© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���4 | doi �0.��63/�5685�5X- � �34�673 mnemosyne 68 (�0 �5) 605-640 brill.com/mnem Honor and Humiliation in Apuleius’ Apologia Thomas J. Kehoe and Frederik Juliaan Vervaet The University of Melbourne School of Historical and Philosophical Studies Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia tom.kehoe@gmail.com; fvervaet@unimelb.edu.au Received: December 2012; accepted: June 2013 Abstract Apuleius’ Apologia has consistently drawn scholarly attention as an example of soaring rhetoric from the Second Sophistic and for being the only remaining account of a trial for illegal magic from the early Empire. This study opts for a different approach. It uses the Apologia as a window into the culture of Roman provincial high society by examin- ing Apuleius’ motivations for demanding his accusers bring formal charges against him, as well as the social factors that pushed the preceding conflict to such a dramatic cli- max. The main contention of this inquiry is that the actions of both Apuleius and his enemies reveal the paramount importance of honor as a cultural driver of conflict, and particularly its vocalization in the parry and riposte of insults and humiliation that ulti- mately resulted in a theatrical courtroom confrontation. The results of this micro-study in Roman provincial life should thus provide a useful complement to both Ifie & Thompson’s excellent paper on Rank, Social Status and Esteem in Apuleius (1977-1978) as well as J.E. Lendon’s magisterial Empire of Honour. The Art of Government in the Roman World (1997). It also adds a practical dimension to Lateiner’s detailed analysis of Apuleius’ literary strategies of humiliation and embarrassment in his Metamorphoses (2001). Keywords Apuleius – Apologia – Honor – Humiliation – Roman Africa – municipal life