Revisiting Apuleius’ De re publica (Fulgentius, Expositio sermonum antiquorum 44)

Abstract

This study focuses on a fragment of Apuleius’ lost De re publica preserved in Fulgentius, Expositio sermonum antiquorum 44. After reviewing earlier scholarship on this passage, it is argued that its Plautine vocabulary is consistent with Apuleius’ archaising style, far from being evidence against Apuleius’ paternity. An echo of Aristophanes, Knights 542 is discussed (a tag that later became a political adage), as well as of Plato, Republic 488a-489a and Cicero, Republic 1.11. It is suggested that the fragment might derive from a dialogue somewhat akin to the eponymous ones by Plato and Cicero, or from a speech on moral philosophy.