Roman Greece 329 



instance may be found in the case of the ass, that is the hero of the 

 story transformed into that shape by magic. He is to be sold, and the 

 waggish auctioneer 1 says to a possible bidder 'I am well aware that it 

 is a criminal offence to sell you a Roman citizen for a slave: but why 

 not buy a good and trusty slave that will serve you as a helper both 

 at home and abroad ?' Here we have a recognition of the fact of kid- 

 napping, which is referred to elsewhere in the book; that in cases of 

 Roman victims the law took a very serious view of the offence ; while 

 the point of the pleasantry lies in the circumstance that neither 

 auctioneer nor company present are aware that the ass is a trans- 

 formed man, liable to regain his human shape by magical disenchant- 

 ment. 



The scene of the Metamorphoses is laid in Greece, and the anecdotes 

 included in it do not give us a favourable picture of that part of the 

 Roman empire. There was surely nothing to tempt the writer to 

 misrepresent the condition of the country by packing his descriptions 

 with unreal details : he would thus have weakened the effect of his 

 romance. Wealth in the hands of a few, surrounded by a pauper 

 majority ; shrunken towns, each with its more or less degraded rabble ; 

 general insecurity for life liberty and property ; a cruel and arbitrary 

 use of power; a spiritless acquiescence in this pitiful state of things, 

 relieved by the excitements of superstition and obscenity : such was 

 Roman Greece as Apuleius saw it. No doubt there was Roman Law 

 to enforce honesty and order. But the administration of justice seldom, 

 if ever, reaches the standard of legislation ; and as yet the tendency of 

 the Roman government was to interfere as little as possible with local 

 authorities. Greece in particular had always been treated with special 

 indulgence, in recognition of her glorious past. Whether the effects 

 of this favour were conducive to the wellbeing of the country, may 

 fairly be doubted. The insane vanity of Nero, masquerading as 

 Liberator of Greece, had surely done more harm than good. Hadrian's 

 benefactions to Athens, dictated by sentimental antiquarianism, could 

 not improve the general condition of the country, however satisfactory 

 they might be to what was now an University town living on students 

 and tourists. 



One of the first things that strikes a reader of this book is the 

 matter-of-fact way in which brigandage 2 is taken for granted. These 

 robbers work in organized bands under chosen captains, have regular 

 strongholds as bases of operations, draw recruits from the poverty- 

 stricken peasantry or slaves, and do not hesitate to attack and plunder 

 great mansions, relying on the cowardice or indifference (or perhaps 



1 Metamorphoses vi 1 1 24. See Norden's remarks pp 83-4. 



2 See for instance Metam iv 9, vi 31, vn 4, 9. 



