Apuleius

Apuleius was a Roman North African orator, Platonist philosopher, and prose writer born at Madauros around the second century CE. The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura brings together his courtroom defence against an accusation of magic and excerpts from public speeches delivered with the display expected of a celebrated rhetorician. He studied in Carthage and Athens, travelled widely, and practised advocacy in Rome before settling again in North Africa. The Apologia draws much of its force from his account of education, marriage to Pudentilla, scientific curiosity, and philosophical commitments. Florida preserves shorter pieces that reveal his range as a public performer and cultural commentator. His best-known surviving narrative is Metamorphoses, commonly called The Golden Ass, whose embedded tale of Cupid and Psyche became especially influential. His surviving philosophical works include On the God of Socrates and writings on Plato, linking literary invention with the intellectual traditions that shaped his public identity.