The Golden Ass: A Window into Instability

The Golden Ass: A Window into Instability
The Golden Ass, written by Apuleius, was a perfect example of the failing securities of the so-called “peaking prosperity” of the Roman Empire. The novel’s satirical stance and underlying messages made for good examples of what was currently wrong with the empire as a whole, but more importantly what was currently eating away at the Roman society. Corruption, greed, hate, lust, and vengeance were some of the most identifiable aspects of society that seemed to continually rear their ugly heads, often making stories about Roman life unbearably tragic; even melancholy. People living in this world often suffered at the hands of others as there was no means by which to combat these evils other then resorting to these evils themselves. The Golden Ass itself pokes fun at these ideas in society, by actually giving the societal woes form in which they can be freely identified in the form of characters and their most exemplary traits. The no...