Lucius Apuleius

Lucius Apuleius (125?-200?), Roman philosopher and writer, born in Madaurus, Numidia (now Algeria). His father was a wealthy magistrate. Apuleius studied in Carthage at a noted school of literature and later went to Athens, where he studied philosophy. He traveled extensively and visited Rome in about 150. About 155 he married a wealthy middle-aged woman whose relatives accused him of having employed magic to gain her affections. His defense, later published under the title Apologia and still extant, was an eloquent and successful vindication of his conduct. He thereafter devoted himself to literature and oratory. His popularity was so great that Carthage and other cities erected statues to him.

The novel Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass is his most outstanding work. The principal character, Lucius, is accidentally transformed by magic into an ass. He recovers his human form by eating roses from the hands of a priest of the Egyptian goddess Isis. The Metamorphoses, often regarded as a satire on the vices of the age, extensively influenced the works of later writers, such as Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollett, and Giovanni Boccaccio. Apuleius had the exceptional gift of accurate and vivid observation of detail, and his stories are extremely realistic.