Pro Caelio 65 translation

Question 1

potueruntne magis tempore prosilire, quam cum Licinius venisset, cum in manu teneret veneni pyxidem?

Answer 1

Could they have jumped out at a better time than when Licinius had arrived, when he was holding the box of poison in his hand?

Question 2

quae cum iam erat tradita servis, si evasissent subito ex balneis mulieris amici Liciniumque comprehendissent,

Answer 2

When it had already been handed over to the slaves, if the lady’s friends had suddenly burst out from the baths and seized Licinius,

Question 3

imploraret hominum fidem atque a se illam pyxidem traditam pernegaret. quem quo modo illi reprehenderent?

Answer 3

he would have called upon the protection of the public and he would have fiercely denied that he had handed over that box. And how were they to refute him?

Question 4

vidisse se dicerent? primum ad se revocarent maximi facinoris crimen;

Answer 4

Were they to say that they had seen him? Firstly, they would be bringing on their own heads the charge of the most serious crime;

Question 5

deinde id se vidisse dicerent quod, quo loco collocati fuerant non potuissent videre.

Answer 5

secondly, they would be claiming that they had seen what they could not possibly have seen from the place which they had been stationed.

Question 6

tempore igitur ipso se ostenderunt, cum Licinius venisset,

Answer 6

Therefore, they showed themselves at the very moment when Licinius had arrived,

Question 7

pyxidem expediret, manum porrigeret, venenum traderet,

Answer 7

when he was sorting out the box, stretching out his hand and handing over the poison.

Question 8

mimi ergo est iam exitus, non fabulae; in quo cum clausula non invenitur, fugit aliquis e manibus, deinde scabilla concrepant, aulaeum tollitur.

Answer 8

So then, this is now the ending of a mime, not of a proper play; in which, when no fitting end can be found, someone escapes from someone’s clutches, then the clappers rattle and the curtain is raised.