Author of Metamorphoses, or The Golden Ass, the only complete Latin novel known to have survived. The absurdist romp follows Lucius, who turns himself into a donkey using magic. Ironically, Apuleius would later have to testify in court that he did not use magic to seduce the wealthy widowed mother of his friend and trick her into marrying him. His public speeches were renowned at the time, and excerpts remain to this day.
 

"Stupid people always dismiss as untrue anything that happens only seldom, or anything that their minds cannot readily grasp; yet when these things are carefully inquired into they are often found not only possible but probable."

— Metamorphoses