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After the Roman conquest of North Africa, the African urban populations fervently adopted the Latin language and the Greek-Roman way of life. Their children studied Latin, just like young North Africans today study in French or Standard Arabic. Several of the greatest Latin writers, poets, and playwrights were Roman African. In this article, we will discover Apuleius, the author of The Golden Ass, the oldest Latin novel.
Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis was born around 124, in Madaura (M’Daourouch), a Roman colony in Numidia, at the border with Getulia. His father was a city magistrate. Apuleius describes himself as “half-Numidian, half-Getulian”. His first name is unknown, but he is usually given the name of the hero of his novel, Lucius.
In his youth, Apuleius first studied in Carthage, then in Athens, where he discovered Platonic philosophy. He then went to Rome, to study Latin rhetoric, before returning to North Africa. He also traveled to Egypt and Asia Minor, where he was initiated into several mystery cults (secretive religious movements); he also became a priest of Asclepius.
Back in Africa, Apuleius settled in Oea (Tripoli), where he was welcomed in the house of a friend who studied with him in Athens, and ended up marrying his friend’s mother Pudentilla, a rich widow who was much older than him. After she died, other family members pressed charges against Apuleius, accusing him of sorcery to obtain Pudentilla’s favor – and her money. The trial took place in the neighboring city of Sabratha. The accusation proved to be so ridiculous that Apuleius was easily cleared. His defense at this trial was published under the title Discourse on Magic.
Apuleius’ main work, The Golden Ass, is the oldest Latin-language novel. This imaginative and irreverent story tells the adventures of Lucius (probably the author himself), a young man who became a victim to his own curiosity: as he was trying to cast a spell that would transform him into a bird, he was accidentally changed into a donkey instead. To become human again, he needed to eat roses. He then started a long voyage, in quest of salvation. He was finally delivered by the goddess Isis, recovered his human form, and became a priest of Isis.
The theme of Isis’ intervention to save the hero might be a criticism of nascent Christianity, which was spreading very fast in North Africa during the author’s lifetime. Isis is presented as a saving goddess, a pagan savior, as opposed to the Christian salvation experience.
During his travels, Lucius tells his readers a series of other tales that digress from the main storyline. The most famous of those “parallel stories” is the myth of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche, the youngest and most beautiful daughter of a king, was honored as an incarnation of Venus, the goddess of love. Venus became jealous of her, and sent her son Cupid to make her fall in love with the most vile of all men. But then, when he saw her, Cupid fell madly in love with her himself. He abducted her, and brought her to a beautiful palace, where he came to spend each night with her. However, Psyche was not allowed to see his face. When she returned to visit her sisters, they were jealous of her happiness and convinced her that her lover must be a monster, which was why he didn’t want her to see him. During the following night, she turned on an oil lamp, and saw the beautiful face of the god sleeping next to her. While she was admiring him, a drop of burning oil fell on Cupid’s skin, waking him up. Psyche’s happiness was now over: she was chased away from the palace and condemned to wander around, looking for her lost love. The myth of Psyche is certainly older, but Apuleius’ tale is the only version we have today. In a way, Psyche is a figure of Lucius, who, because of his desire for forbidden knowledge, lost himself and was condemned to a life of wandering, looking for salvation.
