APULEIUS

apuleius, lucius, platonic philosopher and rhetorician, was born at madaura in numidia about a.d. 125. as the son of one of the principal officials, he received an excellent education, first at carthage and subsequently at athens. after leaving athens he undertook a long course of travel, especially in the east, principally with the view of obtaining initiation into religious mysteries. having practised for some time as an advocate at rome, he returned to africa. on a journey to alexandria he fell sick at oea (tripoli), where he made the acquaintance of a rich widow, aemilia pudentilla, whom he subsequently married. the members of her family disapproved of the marriage, and indicted apuleius on a charge of having gained her affections by magical arts. he easily established his innocence, and his spirited, highly entertaining, but inordinately long defence (_apologia_ or _de magia_) before the proconsul claudius maximus is our principal authority for his biography. from allusions in his subsequent writings, and the mention of him by st. augustine, we gather that the remainder of his prosperous life was devoted to literature and philosophy. at carthage he was elected provincial priest of the imperial cult, in which capacity he occupied a prominent position in the provincial council, had the duty of collecting and managing the funds for the temples of the cult, and the superintendence of the games in the amphitheatre. he lectured on philosophy and rhetoric, like the greek sophists, apparently with success, since statues were erected in his honour at carthage and elsewhere. the year of his death is not known. the work on which the fame of apuleius principally rests has little claim to originality. the _metamorphoses_ or _golden ass_ (the latter title seems not to be the author's own, but to have been bestowed in compliment, just as the _libri rerum quotidianarum_ of gaius were called _aurei_) was founded on a narrative in the _metamorphoses_ of lucius of patrae, a work extant in the time of photius. from photius's account (impugned, however, by wieland and courier), this book would seem to have consisted of a collection of marvellous stories, related in an inartistic fashion, and in perfect good faith. the literary capabilities of this particular narrative attracted the attention of apuleius's contemporary, lucian, who proceeded to work it up in his own manner, adhering, as photius seems to indicate, very closely to the original, but giving it a comic and satiric turn. apuleius followed this rifacimento, making it, however, the groundwork of an elaborate romance, interspersed with numerous episodes, of which the beautiful story of cupid and psyche is the most celebrated, and altering the _denouement_ to suit the religious revival of which he was an apostle. the adventures of the youthful hero in the form of an ass are much the same in both romances, but in apuleius he is restored to human shape by the aid of isis, into whose mysteries he is initiated, and finally becomes her priestess. the book is a remarkable illustration of the contemporary reaction against a period of scepticism, of the general appetite for miracle and magic, and of the influx of oriental and egyptian ideas into the old theology. it is also composed with a well-marked literary aim, defined by kretzschmann as the emulation of the greek sophists, and the transplantation of their _tours de force_ into the latin language. nothing, indeed, is more characteristic of apuleius than his versatility, unless it be his ostentation and self-confidence in the display of it. the dignified, the ludicrous, the voluptuous, the horrible, succeed each other with bewildering rapidity; fancy and feeling are everywhere apparent, but not less so affectation, meretricious ornament, and that effort to say everything finely which prevents anything being said well. the latinity has a strong african colouring, and is crammed with obsolete words, agreeably to the taste of the time. when these defects are mitigated or overlooked, the _golden ass_ will be pronounced a most successful work, invaluable as an illustration of ancient manners, and full of entertainment from beginning to end. the most famous and poetically beautiful portion is the episode of cupid and psyche, adapted from a popular legend of which traces are found in most fairy mythologies, which explains the seeming incongruity of its being placed in the mouth of an old hag. the allegorical purport he has infused into it is his own, and entirely in the spirit of the platonic philosophy. don quixote's adventure with the wine-skins, and gil blas's captivity among the robbers, are palpably borrowed from apuleius; and several of the humorous episodes, probably current as popular stories long before his time, reappear in boccaccio. of apuleius's other writings, the _apology_ has been already mentioned. the _florida_ (probably meaning simply "anthology," without any reference to style) consists of a collection of excerpts from his declamations, ingenious but highly affected, and in general perfect examples of the sophistical art of saying nothing with emphasis. they deal with the most varied subjects, and are intended to exemplify the author's versatility. the pleasing little tract _on the god of socrates_ expounds the platonic doctrine of beneficent daemons, an intermediate class between gods and men. two books on plato (_de platone et ejus dogmate_) treat of his life, and his physical and ethical philosophy; a third, treating of logic, is generally considered spurious. the _de mundo_ is an adaptation of the [greek: peri kosmou] wrongly attributed to aristotle. apuleius informs us that he had also composed numerous poems in almost all possible styles, and several works on natural history, some in greek. in the preparation of these he seems to have attended more closely to actual anatomical research than was customary with ancient naturalists. some other works--dealing with theology, the properties of herbs, medical remedies and physiognomy, are wrongly attributed to him. 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. his vanity and love of display are conspicuous, but are extenuated by a genuine thirst for knowledge and a surprising versatility of attainments. he prided himself on his proficiency in both greek and latin. his place in letters is accidentally more important than his genius strictly entitles him to hold. he is the only extant example in latin literature of an accomplished sophist in the good sense of the term. the loss of other ancient romances has secured him a peculiar influence on modern fiction; while his chronological position in a transitional period renders him at once the evening star of the platonic, and the morning star of the neo-platonic philosophy. bibliography.--complete works: editio princeps, ed. andreas (1469); oudendorp (1786-1823); hildebrand (1842); helm (1905 et seq.); p. thomas (vol. iii. 1908). _metamorphoses_, eyssenhardt (1869), van der vliet (1897). _psyche et cupido_, jahn-michaelis (1883); beck (1902). _apologia_, i. casaubon (1594); kruger (1864); (with the _florida_), van der vliet (1900). _florida_, kruger (1883). _de deo socratis_, buckley (1844), lutjohann (1878). _de platone et ejus dogmate_, goldbacher (1876) (including _de mundo_ and _de deo socratis_). for the relation between lucian's [greek: ovos] and the _metamorphoses_ of apuleius, see rohde, _uber lucians schrift [greek: loukios]_ (1869), and burger, _de lucio patrensi_ (1887). on the style of apuleius consult kretzschmann, _de latinitate l. apulei_ (1865), and koziol, _der stil des a._ (1872). there is a complete english translation of the works of apuleius in bohn's classical library. the translations and imitations of the _golden ass_ in modern languages are numerous: in english, by adlington, 1566 and later eds. (reissued in the tudor translations and temple classics), taylor (1822) (including the philosophical works), head (1851). of the cupid and psyche episode there are recent translations by robert bridges (1895) (in verse), stuttaford (1903); and it is beautifully introduced by walter pater into his _marius the epicurean_. this episode has afforded the subject of a drama to thomas heywood, and of narrative poems to shakerley marmion, mrs. tighe, and william morris (in the _earthly paradise_). apulia (sometimes appulia in manuscripts but never in inscriptions), the district inhabited in ancient times by the apuli. strictly a samnite tribe (see samnites) settled round mount garganus on the east coast of italy (strabo vi. 3. 11), the apuli mingled with the iapygian tribes of that part of the coast (dauni, peucetii, poediculi) who, like the messapii, had come from illyria, so that the name apulia reached down to the border of the ancient calabria. almost the only monument of samnite speech from the district is the famous _tabula bantina_ from bantia, a small city just inside the peucetian part of apulia, on the lucanian border. this inscription is one of the latest and in some ways the most important monument of oscan, though showing what appear to be some southern peculiarities (see osca lingua). its date is almost certainly between 118 and 90 b.c., and it shows that latin had not even then spread over the district (cf. lucania). far older than this are some coins from ausculum and teate (later known as teanum apulum), of which the earliest belong to the 4th century b.c. roman or latin colonies were few, luceria (planted 314 b.c.) in the north and brundisium (soon after 268) being the chief. (see r.s. conway, _italic dialects_, xxviii.-xxx. pp. 15 f.; and mommsen's introduction to the opening sections of _c.i.l._ ix.) (r. s. c.) the wars of the 4th and 3rd centuries b.c. brought a great part of the pastures of the apulian plain into the hands of the roman state, and a tax was paid on every head of cattle and every sheep, at first to the tax farmer and later to the imperial procurator. it was under the romans that the system of migration for the flocks reached its full development, and the practice is still continued; the sheep-tracks (_tratturi_), 350 ft. wide, leading from the mountains of the abruzzi to the plain of apulia date in the main at least from the roman period, and are mentioned in inscriptions. the plain, however, which once served as winter grazing ground for a million sheep, now gives pasture to about one-half of that number.[1] the shepherds, who were slaves, often gave considerable trouble; we hear that some 7000 of them, who had made the whole country unsafe, were condemned to death in 185 b.c. (livy xxxix. 29). sheep-farming on a large scale was no doubt detrimental to the interests of the towns. we hear of repeated risings, for the last time in the social war. even in the 4th century b.c. the then chief town of apulia, teate or teanum apulum (see above), suffered in this way. luceria subsequently took its place, largely owing to its military importance; but under the empire it was succeeded by canusium. the road system of apulia, which touched all the important towns, consisted of three main lines, the via appia (see appia, via), the via traiana, and the coast road, running more or less parallel in an east-south-east direction. the first (the southernmost), coming east from beneventum, entered apulia at the pons aufidi, and ran through venusia to tarentum, and thence, turning north-east, to brundusium. the second, coming north-east from beneventum, turned east at aecae, and ran through herdoniae, canusium, butuntum, barium and gnathia (gnatia) to brundusium. there was also a short cut from butuntum to gnathia through caelia, keeping inland. the third parallel line ran to the north of the via traiana, in continuation of the road along the north-east coast of picenum and samnium; it entered apulia near larinum (whence a branch ran south to bovianum undecimanorum), and thence, keeping in the plain to the south of the mons garganus, rejoined the coast at sipontum, where it received a branch road from the via traiana at aecae, passing through luceria and arpi. it then passed through barduli (where it was joined by a road from canusium by way of cannae) to barium, where it joined the via traiana. from barium a road probably ran direct to caelia, and thence south-south-east to join the via appia some 25 m. north-west of tarentum. barium was an important harbour, though less so than brundusium and tarentum, which, however, belonged to calabria in the roman sense. apulia, with calabria, formed the second region of augustus, though we once find calabria treated as a part of the third region, lucania (_c.i.l._ ix. 2213). the hannibalic and later wars had, strabo tells us, destroyed the former prosperity of the country; in imperial times we hear little or nothing of it. both were governed by a _corrector_ from the time of constantine onwards, but in 668 the lombards conquered calabria and apulia, and it was then that the former name was transferred to bruttium, the meaning of the latter being extended to include calabria also. in the 10th century the greater part of this territory was recovered by the byzantine emperors, whose governor was called [greek: katapanos], a name which, under the corrupt form capitanata, belonged to the province of foggia till 1861. it was conquered by the normans under william bras-de-fer, who took the title of _comes apuliae_ in 1042; it was raised to a dukedom with calabria by robert guiscard in 1059, and united to the sicilian monarchy in 1127. many of the important towns possess fine romanesque cathedrals, constructed under the normans and the hohenstaufen rulers. it shared the subsequent fate of sicily, becoming a part of the kingdom of the two sicilies in 1734, and being united with italy in 1861. modern apulia. modern apulia comprises the three provinces of foggia, bari and lecce (the latter corresponding roughly with the ancient calabria, which, however, extended somewhat farther north inland), and is often known as le puglie; it stretches from monte gargano to the south-east extremity of italy, with an area of 7376 sq. m.; it is bounded on the north and east by the adriatic, on the south-east by the gulf of taranto, on the south by basilicata and on the west by campania and the abruzzi. the three provinces correspond to the three natural divisions into which it falls. that of foggia, though it has mountains on the west and south-west boundary, and the monte gargano at its north-east extremity, is in the main a great plain called the tavoliere (chessboard) di puglia, with considerable lagoons on its north and east coast. that of bari, east-south-east of foggia and divided from it by the ofanto (aufidus), the only considerable river of apulia, 104 m. long, is a hilly district with a coast strip along which are the majority of the towns--the lack of villages is especially noticeable; in the _circondario_ of barletta, the north-east portion of the province, there are only eleven communes, with a total population of 335,934. that of lecce, to the east-south-east again, is a low flat limestone terrace. the industries of apulia are mainly pastoral or agricultural. besides sheep, a considerable number of horses, cattle and swine are bred; while despite the lack of water, which is the great need of modern apulia (in 1906 arrangements were made for a great aqueduct, to supply the three provinces from the headwaters of the sele), cultivation is actively carried on, especially in the province of bari, where grain, wine, olives, almonds, lemons, oranges, tobacco, &c., are produced in abundance, and the export of olive oil is attaining considerable importance. the salt works of margherita di savoia produce large quantities of salt, and nitre is extracted near molfetta. railway communications are fairly good, the main line from bologna to brindisi passing through the whole length of apulia, by way of foggia and bari, and having branches from foggia (the main railway centre of apulia) to benevento and caserta, to manfredonia, to lucera and to rocchetta s. antonio (and thence to either avellino, potenza or gioia del colle), from ofantino to margherita di savoia, from barletta to spinazzola (between rocchetta s. antonio and gioia del colle), from bari to putignano, and via gioia del colle to taranto, and from brindisi to taranto, and to lecce and otranto; besides which, there is a steam tramway from barletta to bari via andria. the most important harbours of apulia are brindisi, bari, taranto, barletta, molfetta and gallipoli. the export of olive oil to foreign countries from the province of lecce in 1905 amounted to 1048 tons, as against 3395 in 1901; but that to home ports increased from 7077 to 9025 tons in the same period. the production of wine was 358,953 tons in 1905 as against 203,995 tons in 1901 (an exceptionally bad year) and 284,156 tons in 1902. of this 211,872 tons were forwarded by rail and sea, in the proportion of five to two respectively, the rest being used for home consumption and as a reserve. the cultivation of oriental tobacco is extending in the province (see _consular report_, no. 3672, july 1906). the population of the province of foggia was 425,450 (1901) as against 322,755 in 1871, the chief towns being foggia (53,151), cerignola (34,195), s. severo (30,040), monte s. angelo (21,870), s. marco in lamis (17,309), lucera (17,515); that of bari, 827,698 (1901) as against 604,540 in 1871, the chief towns being bari (77,478), andria (49,569), barletta (42,022), corato (41,573), molfetta (40,135), trani (31,800), bisceglie (30,885), bitonto (30,617), canosa (24,169), ruvo (23,776), terlizzi (23,232), altamura(22,729), monopoli (22,545), gioia del colle (21,721); that of lecce, 706,520 (1901) as against 493,594 in 1871, the chief towns being taranto (60,733), lecce (32,687), brindisi (25,317), martina franca (25,007), ostuni (22,997), francavilla fontana (20,422), ceglie messapica (16,867), nardo (14,387), galatina (14,071), gallipoli (13,552), manduria (13,113). (t. as.) footnote: [1] the migration was made compulsory by alphonso i. in 1442, and remained so until 1865. since that time the _tratturi_ have been to some extent absorbed by private proprietors.