on the
brink of the grave. The only hypothesis creditable to him would be
that he is perhaps giving an example of his austerity of character and
has undertaken this accusation through sheer hatred of wrongdoing and
to assert his own integrity. But I should hardly accept such an
hypothesis even in the case of a greater Aemilianus, not our African
friend here, but the conqueror of Africa and Numantia, who held,
moreover, the office of censor at Rome. Much less will I believe that
this dull blockhead, I will not say, hates sin, but recognizes it when
he sees it.

67. What then was his motive? It is as clear as day to any one that
envy is the sole motive that has spurred him and Herennius Rufinus,
his instigator--of whom I shall have more to say later--and the rest
of my enemies, to fabricate these false charges of sorcery.

Well, there are five points which I must discuss. If I remember
aright, their accusations as regards Pudentilla were as follows.
Firstly, they said that after the death of her first husband she
resolutely set her face against re-marriage, but was seduced by my
incantations. Secondly, there are her letters, which they regard as an
admission that I used sorcery. Thirdly and fourthly, they object that
she made a love-match at the advanced age of sixty and that the
marriage contract was sealed not in the town but at a country house.
Lastly, there is the most invidious of all these accusations, namely,
that which concerns the dowry. It is into this charge they have put
all their force and all their venom; it is this that vexes them most
of all. They assert that at the very outset of our wedded life I
forced my devoted wife in the absolute seclusion of her country house
to make over to me a large dowry. I will show that all these
statements are so false, so worthless, so unsubstantial, and I shall
refute them so easily and unquestionably, that in good truth, Maximus,
and you, gentlemen, his assessors, I fear you may think that I have
suborned my accusers to bring these charges, that I might have the
opportunity of publicly dispelling the hatred of which I am the
victim. I will ask you to believe _now_, what you will understand when
the facts are before you, that I shall need to put out all my strength
to prevent you from thinking that such a baseless accusation is a
cunning device of my own rather than a stupid enterprise of my
enemies.

68. I shall now briefly retrace events and force Aemilianus himself