Apuleius (sometimes called
Lucius
Apuleius; c. 125 – c. 180) was a
Latin prose writer.
He was a Romanized Berber, from Madaurus
.
He studied
Platonist philosophy in Athens
; travelled
to Italy
, Asia Minor
and Egypt
; and was an
initiate in several cults or mysteries. 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 a witty tour de force in his own defense
before the proconsul and a court of
magistrates convened in Sabratha
, near
Tripoli
. This is known as the
Apologia.
His most famous work is his
bawdy picaresque novel, the
Metamorphoses, otherwise known as
The Golden Ass. It is the only
Latin novel that has survived in its
entirety. It relates the ludicrous adventures of one Lucius, who
experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into an
ass.
Life
Apuleius
was born in Madaurus (now
M'Daourouch
, Algeria
), a Roman colony in Numidia on the North African
coast, bordering Gaetulia, and he described himself as
"half-Numidian half-Gaetulian." Madaurus was the same
colonia where
Saint Augustine later received part of
his early education, and, though located well away from the
Romanized coast, is today the site of some pristine Roman ruins. As
to his first name, no
praenomen
is given in any ancient source; late-medieval manuscripts began the
tradition of calling him
Lucius from the name of the hero
of his novel. Details regarding his life come mostly from his
defense speech (
Apology) and his work
Florida,
which consists of snippets taken from some of his best
speeches.
His father was a provincial magistrate (
duumvir) who bequeathed at his death the sum of
nearly two millions of
sesterces to his
two sons.
Apuleius studied with a master at Carthage
(where he later settled) and later at Athens, where he
studied Platonist philosophy among other
subjects. He subsequently went to Rome
to study
Latin oratory and, most
likely, to declaim 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.
Apuleius was an initiate in several cults or
mysteries, including the
Dionysian mysteries. He was a priest of
Aesculapius and, according to Augustine,
sacerdos provinciae Africae (i.e. priest of the province
of Carthage).
Not long
after his return home he set out upon a new journey to Alexandria
. On his way there he was taken ill at the town
of Oea
(modern-day Tripoli) and was
hospitably received into the house of Sicinius Pontianus, with whom
he had been friends when he had studied in Athens. The
mother of Pontianus, Pudentilla by name, was a very rich widow.
With the full consent, or, rather, at her son's behest, Apuleius
agreed to marry her. Meanwhile Pontianus himself was united to the
daughter of a certain Herennius Rufinus, who being indignant that
so much 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.
The case was heard at
Sabratha, near Tripoli, c. 158 AD, before
Claudius Maximus,
proconsul of
Africa. The accusation itself seems to have
been ridiculous, and the spirited and triumphant defence spoken by
Apuleius is still extant. This is known as the
Apologia (A
Discourse on Magic).
Of his subsequent career we know little. Judging from the many
works of which he was author, he must have devoted himself
assiduously to literature. He occasionally gave speeches in public
with great applause; 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.
Works
Frontispiece from the Bohn Library 1902 edition of
The Works of
Apuleius: a portrait of Apuleius flanked by Pamphile changing
into an owl and the Golden Ass
The Golden Ass
The Golden Ass (
Asinus Aureus) or
Metamorphoses 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
with magic and is accidentally turned into an
ass. In this guise he hears and sees many unusual
things, until escaping from his predicament in a rather unexpected
way. Within this
frame story are found
multiple
digressions, the
longest among them being the well-known tale of
Cupid and Psyche.
The
Metamorphoses ends with the (once again human) hero,
Lucius, eager to be initiated into the
mystery cult of
Isis; he
abstains from forbidden foods, bathes and purifies himself. Then
the secrets of the cult's books are explained to him, and further
secrets revealed before going through the process of initiation
which involves a trial by the elements in a journey to the
underworld. Lucius is then asked to seek initiation into the cult
of
Osiris in Rome, and eventually is
initiated into the
pastophoroi—a group of priests that
serves Isis and Osiris.
Other works
His other works are:
- Apologia (A Discourse on Magic). Apuleius' courtroom
defense. The work has very little to do with magic, and a lot to do
with making mincemeat of his opponents, with hilarity and panache.
It is among the funniest works that have come down to us from
Antiquity, and one of the most entertaining examples of Latin
courtroom oratory to survive.
- Florida. A compilation of twenty-three extracts from
his various speeches and lectures.
- On Plato and his Doctrine. An outline in two books
Plato'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 of daemons, the intermediaries between gods
and humans. This treatise was roughly attacked by Augustine.
- On the Universe. This Latin translation of the work
De Mundo is probably by
Apuleius.
Apuleius wrote many other works which have not survived. He wrote
works of
poetry and
fiction, as well as technical treatises on
politics,
dendrology,
agriculture,
medicine,
natural
history,
astronomy,
music, and
arithmetic, and
he translated Plato's
Phaedo.
Spurious works
The extant works wrongly attributed to Apuleius are:
Apuleian Sphere
The
Apuleian Sphere, also known as
'
Columcille's Circle' or
'
Petirosis's Circle' is a magical
prognosticating device for predicting the survival of a
patient.
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