first half - it's all rumours
huic tristi ac derecto seni responderet Caelius se nulla cupiditate inductum de via decessisse.
- huic tristi ac derecto seni dative indirect object
- derecto derectus a um; straight/not curved, direct/absolute
- de via decessisse - lit. "left the way"
- decessisse from decedo.
- nulla cupiditate ablative
Caelius may respond to this sad and direct old man that he strayed from the path, having been influenced by no lust.
quid signi? nulli sumptus, nulla iactura, nulla versura. at fuit fama.
- quid signi - signi is taken as proof? partitive genitive. take as quid signi est.
- you often get partitive genitives with quid/id/aliquid, e.g. "quid cibi?" "quid amoris?" "id temporis"
- iactura, versura - nouns, from future participles. also caesura
- sumptus - noun from a PPP that became a 4th declension noun: "extravagant expenditure"
- versura ae f - a turning around; a borrrowing of money
- fama - had a
What proof is there? [There was] no extravagant expenditure, no wasteful cost, no borrowing. But there was a rumour.
quotus quisque istam effugere potest in tam maledica civitate?
- quotus quisque "there are few people who"
- ista referring to the rumour, one of the few instances when it doesn't refer to Clodia...
How few people are (potest is singular though) able to flee that [rumour] in such an slanderous community?
vicinum eius mulieris miraris male audisse cuius frater germanus sermones iniquorum effugere non potuit?
- vicinus, i - neighbour
- male audisse - idiom - to hear bad rumours about yourself
- inquus inqua inquum - unjust, unfair; unkind, hostile
Are you astonished that the neighbour of this woman—whose full brother wasn't able to escape the conversations of ill-wishers—heard bad rumours about himself?
leni vero et clementi patri cuius modi ille est:
"fores ecfregit, restituentur; discidit
vestem, resarcietur,"
- cuius app/modi, cuius refers to the "type" that
- cuius modi - gen.description
In fact, to a lenient and merciful father, he [Caelius] is of this manner:
"He broke the doors, they will be repaired; He tore the clothing, it will be mended."
His actions aren't desirable but they don't matter because they can be fixed
Caeli causa est expeditissima. quid enim esset in quo se non facile defenderet?
- expeditissima - very easy, child's play
- esset, defenderet - subjunctive direct question
The case for Caelius is very trivial. For what is there in which he can't easily defend himself?
tense
- time - when?
- aspect - completion
in Greek, in the subjunctive, tense refers more to the aspect than the time. In Latin not 100% but also happens. I.e. in this case, Cicero picked "esset" (he could also use "sit"
Caeli causa est expeditissima - confident tone
second half - Clodia slander
structure for this long sentence:
- nihil iam in istam mulierem dico; sed,
- si esset aliqua dissimilis istius
- quae se omnibus pervolgaret,
- quae haberet palam decretum semper aliquem,
- cuius in hortos, domum, Baias iure suo libidines omnium commearent,
- quae etiam aleret adulescentes et parsimoniam patrum suis sumptibus sustineret;
- si vidua libere, proterva petulanter, dives effuse, libidinosa meretricio more viveret,
- adulterum ego putarem si quis hanc paulo liberius salutasset?
nihil iam in istam mulierem dico; sed, si esset aliqua dissimilis istius quae se omnibus pervolgaret, quae haberet palam decretum semper aliquem, cuius in hortos, domum, Baias iure suo libidines omnium commearent, quae etiam aleret adulescentes et parsimoniam patrum suis sumptibus sustineret; ...
- nihil iam in istam mulierem dico - praeteritio - mentioning something in the process of saying you won't mention it. paints himself as acting reasonable/within bounds while consolidating the audience's negative image of Clodia
- Baias lit. "Baias cuius", meaning: "her estate at Baiae"
I say nothing yet against that woman; but, if there were any woman (unlike that woman), who makes herself available to everyone, who without concealment, always had another that had been decided, into whose gardens, home, estate at Baiae, the lust of all could visit on their own whims, who also supplemented the frugality of their fathers with her own extravagant expenditures (her own money),
... si vidua libere, proterva petulanter, dives effuse, libidinosa meretricio more viveret, adulterum ego putarem si quis hanc paulo liberius salutasset?
- dives substantive adjective dsc/Clodia
- proterva, dives, libidinosa substantive adjectives
- viveret - zeugma with "noun" & "adverb" (see below)
- meretricio, meretricia {adj} meretricious (pertaining to prostitutes)
- putarem 1PS impf sjt
- salutasset = salutavisset
- petulanter petulantly is like (thumps fist on table) I want Caelius! I want a diamond ring! (sends slave to find Caelius 1000 times a day with a message like "hey babyyyy i miss u so much come over pls)
if she lives freely as a widow, petulantly as a shameless [woman], extravagantly as a rich [woman], in a meretricious manner as a lustful [woman], would I believe [that he is] an adulterer, if someone had greeted this woman with a little too much freedom?
viveret - zeugma with "noun" & "adverb"
- nouns: vidua, proterva, dives, libidinosa
- adverbs: libere, petulanter, effuse, meretricio more
- hmmm its funny how it starts off with actual grammatical noun & adverb, then as the chain continues the adjectives become substantive ("not strict") and the adverb becomes an ablative.
- literary analysis: the degredation of strict grammatical rules shows Clodia's moral decay
- fan analysis: Cicero ran out of words :3
"Clodia's use of money to control her lovers ... Clodia flaunts her erotic adventures in public and behaves badly in private"
Woah this can be the material of the cutesy vocaloid song.
- Introduction: Clodia with Caelius
- Verse 1: various girlboss stuff and how she manipulates people.
- Chorus: sung by a group of male voices instead of a solo female voice. its an excerpt/summary of Cicero's attack against her.
- Verse 2: Caelius tries to poison her and kill her and then Clodia takes Caelius to court.
- Chorus
- Verse 2: Clodia, hearing the slander, gets mad and murders Cicero. She then murders Caelius.
- Outro: Clodia hooking up with another guy again, showing how she can do whatever and no one cares because she's too hot.
hmmmm no this is unacceptable this is misandronistic