Apuleius sets out upon a new journey to Alexandria not long after returns home.

On his way there, he is taken ill at the town of Oea (modern-day Tripoli) and is hospitably received into the house of Sicinius Pontianus, with whom he had been friends when he had studied in Athens.

The mother of Pontianus, Pudentilla, is a very rich widow.

With her son's consent—indeed encouragement—Apuleius agrees to marry her.

Meanwhile Pontianus himself marries the daughter of one Herennius Rufinus; he, indignant that Pudentilla's wealth should pass out of the family, instigates his son-in-law, together with a younger brother, Sicinius Pudens, a mere boy, and their paternal uncle, Sicinius Aemilianus, to join him in impeaching Apuleius upon the charge that he had gained the affections of Pudentilla by charms and magic spells.

The case is heard at Sabratha, near Tripoli, before Claudius Maximus, proconsul of Africa, in about 158 CE.

The accusation itself seems to have been ridiculous, and the spirited and triumphant defense spoken by Apuleius is still extant.

This is known as the Apologia (A Discourse on Magic).

The work has very little to do with magic, and a lot to do with skewering his opponents with hilarity and panache.

It is among the funniest works that have come down to us from Antiquity, and one of the most entertaining examples of Latin courtroom oratory to survive.