Chapter 64 Flashcards
velut haec tota fabella veteris et plurimarum fabularum poetriae quam est sine argumento,
For instance, how devoid of plot is this whole little drama of the experienced poetess of very many stories,
quam nullum invenire exitum potest! quid enim?
how impossible [it is] to find any ending! How come?
isti tot viri - nam necesse est fuisse non paucos, ut et comprehendi Licinius facile posset
Why did those numerous men - for it is necessary that there were not few (men), in order that both Licinius could be easily caught
et res multorum oculis esset testatior - cur Licinium de manibus amiserunt?
and that the matter might be better attested by the eyes of many men - let Licinius slip from their hands?
qui minus enim Licinius comprehendi potuit, cum se retraxit ne pyxidem traderet quam si tradidisset?
For how was Licinius less able to be arrested when he withdrew so as not to hand over the box, than if he had handed it over?
Erant enim illi positi, ut comprehenderent Licinium, ut manifesto Licinius teneretur aut cum retineret venenum aut cum tradidisset.
For those men (had been) positioned to seize Licinius, so that Licinius might be clearly caught either when he was holding the poison back or when he had handed it over.
hoc fuit totum consilium mulieris, haec istorum provincia, qui rogati sunt;
This was the woman’s entire plan, this was the duty of those men, who were asked (to carry it out);
quos quidem tu quam ob rem temere prosiluisse dicas atque ante tempus non reperio.
I don’t understand why you say that those men indeed had jumped forward rashly and before the [right] moment.
fuerant ad hoc rogati, fuerant ad hanc rem collocati,
They had been asked for this purpose, they had been stationed for this event,
ut venenum, ut insidiae, facinus denique ipsum ut manifesto comprehenderetur.
that the poison be clearly seized, the plots manifestly detected, and finally that the crime itself be openly exposed.
