Abstract

In recent years there has been growing interest in Apuleius' works. Notably his famous novel Metamorphoses and his speeches are increasingly appreciated as the special products of a Second Sophist writing in Latin. In the Florida, a collection of 23 excerpts of speeches, we have a unique example of Roman demonstrative rhetoric. In the text we see Apuleius performing before great audiences, and even in the theatre of Carthage. He delivers speeches on topics as diverse as the eye of the eagle, the inventions of Hippias, or the distinctive features of the parrot. The speaker's wide literary talents, his education and health, and his excellent relations with Carthage and the audience at large, are all put on display with manifest pride. This makes the Florida an indispensable text for anyone interested in second century Latin literature, Second Sophistic, culture and education in Roman Africa, or the author Apuleius. A modern commentary on this brilliant collection has been a desideratum in Apuleian scholarship for a long time. Vincent Hunink has now edited the Florida with an extensive English commentary, in which the literary and rhetorical features of the text are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to the strategies of the speaker and to his exquisite, extravagant style, full of rare or newly coined words and richly adorned with effects of sound and rhythm. Each of the 23 fragments is given a separate introduction, followed by a detailed commentary. The new edition enables readers to gain a better understanding of Apuleius as the great sophist and showman that he was. The volume contains an introduction, a Latin text (based on Helm's Teubner text, but with numerous returns to the text of the manuscripts), a commentary (150 pages), bibliography and indices.