Apuleius Madaurensis, or Apuleius of Madauros, is best known as the author of the Latin novel Asinus Aureus (The Golden Ass, after A.D. 160). The "Madaurensis" part of his name refers to his place of birth, Madauros, now known as Mdaurusch in modern Algeria, where St. Augustine also was born. Thus, he was a native of one of the most westerly regions of the Roman Empire. In spite of the prevailing Latin culture of the region, which the Romans called Africa Proconsularis, Apuleius was equally accomplished in both Greek and Latin and the beneficiary of postgraduate studies in Athens. Most of his extant writings are translations or adaptations of Greek works, and he can most profitably be viewed as a transmitter of the intellectual accomplishments of the Greek East to the Latin West.

Most of what is known about Apuleius derives from his Apulei Apologia pro se de...