Pro Caelio 64 translation Flashcards
velut haec tota fabella veteris et plurinarum fabularum poetriae quam est sine argumento,
quam nullum invenire exitum potest! quid enim?
For example, this whole little play of the established poetess of very many stories, how devoid of plot it is, how entirely impossible it is to find an ending! How come?
isti tot viri - nam necesse est fuisse non paucos, ut et comprehendi Licinius facile posset
Those men, so many in number - for there must have been not a few of them so that Licinius could be easily seized
et res multorum oculis esset testatior - cur Licinium de manibus amiserunt?
and so that what took place could be better attested by many eye-witnesses - why did they lose Licinius from their grasp?
qui minus enim Licinius comprehendi potuit, cum se retraxit ne pyxidem traderet quam si tradidisset?
For how was Licinius less able to be seized 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
For those men had been positioned there to seize Licinius, so that he could be manifestly caught
aut cum retineret venenum aut cum tradidisset.
either when he was still holding the poison or when he had just 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. fuerant ad hoc rogati,
I do not understand why you say that they jumped out rashly and before the right moment. They had been asked to do this,
fuerant ad hanc rem collocati, ut venenum, ut insidiae, facinus denique ipsum ut manifesto comprehenderetur.
they had been placed there for this very purpose, so that the poison, the plot, in short the crime itself might be openly exposed.
