Apuleius (/ˌæpjʊˈliːəs/APP-yuu-LEE-əs), also calledLucius Apuleius Madaurensis (c. 124 – after 170[1]), was aNumidianLatin-language prose writer,Platonist philosopher and rhetorician.[2] He was born in theRomanprovince of Numidia, in theBerber city ofMadauros, modern-dayM'Daourouch,Algeria.[3] He studied Platonism inAthens, travelled toItaly,Asia Minor, andEgypt, and was an initiate in several cults ormysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the attentions (and fortune) of a wealthy widow. He declaimed and then distributed his own defense before theproconsul and a court of magistrates convened inSabratha, near Oea (modernTripoli, Libya). This is known as theApologia.
His most famous work is hisbawdypicaresque novel theMetamorphoses, otherwise known asThe Golden Ass. It is the only Latin novel that has survived in its entirety. It relates the adventures of its protagonist, Lucius, who experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into adonkey. Lucius goes through various adventures before he is turned back into a human being by the goddessIsis.[4]
Imagined portrait of Apuleius on a medallion of the 4th century.Apuleii Opera omnia (1621)
Apuleius was born in Madauros, acolonia inNumidia on theNorth African coast borderingGaetulia, and he described himself as "half-Numidian half-Gaetulian."[5] Madaurus was the samecolonia whereAugustine of Hippo later received part of his early education, and, though located well away from theRomanized coast, is today the site of some pristine Roman ruins. As to his first name, nopraenomen is given in any ancient source;[6] late-medieval manuscripts began the tradition of calling himLucius from the name of the hero of his novel.[7] Details regarding his life come mostly from his defense speech (Apology) and his workFlorida, which consists of snippets taken from some of his best speeches.
His father was a municipal magistrate (duumvir)[5] who bequeathed at his death the sum of nearly two millionsesterces to his two sons.[8] Apuleius studied with a master atCarthage (where he later settled) and later atAthens, where he studied Platonist philosophy among other subjects. He subsequently went toRome[9] to study Latinrhetoric and, most likely, to speak in the law courts for a time before returning to his native North Africa. He also travelled extensively in Asia Minor and Egypt, studying philosophy and religion, burning up his inheritance while doing so.
Not long after his return home he set out upon a new journey toAlexandria.[13] On his way there he was taken ill at the town ofOea (modern-dayTripoli) and was hospitably received into the house of Sicinius Pontianus, with whom he had been friends when he had studied in Athens.[13] The mother of Pontianus, Pudentilla, was a very rich widow. With her son's consent – indeed encouragement – Apuleius agreed to marry her.[14] Meanwhile, Pontianus himself married the daughter of one Herennius Rufinus; he, indignant that Pudentilla's wealth should pass out of the family, instigated his son-in-law, together with a younger brother, Sicinius Pudens, a mere boy, and their paternal uncle, Sicinius Aemilianus, to join him in impeaching Apuleius upon the charge that he had gained the affections of Pudentilla by charms and magic spells.[15] The case was heard atSabratha, near Tripoli, c. 158 AD, beforeClaudius Maximus,proconsul ofAfrica.[16] The accusation itself seems to have been ridiculous, and the spirited and triumphant defence spoken by Apuleius is still extant. This is known as theApologia (A Discourse on Magic).[2]
Apuleius accused an extravagant personal enemy of turning his house into a brothel and prostituting his wife.[17][18]
Of his subsequent career, we know little. Judging from the many works of which he was author, he must have devoted himself diligently to literature. He occasionally gave speeches in public to great reception; he had the charge of exhibiting gladiatorial shows and wild beast events in the province, and statues were erected in his honour by the senate of Carthage and of other senates.[19][20][21]
The date, place and circumstances of Apuleius' death are not known.[22][23] There is no record of his activities after 170, a fact which has led some people to believe that he must have died about then (say in 171), although other scholars feel that he may still have been alive in 180 or even 190.[24]
Frontispiece from theBohn's Classical Library edition ofThe Works of Apuleius: a portrait of Apuleius flanked by Pamphile changing into an owl and the Golden Ass
The Golden Ass (Asinus Aureus) orMetamorphoses is the onlyLatin novel that has survived in its entirety. It relates the adventures of one Lucius, who introduces himself as related to the famous philosophersPlutarch andSextus of Chaeronea. Lucius experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into anass. In this guise, he hears and sees many unusual things, until escaping from his predicament in a rather unexpected way. Within thisframe story are found manydigressions, the longest among them being the well-known tale ofCupid and Psyche. This story is a rare instance of a fairy tale preserved in an ancient literary text.[4]
TheMetamorphoses ends with the (once again human) hero, Lucius, eager to be initiated into themystery cult of Isis; he abstains from forbidden foods, bathes, and purifies himself. He is introduced to theNavigium Isidis. Then the secrets of the cult's books are explained to him, and further secrets are revealed before he goes through the process of initiation, which involves a trial by the elements on a journey to the underworld. Lucius is then asked to seek initiation into the cult ofOsiris in Rome, and eventually is initiated into thepastophoroi – a group of priests that serves Isis and Osiris.[25]
Apologia (Apulei Platonici pro Se de Magia) is the version of the defence presented inSabratha, in 158–159, before the proconsulClaudius Maximus, by Apuleius accused of the crime of magic. Between the traditional exordium and peroratio, the argumentation is divided into three sections:
Refutation of the accusations levelled against his private life. He demonstrates that by marrying Pudentilla he had no interested motive and that he carries it away, intellectually and morally, on his opponents.
Attempt to prove that his so-called "magical operations" were in fact indispensable scientific experiments for an imitator of Aristotle and Hippocrates, or the religious acts of a Roman Platonist.
A recount of the events that have occurred in Oea since his arrival and pulverize the arguments against him.
The main interest of theApologia is historical, as it offers substantial information about its author, magic and life in Africa in the second century.[26]
Florida. A compilation of twenty-three extracts from his various speeches and lectures.
De Platone et dogmate eius (On Plato and His Doctrine). An outline in two books ofPlato's physics and ethics, preceded by a life of Plato
De Deo Socratis (On the God of Socrates). A work on the existence and nature ofdaemons, the intermediaries between gods and humans. This treatise was attacked byAugustine of Hippo inThe City of God (Books VIII to X), whileLactantius reserved it for short-lived creatures.[27][28]De Deo Socratis contains a passage comparing gods and kings which is the first recorded occurrence of the proverb "familiarity breeds contempt":[29]
The Apuleian Sphere described inPetosiris to Nechepso, also known as "Columcille's Circle" or "Petosiris' Circle",[32] is a magical prognosticating device for predicting the survival of a patient.[33]
^"Berbers".Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. 3. Scholastic Library Publishing. 2005. p. 569.... The best known of them were the Roman author Apuleius, the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, and St. Augustine
^Gaisser, Julia Haig (2008),The fortunes of Apuleius and the Golden Ass: a study in transmission and Reception, Princeton University Press, p. 69ISBN0691131368,9780691131368
^Morford, Mark P. O. (2002).The Roman Philosophers. Routledge. p. 227.
^Kalesmaki, Joel (18 November 2006)."Types of Greek Numerology".Theology of Arithmetic.Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved26 June 2009.
Apuleius (1999).The Golden Ass. Translated by Patrick Gerard Walsh. Oxford University Press.
Apuleius (2001). Harrison, Stephen (ed.).Rhetorical Works. Translated by Stephen Harrison; John Hilton & Vincent Hunink. New York: Oxford University Press.
Finkelpearl, Ellen D. (1998).Metamorphosis of Language in Apuleius: A Study of Allusion in the Novel. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Frangoulidis, Stavros (2008).Witches, Isis and narrative: approaches to magic in Apuleius' Metamorphoses. Trends in classics – Supplementary volumes. Vol. 2. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Graverini, Luca (2012) [2007].Literature and Identity in the Golden Ass of Apuleius (in Italian) (original ed.). Columbus/Pisa: Ohio State University Press/Pacini.ISBN978-0814292921.
Moreschini, Claudio (2016).Apuleius and the Metamorphoses of Platonism. Nutrix. Studies in Late Antique, Medieval and Renaissance Thought. Vol. 10. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers.ISBN978-2-503-55470-9.
Pasetti, Lucia (2007).Plauto in Apuleio (in Italian). Bologna: Patron Editore.
Pecere, Oronzo & Stramaglia, Antonio (2003).Studi apuleiani. Note di aggiornamento di L. Graverini (in Italian). Cassino: Edizioni dell' Università degli Studi di Cassino.ISBN88-8317-012-1.
Sandy, Gerald (1997).The Greek World of Apuleius: Apuleius and the Second Sophistic. Leiden: Brill.
Schlam, Carl C. (1992).The Metamorphoses of Apuleius: On Making an Ass of Oneself. Chapel Hill-London: Duckworth.ISBN9780715624029
Walsh, P. G. (1999). "Preface".The Golden Ass. Oxford University Press.
