PREFACE

As regards orthography, certain changes have been made. In Helm's text, the peculiarities and inconsistencies of the spelling of F the Laurentian manuscript are rightly presented. But this has been done once and for all, and in the present text, the editors have for the sake of appearance attempted to introduce a little more uniformity of spelling. In a few cases, where there is some reason to believe that the unusual features may be due to the author himself, these peculiarities have been preserved. Elsewhere, without seeking an absolutely rigid consistency, the editors have attempted to give the text a somewhat more normal appearance.

The indebtedness of the editors to those who have been in the field before them will be evident from the notes, but they would make special reference to the debt which they and all subsequent editors of Apuleius must owe to the work of Rudolf Helm, whose text of the Apologia Defense, Florida a collection of rhetorical extracts, and Metamorphoses the Golden Ass marks an epoch in Apuleian criticism, and also to the exhaustive commentary of Abt on all passages in the Apologia which relate to magic. A short bibliography is appended in which are indicated the works consulted for the present edition. The editors would also express their especial gratitude to Dr. L. Purser, of Trinity College, Dublin, for his kindness in reading the proofs of the commentary and introduction, to both him and Mr. Ingram Bywater for the many helpful suggestions and criticisms they have made, and to Mr. de Zulueta, Reader in Roman Law at Oxford, for his assistance in the elucidation of legal difficulties.