Cael. 25.1Sed tamen venēnum unde fuerit, quem ad modum parātum sit nōn dīcitur.But still it is not stated where the poison came from or how it was prepared. Cael. 25.1Datum esse aiunt huic P. Liciniō, pudentī adulēscentī et bonō, Caelī familiārī;They say that it was given to this Publius Licinius, a modest and good young man, a friend of Caelius; Cael. 25.1cōnstitūtum esse cum servīs ut venīrent ad balneās Seniās;that an arrangement was made with the slaves that they should come to the Senian baths; Cael. 25.1eōdem Licinium esse ventūrum atque eīs venēnī pyxidem trāditūrum.that Licinius would come to the same place and hand over to them a box of poison. Cael. 25.1Hīc prīmum illud requīrō, quid attinuerit ferrī in eum locum cōnstitūtum, cūr illī servī nōn ad Caelium domum vēnerint.Here I first ask this: what was the point of having it brought to that appointed place, why those slaves did not come to Caelius at his house. Cael. 25.1Sī manēbat tanta illa cōnsuētūdō Caelī, tanta familiāritās cum Clōdiā, quid suspīciōnis esset sī apud Caelium mulieris servus vīsus esset?If that great intimacy of Caelius, that great familiarity with Clodia still remained, what suspicion would there have been if a slave of the woman's had been seen at Caelius' house?
Cael. 25.1Sīn autem iam suberat simultās, exstīncta erat cōnsuētūdō, discidium exstiterat, hinc illae lacrimae nīmīrum et haec causa est omnium hōrum scelerum atque crīminum.But if a quarrel was now brewing beneath the surface, if the intimacy had been extinguished, if a rupture had come about, 'hence those tears', no doubt, and this is the cause of all these crimes and charges. Cael. 25.62"Immō" inquit "cum servī ad dominam rem tōtam et maleficium Caelī dētulissent, mulier ingeniōsa praecēpit hīs ut omnia Caeliō pollicērentur;'No,' he says, 'when the slaves had reported the whole affair and Caelius' wicked plan to their mistress, the clever woman instructed them to promise Caelius everything; Cael. 25.62sed ut venēnum, cum ā Liciniō trāderētur, manifēstō comprehendī posset, cōnstituī locum iussit balneās Seniās, ut eō mitteret amīcōs quī dēlitīscerent, deinde repente, cum vēnisset Licinius venēnumque trāderet, prōsilīrent hominemque comprenderent."but so that the poison could be caught red-handed as it was being handed over by Licinius, she ordered the Senian baths to be fixed as the place, so that she could send friends there to hide, and then, suddenly, when Licinius had come and was handing over the poison, they should leap out and seize the man.'