Apuleius: Apology and Florida

the murder of my step-son Pontianus Pontianus was the son of Apuleius’s wife, Pudentilla; he had been a close friend and student of Apuleius before his untimely death.. I was at the moment totally
unprepared for such a charge, and was occupied in
defending an action brought by the brothers Granius
against my wife, Pudentilla. I perceived that these
charges were brought forward not so much in a serious
spirit as to gratify my opponents’ taste for wanton
slander. I therefore straightway challenged them,
not once only, but frequently and emphatically, to
proceed with their accusation. The result was that
Aemilianus, perceiving that you, Maximus, not to
speak of others, were strongly moved by what had
occurred, and that his words had created a serious
scandal, began to be alarmed and to seek for some
safe refuge from the consequences of his rashness.

2. Therefore as soon as he was compelled to set his
name to the indictment, he conveniently forgot Pon-
tianus, his own brother’s son, of whose death he had
been continually accusing me only a few days pre-
viously. He made absolutely no mention of the
death of his young kinsman¹; he abandoned this most
serious charge, but—to avoid the appearance of having
totally abandoned his mendacious accusations—he
selected, as the sole support of his indictment, the
charge of magic—a charge with which it is easy to
create a prejudice against the accused, but which it
is hard to prove. Even that he had not the courage
to do openly in his own person, but a day later pre-

¹ I conjecture: suddenly falling silent concerning the death of the young kinsman, he abandoned the formal description of so great a charge, yet so as not to seem to withdraw entirely from his slander, he chose magic, etc. original: "de morte cognati adolescentis subito tacens tanti criminis descriptione destitit, ne tamen omnino desistere calumnia magiam, &c."