrary, what remains that does not refute your
blatant dishonesty? You said that this thing was made secretly, this thing
which Pontianus, a most brilliant member of the equestrian order, sought
to have made, which Saturninus, an important and renowned man among his
colleagues, carved publicly while sitting in his workshop, which a most
decorated matron assisted by her gift, and which many of the slaves and
friends who visit me knew about before and after it was made. It causes
you no shame to invent the story that I desperately sought out this wood
throughout the whole town, even though you knew I was absent at that time,
and even though it has been proven that I ordered the image to be carved
from any type of material. |
[62] Haec ut dico omnia audisti. praeterea
a filio Capitolinae probissimo adulescente, qui praesens est, sciscitante
te eadem dicta sunt: Pontianum loculos petisse, Pontianum Saturnino
artifici detulisse. etiam illud non negatur, Pontianum a Saturnino
perfectum sigillum recepisse, postea mihi dono dedisse. his omnibus palam
atque aperte probatis quid omnino superest, in quo suspicio aliqua magiae
delitescat? immo quid omnino est, quod uos manifesti mendacii non
reuincat? occulte fabricatum esse dixistis quo[d] Pontianus
splendidissimus eques fieri curauit, quod Saturninus uir grauis et probe
inter suos cognitus in taberna sua sedens propalam exculpsit, quod
ornatissima matrona munere suo adiuuit, quod et futurum et factum multi
cum seruorum tum amicorum qui ad me uentitabant scierunt. lignum a me toto
oppido et quidem oppido quaesitum non piguit uos commentiri, quem [quem]
afuisse in eo tempore scitis, quem ius[s]isse fieri qualicumque materia
probatum est. |
| [63] Your third lie
was that it was an emaciated artistic representation of a deathlike
cadaver, horrible and like an evil spirit. But if you knew for certain
that this was such a clear sign of magic, why didn't you force me to
exhibit it? So you could lie freely about something which wasn't here? An
advantage of a habit of mine, however, has taken away from you the
feasibility of this falsehood. For I have a custom: wherever I go, I carry
the image of some god or another hidden among my books, and on holidays I
worship it with incense and unmixed wine and sometimes with sacrifices. So
when I heard a little earlier that it was repeatedly being called a
skeleton in an exceedingly shameless lie, I ordered someone to go in a
cart and bring back my little Mercury, which this Saturninus made for me
at Oea. Come now, let them look at it, hold it, examine it. So! Do you see
what that accursed man was calling a skeleton? Do you hear the cry of
disapproval from everyone here? Aren't you ashamed, in the end, of so many
false accusations? Is this a skeleton, is this an evil spirit, is this
what you were calling a demon? Is this a magical image, or a normal,
ceremonial one? |
[63] Tertium mendacium uestrum fuit
macilentam uel omnino euisceratam formam diri cadaueris fabricatam,
prorsus horribilem et larualem. quodsi compertum habebatis tam e[n]uidens
signum magiae, cur mihi ut exhiberem non denuntiastis? an ut possetis in
rem absentem libere mentiri? cuius tamen falsi facultas opportunitate
quadam meae consuetudinis uobis adempta est. nam morem mihi habeo,
qu[o]quo eam, simulacrum alicuius dei inter libellos conditum gestare
eique diebus festis ture et mero et aliquando uictima[s] supplicare. dudum
ergo cum audire[m] sceletum perquam impudenti mendacio dictitari, iussi,
curriculo iret aliquis et ex hospitio meo Mercuriolum afferret, quem mihi
Saturninus iste Oeae fabricatus est. cedo tu eum, uideant, teneant,
considerent. em uobis, quem scele[s]tus ille sceletum nominabat. auditisne
reclamationem omnium qui adsunt? auditisne mendacii uestri damnationem?
non uos tot calumniarum tandem dispudet? hiccine est sceletus, haeccine
est larua, hoccine est quod appellitabatis daemonium? magicumne istud an
sollemne et commune simulacrum est? |
| I ask you, Maximus, to take it and contemplate it. It is
right that a consecrated object be handed over to such pure and pious
hands as yours. See how handsome and full of athletic vigor his face is,
how cheerful the face of the god. See how the down creeps prettily over
both of his cheeks; that his hair, curled up on his head, peeks out under
the low shelter of his felt cap. See how charmingly his symmetrical wings
project over his forehead, and, in addition, how jauntily his clothing is
drawn around his shoulders. Whoever dares to call this a skeleton never
sees any image of the gods or has forgotten all of them. In short, whoever
thinks this is an evil spirit is himself bewitched. |
accipe quaeso, Maxime, et contemplare; bene tam puris et tam piis
manibus tuis traditur res consecrata. em uide, quam facies eius decora et
suci palaestrici plena sit, quam hilaris dei uultus, ut decenter utrimque
lanugo malis deserpat, ut in capite crispatus capillus sub imo pillei
umbraculo appareat, quam lepide super tempora pares pinnulae emineant,
quam autem festiue circa humeros uestis substricta sit. hunc qui sceletum
audet dicere, profecto ille simulacra deorum nulla uidet aut omnia
neglegit; hunc denique qui laruam putat, ipse est laruans. |
| [64] But,
Aemilianus, for that lie let that same god, the intermediary between the
living and the dead, give you the hatred of the gods of both worlds. May
he always heap up before your eyes unavoidable apparitions of the dead,
shades, lemures, ghosts, wandering spirits: all the things that you
encounter in the night, all the horrors of the tomb, all the terrors of
the grave, from which, by your age (and most deservedly so), you are not
far away. |
[64] At tibi, Aemiliane, pro isto mendacio
duit deus iste superum et inferum commeator utrorumque deorum malam
gratiam semperque obuias species mortuorum, quidquid umbrarum est usquam,
quidquid lemurum, quidquid manium, quidquid laruarum, oc[c]ulis tuis
oggerat, omnia noctium occursacula, omnia bustorum formidamina, omnia
sepulchrorum terriculamenta, a quibus tamen aeuo et merito haud longe
abes[t]. |
| We followers of Plato, on the other hand, know only of the
festive and the happy, the serious and the higher and celestial. As a
matter of fact, in its desire to elevate itself, this school also
investigated things more sublime than the sky itself and stood on the
outermost surface of the universe. Maximus, who has read carefully in the
Phaedrus concerning "the place above the sky" and "the surface
of heaven" knows I am speaking the truth. This same Maximus
understands perfectly, so that I may also respond to you concerning the
name, who this god is who was not named king by me first, but by
Plato: all things are related to the lord of all things, and all things
exist because of him. |
ceterum Platonica familia nihil nouimus nisi festum et laetum et
sollemne et superum et caeleste. quin altitudinis studio secta ista etiam
caelo ipso sublimiora quaepiam uesti[ga]uit et in extimo mundi tergo
stetit. scit me uera dicere Maximus, qui $TO\N U(PER$OURA/NION TO/PON&
et $OU)RANOU= NW=TON& legit in Phaedro diligenter. idem Maximus optime
intellegit, ut de nomine etiam uobis respondeam, quisnam sit ille non a me
primo, sed a Platone $BASILEU/S& nuncupatus: $PERI\ TO\N PA/NTWN
BASILE/A $PA/NT' E)STI\ KAI\ E)KEI/NOU E(/NEKA PA/NTA& |
| Who might this lord be, the cause, reason, and initial
origin of all the things in nature, highest begetter of the spirit,
eternal savior of living things, careful craftsman of his own universe,
but, indeed, a craftsman without effort, a savior without anxiety, a
begetter without propagation, bound not by place or by time or by any
misfortune, and so a few may understand him, but no one can describe him
in words? |
quisnam sit ille basileus, totius rerum naturae causa et ratio et
origo initialis, summus animi genitor, aeternus animantum sospitator,
assiduus mundi sui opifex, sed enim sine opera opifex, sine cura
sospitator, sine propagatione genitor, neque loco neque tempore neque uice
ulla comprehensus eoque paucis cogitabilis, nemini effabilis. |
| I will further increase the suspicion of magic: I don't
answer you, Aemilianus, about whom I honor as king, but even if the
proconsul himself asks me what my god is, I am silent. |
en ultro augeo magiae suspicionem: non respondeo tibi, Aemiliane, quem
colam $BASILE/A&; quin si ipse proconsul interroget, quid sit deus
meus, taceo. |
| [65] I've said
enough about the name for the moment. Furthermore, I know that some people
standing around me want to hear why I wanted the image made, not out of
silver or gold, but specifically out of wood, and I think they want to
know this not so much to forgive me as to understand. In this way they may
be freed from their misgivings when they see all suspicion of criminality
thoroughly refuted. So let anyone who wants to know listen, but with an
alert and attentive spirit (so far as you are able) -- as if you were
about to hear the words of Plato, by now an old man, from the last book of
his Laws: |
[65] De nomine ut inpraesentiarum satis
dixi. quod superest, nec ipse sum nescius quosdam circumstantium cupere
audire, cur non argento uel auro, sed potissimum ex ligno simulacrum fieri
uoluerim, idque eos arbitror non tam ignoscendi quam cognoscendi causa
desiderare, ut hoc etiam scrupulo liberentur, cum uideant omnem
suspicionem criminis abunde confutatam. audi igitur cui cura cognoscere
est, sed animo quantum potes erecto et attento, quasi uerba ipsa Platonis
iam senis de nouissimo legum libro auditurus: |
| "It befits the moderate man to offer moderate
votive-offerings to the gods. The land and the household hearth of all
people are sacred to all the gods; therefore let no one dedicate other
sacred things to the gods." |
QEOI=SIN DE\ A)NAQH/MATA XREW\N E)/MMETRA TO\N ME/TRION A)/NDRA
A)NATIQE/NTA DWREI=SQAI. GH= ME\N OU)=N E(STI/A TE OU)KH/SEWS I(ERA\ PA=SI
PA/NTWN QEW=N: MHDEI\S OU)=N DEUTE/RWS I(ERA\ KAQIEROU/TW QEOI=S |
| With this he forbids that anyone dare to establish
sanctuaries privately, for he believes public temples are sufficient for
citizens to perform sacrifices. Then he adds: |
hoc eo prohibet, ut delubra nemo audeat priuatim constituere; censet
enim satis esse ciuibus ad immolandas uictimas templa publica -- deinde
subnectit: |
| "Gold and silver, both privately and in temples in the
other cities, are things which cause envy; and ivory, from a body which
has left behind its soul, is not a pure offering; iron and bronze are
tools of warfare; but whoever wishes may offer a single piece of wood, or
similarly of stone." |
XRUSO\S DE\ KAI\ A)/RGUROS E)N A)/LLAIS PO/LESIN I)DI/A| KAI\ E)N
I(EROI=S E)STIN E)PI/FQONON KTH=MA, E)LE/FAS DE\ A)PO\ LELOIPO/TOS YUXH\N
SW/MATOS OU)K EU)/XARI A)NA/QHMA, SI/DHROS DE\ KAI\ XALKO\S POLE/MWN
O)/RGANA: CU/LOU DE\ MONO/CULON O(/ TI A)\N QE/LH| TIS A)NATIQE/TW, KAI\
LI/QOU W(SAU/TWS. |
| As the general agreement has declared, Maximus, and you
who sit in council, I seem to have used Plato, whose laws you see me
obeying, very competently, both as a teacher of my life and as an advocate
for my case. |
ut omnium assensus declarauit, Maxime quique in consilio estis,
competentissime uideor usus Platone ut uitae magistro, ita causae patrono,
cuius legibus obedientem me uidetis. |