206 ROMA 
the only example antiquity- furnished, and was not generally 
followed. Heliodorus, a Greek bishop, had written a fa¬ 
mous romance, entitled CEthiopiea, in the reign of Theodo¬ 
sius, but this did not become a model of imitation, until the 
beginning of the 17th century. The Romans had no ro¬ 
mances, and little romantic poetry. We have only to mention 
on this head, that the work entitled Orfeo and Herodiis, is 
plainly referable to Ovid’s tale of Orpheus and Euridice, the 
substitution of the elves and fairies of Gothland, for the in¬ 
fernal'spirits of the ancients, being the only alteration of 
consequence in the piece. 
There are a few Latin romances extant, but their produc¬ 
tion seems to have been checked before the fourth century, 
by the miseries of war. Of these the most famous is the 
Ass of Apuleius, which, from its great popularity, has been 
called the Golden Ass. It is an improvement of Lucian’s 
whimsical tale, entitled Lucius; and relates the adventures 
of the author Apuleius (who lived in the first century), dur¬ 
ing his transformation into an ass. This misfortune befel 
him at the house of a female magician in Thessaly, with 
w hom he lodged, and whose maid servant at his request had 
stolen a box of ointment from her mistress, by rubbing him¬ 
self with which Apuleius expected to be changed into a bird; 
but as his friend the damsel had by mistake given him a 
wrong box, he found himself compelled to bray and walk 
on all fours, instead of whistling and flying in the air. He 
is informed by her, that the eating of rose leaves is necessary 
for his restoration to the human form. This poor beast ac¬ 
cordingly goes through many adventures, some agreeable, 
but in general very unpleasant, before he has it in its power to 
taste a rose leaf. At last, having one evening escaped from 
his master, he found unexpectedly the termination of his 
misfortunes. He fled unperceived to the fields; and having 
galloped for three leagues, he came to a retired place on the 
shore of the sea. The moon which was in full splendour, 
and the awful silence of the night, inspired him with senti¬ 
ments of devotion. He purified himself in the manner pre¬ 
scribed by Pythagoras, and addressed a long prayer to the 
great goddess Isis. In the course of the night she appeared 
to him in a dream; and alter giving a strange account of 
herself, announced to him the end of his misfortunes; but 
demanded in return the consecration of his whole life to her 
service. On awakening, he feels himself confirmed in his 
resolution of aspiring to a life of virtue. On this change of 
disposition and conquest over his passions, the author finely 
represents all nature as assuming a new face of cheerfulness 
and gaiety. “ Tanta hilaritate, praeter peculiarem meam, 
gestire mild cuncta videbantur, ut pecua etiam cujuseemodi, 
et totas domos, et ipsarn diem serena facie gaudere sentirem.’’ 
“ While in this frame of mind, Apuleius perceived an innu¬ 
merable multitude approaching the snore to celebrate the 
festival of Isis. Amid the crowd of priests, he remarked the 
sovereign pontiff, with a crown of roses on his head; and 
approached to pluck them. The pontiff, yielding to a secret 
inspiration, held forth the garland. Apuleius resumed his 
former figure, and the promise of the goddess was fulfilled. 
He was then initiated into her rites—returned to Rome, and 
devoted himself to her service. He was finally invited to 
a more mystic and solemn initiation by the goddess her¬ 
self, who rewarded him for his accumulated piety, by an 
abundance of temporal blessings.” 
It is extremely probable that Apuleius had in view 
the general idea of representing, on the one hand, by 
hjs nietamorphosis,' the degradation of human nature, 
jn consequence of a voluptuous life ; and, on the 
other hand, the dignity and happiness of virtue, by his res¬ 
toration and admission to the mysteries of Isis. 
The eastern romance was extremely fruitful; the exploits of 
Alexander had been sung by the Arabians, and the romance 
of An tar (of extreme antiquity, since he is no other than the 
Sampson of Scripture,) was derived from the same source. 
The -supposed great skill of the eastern nations in astrology 
and divination, peopled their remote lands with enchanters 
and sorcerers; the terrific number and magnitude of their 
wild, beads and reptiles, easily furnished the imagination 
N- C E. 
with dragons, and griffins, winged and bestial demons, kc. 
The wealth also of the eastern nations, their splendid dresses, 
decorated palaces, and ample possessions of jewels, and 
precious metals, gorgeously display themselves in those 
pictures of inexhaustible riches and innumerable splendours, 
with which some romancers adorned (or, perhaps, rather 
clogged), their tales. We are inclined to attribute likewise 
to this source, that comic style which, in a remoter period, 
sprang to so prolific a growth in, Spain. Hitherward, like¬ 
wise, has been traced that ludicrous poetry which, under tile 
name of fabliaux, enlivened the Normans in. the songs of 
their trouveurs. The Gesta Romanorum, and the. “ Le¬ 
gend of the Seven Wise Masters,” collections much used by 
these bards, have been successively traced to Persia- and 
Hindostan. 
The Teutonic nations cultivated in their rude war- 
songs the embryo seeds of romance at an earlier period 
than any other of the European nations; but in their ad¬ 
vancement to maturity, they exhibited a remarkable decay. 
The force and spirit of their early love and war songs, are su¬ 
perior to their Norman successors and contemporaries; in 
the exhibition of terrific and supernatural imagery, they are 
far more exalted, and in the number and length of historical 
anecdotes are exceedingly prolific; but in their prose 
romances there is a great falling off, both in interest and 
originality. It is in these northern bards, however, that we 
behold in its purest form the historical legends which chivalrous 
romances afterwards succeeded. In the Niebelungen-Leid, we 
have an absence of all the warring-religious feeling which after¬ 
wards became so prevalent. The antiquity of this collection 
is shewn in the introduction and occasional commendation 
of pagan heroes. We have both heathens and Christians ia 
these legends ; but the heathens are genuine worshippers qf 
Odin, not of Mahomet, and the Christians are represented as 
living in peace with them, beneath the tolerating sway of 
Attila the Hun ! A great deal of the pure old Scandinavian 
tone is preserved in the manners of the heroes, and in the 
tone of the narrative. A peculiarly dark and solemn character 
of melancholy pervades the whole spirit, of the work. De.- 
votion and daring are carried to their, utmost height; and a 
rude and imperfect idea of the Christian doctrines appears to 
struggle throughout with elements of a very different descrip¬ 
tion, softening rather than expelling the stern and iron gloom 
of the blasjk and bloody creed of Scandinavian mythology. 
“ These singular compositions,” says Sir W. Scott, “ short, 
abrupt, and concise in expression, full of bold and even ex¬ 
travagant metaphor, exhibiting many passages of forceful 
and rapid description, bold a character of their own; and 
while they remind us of the indomitable .courage and patient 
endurance of the hardy Scandinavians, at once the honour 
and the terror of Europe, rise far above the tedious and 
creeping style which characterized. the minstrel efforts of 
their successors, whether in France or England. In the 
pine forests also, and the frozen mountains of the north-, 
there were nursed, amid the reliques of expiring paganism, 
many traditions of a character more wild and terrible than 
the fables of classical superstition; and these the gloomy 
imagination of the skalds failed not to transfer to tin ir 
romantic tales.” 
Dr. Watson observes, that the enchantments of the Runic 
poetry are very different from those in our romances of chi¬ 
valry. The former chiefly deals in spells aiyd charms, such 
as would preserve from poisons,- blunt the weapons of an 
enemy, procure victory, allay a tempest, cure bodily dis¬ 
eases, or call the dead from their tombs, in.uttering a form 
of mysterious words, or inscribing Runic characteis. The 
magicians of romance are chiefly employed in forming and 
conducting a train of deceptions. There .is an air of bar¬ 
baric horror in fhe incantations of .the scaldic fablers: the 
magicians of romance often present visions of pleasure and 
delight: and although, not without their alarming terrors, 
sometimes lead us through flowery forests, and raise, up 
palaces glittering with gold and precious stonel The Runic 
magic is more like that of Canidia in Horace, the romantic 
resembles that of Annina in Tasso. The operations of. the 
one 
