Cael. 20.1Nihilne igitur illa vīcīnitās redolet, Nihilne hominum fāma, nihil Bāiae dēnique ipsae loquuntur?Does that neighbourhood then give off no scent, does common talk say nothing, does Baiae itself, in short, say nothing? Cael. 20.1Illae vērō nōn loquuntur sōlum vērum etiam personant, hūc ūnīus mulieris libīdinem esse prōlāpsam ut ea nōn modo sōlitūdinem ac tenebrās atque haec flāgitiōrum integumenta nōn quaerat sed in turpissimīs rēbus frequentissimā celebritāte et clārissimā lūce laetētur.Indeed it does not merely speak but resounds with the news that the lust of one woman has sunk so low that she not only does not seek solitude and darkness and these usual cloaks of vice, but rejoices in the most shameful conduct amid the greatest crowds and in the clearest light of day. Cael. 20.48Vērum sī quis est quī etiam meretrīciīs amōribus interdictum iuventūtī putet, est ille quidem valdē sevērus — negāre nōn possum — sed abhorret nōn modo ab huius saeculī licentiā vērum etiam ā maiōrum cōnsuētūdine atque concessīs.But if there is anyone who thinks that young men should be forbidden even love affairs with courtesans, he is very strict indeed — I cannot deny it — but he is at odds not only with the licence of this age but also with the custom and indulgence of our ancestors.
Cael. 20.48Quandō enim hoc nōn factitātum est, quandō reprehēnsum, quandō nōn permissum, quandō dēnique fuit ut quod licet nōn licēret?For when was this not commonly done, when was it censured, when was it not permitted, when, in short, was it the case that what is lawful was not lawful? Cael. 20.48Hīc ego ipsam rem dēfīniam, mulierem nūllam nōminābō;Here I shall define the matter itself, I shall name no woman; Cael. 20.48tantum in mediō relinquam.I shall merely leave it open. Cael. 20.49Sī quae nōn nūpta mulier domum suam patefēcerit omnium cupiditātī palamque sēsē in meretrīciā vītā conlocārit, virōrum aliēnissimōrum convīviīs ūtī īnstituerit, sī hoc in urbe, sī in hortīs, sī in Bāiārum illā celebritāte faciat, sī dēnique ita sēsē gerat nōn incessū sōlum sed ōrnātū atque comitātū, nōn flagrantiā oculōrum, nōn lībertāte sermōnum, sed etiam complexū, ōsculātiōne, actīs, nāvigātiōne, convīviīs, ut nōn sōlum meretrīx sed etiam proterva meretrīx procāxque videātur: cum hāc sī quī adulēscēns forte fuerit, utrum hic tibi, L. Herennī, adulter an amātor, expugnāre pudīcitiam an explēre libīdinem voluisse videātur?If some unmarried woman has thrown open her house to the desires of all and openly set herself up in the life of a courtesan, has made a practice of attending the banquets of men quite unrelated to her, if she does this in the city, in her gardens, amid those crowds at Baiae, if finally she so conducts herself, not only in her gait but in her dress and her company, not only in the fire of her eyes and the freedom of her talk but also in embraces, kisses, beach parties, boating parties, banquets, that she seems not only a courtesan but a wanton and forward courtesan: if some young man should happen to have been with her, would he seem to you, Lucius Herennius, an adulterer or a lover, to have wished to storm her chastity or to satisfy his desire?
Cael. 20.50Oblīvīscor iam iniūriās tuās, Clōdia, dēpōnō memoriam dolōris meī;I now forget your wrongs, Clodia, I lay aside the memory of my own pain; Cael. 20.50quae abs tē crūdēliter in meōs mē absente facta sunt neglegō;what was cruelly done by you against my family in my absence I disregard; Cael. 20.50nē sint haec in tē dicta quae dīxī.let these things that I have said not be said against you. Cael. 20.50Sed ex tē ipsā requīrō, quoniam et crīmen accūsātōrēs abs tē et testem eius crīminis tē ipsam dīcunt sē habēre.But I put the question to you yourself, since the accusers say that they have from you both the charge and, in you yourself, the witness to that charge. Cael. 20.50Sī quae mulier sit eius modī quālem ego paulō ante dēscrīpsī, tuī dissimilis, vītā īnstitūtōque meretrīciō, cum hāc aliquid adulēscentem hominem habuisse ratiōnis num tibi perturpe aut perflāgitiōsum esse videātur?If there were some woman of the kind I described a little earlier, unlike you, with the life and habits of a courtesan, would it seem to you utterly shameful or utterly scandalous that a young man had had some dealings with her?
Cael. 20.50Ea sī tū nōn es, sīcut ego mālō, quid est quod obiciant Caeliō?If you are not that woman, as I prefer to think, what is it that they charge against Caelius? Cael. 20.50Sīn eam tē volunt esse, quid est cūr nōs crīmen hoc, sī tū contemnis, pertimēscāmus?But if they want you to be that woman, what reason is there for us to dread this charge, if you despise it? Cael. 20.50Quā rē nōbīs dā viam ratiōnemque dēfēnsiōnis.So give us the way and the method of our defence. Cael. 20.50Aut enim pudor tuus dēfendet nihil ā M. Caeliō petulantius esse factum, aut impudentia et huic et cēterīs magnam ad sē dēfendendum facultātem dabit.For either your modesty will prove that nothing too wanton was done by Marcus Caelius, or your shamelessness will give both him and the rest great means of defending themselves.