The Golden Ass

Apuleius

Apuleius, also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis, was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern-day M'Daourouch, Algeria. He studied Platonism 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 of a wealthy widow. He declaimed his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha, near Oea. This speech, which Apuleius subsequently published, is known as the Apologia.