Lucius Apuleius (ca123/5 CE - ca180 CE), an utterly Romanized Berber who described himself as "half-Numidian half-Gaetulian", is remembered most for his bawdy picaresqueLatinnovel the Metamorphoses, better known as The Golden Ass.
He was born in Madaurus, a Roman colony in Numidia on the border with Gaetulia, now the town of Mdaourouch, Algeria, a district well away from the Romanized coast, but where some pristine Roman ruins remain. The same colonia was where Saint Augustine later received part of his early education. His father was a provincial magistrate and he inherited a substantial fortune from him. Apuleius studied with a master at Carthage and later at Athens, where he studied Platonic philosophy among other subjects. After being initiated as a worshipper of Isis, he went to Rome to study Latin oratory. Later he travelled extensively in Asia Minor and Egypt, studying philosophy and religion.
After being accused of using magic to gain the attentions (and fortune) of a widow, he declaimed and then distributed a witty tour de force in his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha, near Tripoli, the Apologia (A Discourse on Magic). The work has very little to do with magic, and a lot to do with making mincemeat of his opponent, with hilarity and panache: it is probably the single funniest work that has come down to us from Antiquity, and firmly places Apuleius among the great humorists.
His other works include On the God of Socrates,Florida,On Plato and his Doctrine, and possibly On the Universe.
The Golden Ass is the only Latin novel that has survived in its entirety. It is an imaginative, irreverent and amusing work that relates the ludicrous adventures of one Lucius, who experiments in magic and is accidentally turned into an ass. In this guise he hears and sees many unusual things, until Isis returns him to his human form. A digression recounts the tale of Cupid and Psyche. There is some evidence that the account of the initiation into the mysteries of Isis is autobiographical.
External links
eTexts (http://www.gutenberg.net/catalog/world/authrec?fk_authors=685) of Apuleius's works, at Project Gutenberg
The Latin Library: Apulei Opera (http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/apuleius.html) (Latin texts of all the surviving works of Apuleius.)
English translation of Florida by H. E. Butler (PDF) (http://www.cwru.edu/UL/preserve/stack/Apologia.html)
English translation of the Apologia by H. E. Butler (PDF) (http://www.cwru.edu/UL/preserve/stack/Apologia.html)
Apuleius - Apologia: Seminar (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/apuleius/index.html) (Latin text of the Apologia with H. E. Butler's English translation and an English crib with discussion and commentary)
Apuleius of Madauros, Pro Se De Magia (Apologia), edited with a commentary by Vincent Hunink (http://www.unisi.it/ricerca/ist/anc_hist/online/apuleio/hunink/hunink.htm) (Long and detailed introduction to the Apologia)
A Web page devoted to Apuleius (http://www.unisi.it/ricerca/ist/anc_hist/online/apuleio/apucover.htm) (Commentary, includes bibliographay of about 700 titles.)
Lucius subsequently becomes a worshiper of Isis, and Apuleius provides a lengthy account of his initiation into the mysteries of Isis, which some see as autobiographical.
The character of Apuleius, as delineated by himself, is attractive; he appears vehement and passionate, but devoid of rancour; enterprising, munificent, genial and an enthusiast for the beautiful and good.
Lucius wrote it in the second century CE, adapting the story from a Greek original, possibly by Lucius of Patrae.
In this guise, Lucius, a member of the Roman country aristocracy, is forced to witness and share the misery of slaves and destitute freemen who are reduced, like Lucius, to being little more than beasts of burden by their exploitation at the hands of wealthy landowners.
Apuleius' style is as amusing as his stories, for though he was not a Roman by birth, Apuleius was a master of Latin prose.
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