Pro Caelio 62

The plot thickens

'immo' inquit 'cum servi ad dominam rem totam et maleficium Caeli detulissent, mulier ingeniosa praecepit his ut omnia Caelio pollicerentur;

‘On the contrary’ he says, ‘when the slaves reported the whole matter and Caelius’ misdeed to their mistress, the clever woman instructed them to promise Caelius everything;

sed ut venenum, cum a Licinio traderetur, manifesto comprehendi posset,

But so that the poison, when it was being handed over by Licinius, could be seized out in the open,

constitui locum4 iussit balneas Senias, ut eo mitteret amicos qui delitiscerent, deinde repente, cum venisset Licinius venenumque traderet, prosilirent hominemque comprenderent.'

She ordered that that the Senian baths be the meeting place, so she could send friends to that place who would hide themselves,

Then all of a sudden, when Licinius had come and was handing over the poison, they would jump out and arrest the person.’

quae quidem omnia, iudices, perfacilem rationem habent reprendendi.

All these things, members of the jury, certainly provide a very easy method of refutation.

cur enim potissimum balneas publicas constituerat?

For why especially had she decided on the public baths?

in quibus non invenio quae latebra togatis hominibus esse posset2.

In these [baths] I do not find what hiding place could suit people wearing togas.

nam si essent in vestibulo balnearum, non laterent;

For if they were in the forecourt of the baths, they were not hiding;

sin se in intimum conicere vellent, nec satis commode calceati et vestiti id facere possent et fortasse non reciperentur,

but if they were wanting to stow themselves away on the inside, they could not do that with sufficient ease wearing shoes and fully dressed, and perhaps they might not be allowed in,

nisi forte mulier potens quadrantaria illa permutatione familiaris facta erat balneatori.

unless that influential woman happened to have already become a close friend of the attendant by means of that one-penny transaction of hers.