he went to Athens, where he entered keenly upon the study of jjliilosophy, displaying a special pre- dilection for the Platonic Scliool. The fortune bequeathed to him at his father's death enabled Apuleius to travel extensively, lie visited Asia and Italy, and was initiated into numerous re- ligious mysteries. The knowledge which he thus acquired of the priestly fraternities, he made abundant use of afterward in his Ooldeti Ass. His first appearance in literature arose from a lawsuit. Having married a middle-aged lady, named Pudentilla, very wealthy, but not particu- larly handsome, he drew down upon his head the malice of her relatives, who desired to inherit her riches, and who accused tlu> y<nilh of having eniploj'ed magic to gain her affections. His de- fense (Apoloffia, still extant) spoken before Claudius Maximus, proconsul of Africa, was an eloquent and successful vindication of his con- duct. After this event his life appears to have been de'oted zealously to literature and public oratory, in both of which he attained great emi- nence. He was extremely popular, so that Carthage and other cities erected statues in his honor.
The Metamorphoses, or Golden Ass, the work by which his reputation has survived, is a ro- mance or novel, whose jirinciijal personage is one Lucian, supposed by some, though on insufficient evidence, to be the author himself. It is generally understood to have been intended as a satire on the vices of the age, especially those of the priest- hood, and of quacks or jugglers affecting super- natural powers, though Bishop Warburton and other critics fancied they could detect in it an indirect apology for paganism. Its merits are both great and conspicuous, as are also its faults. Wit, humor, satire, fancy, learning, and even poetic eloquence abound; but the style is disfigured by excessive archaisms, and there is a frequent affectation in the metaphors, etc., which proves Apuleius to have been somewhat artificial in his rhetoric. The most exquisite thing in the whole work is the episode of Cupid and Psyche (imitated by La Fontaine; separate edition by Jahn, Leipzig, 18.56). It is supposed to be an allegory of the progress of the soul to perfection. Besides the Apologia and Golden Ass, we have from the pen of Apuleius an an- thology in four books, a work on the daemon of Socrates, one on the doctrines of Plato, one on The Universe, etc. A consideraljle number of his works are lost. The most recent and careful edition is by J. van de Vliet, the Metamorphoses (Leipzig, 1897) ; Apologia and Florida (Leipzig, 1000). The Golden Ass was translated into English by T. Taylor (London, 1822), and again by Sir G. Head (London, 1851). A still earlier translation by Adlington in 1500 has been republished, in an introduction by Whib- lery (London, 1893). An English version of the works of Apuleius was published in Lon- don, 1853.
APU'LIA. A part of ancient Italy lying along the Adriatic Sea, and bounded on the west and south by the Frentani, Samnium, Lucania, and Calabria (Jlap: Italy, LO). Modern Apulia ( Ital. La Piit/lia ) comprises the provinces of Bari, Foggia, and Lecce. It is a vast plain drained by numerous small streams flowing toward the Adri- atic. The country has extensive areas of pasture land, and the raising of domestic animals is the chief occupation of the inhabitants. Chief towns: Bari, Brindisi, Foggia, and Lecce. Popu- lation, 1881, 1,510,064; 1901, 1,949,423. Accord- ing to old poetic traditions. Daunus. King of the Apulians, when banished from lllyria, had come and settled here. The chief towns of Apulia were Arpi, Barium, Canusium, Luceria, and Venusia (birthplace of Horace). The Romans first came in contact with the Apulians in n.c. 320, when a friendly alliance was formed; but the Apulians joined the Samnites, the Tarentines, and finally Hannibal in attempts against Roman supremacy. Much of the Second Punic War was fought in .•pulia, and here the Romans lost the disastrous battle <if Canna^ (q.v.). After the fall of Hanni- bal, Apulia was wholly sul)jugated by IJome. When Augustus divided Italy into districts, the Regio II. was made to include Apulia and Calabria.
APUEE, a'poo-ra'. An important tributary of the Orinoco, rising in the eastern slopes of the Andes near Buearamanga, in Colombia, South America. Flowing eastward, it enters Venezuela, receiving from the south the Caucagua River and from the north the Portuguesa, the Guarico, and others; finally joining the Orinoco 200 miles above Ciudad, Bolivia. It is more than 700 miles long, navigable through the greater part of its cour.se. The vessels of the Orinoco Steamship Company ply its waters.
APURIMAC, a-poo're-miik' (Peruvian upu, principal, chief + j-ihioc, oracle). A Peruvian river, one of the head streams of the Ucayale (q.v.) (Map: Peru, CO). It rises in the high Andes in lat. 15° S., about one hundred miles northwest of Lake Titicaea, and flows northwest throughout about five hundred miles of its course, but after uniting with the Pirene it flows under the name of Tambo eastward and then northward for a distance of a hundred miles to its place of union with the t^iillabambi, to form the Ueayali, which in turn, uniting with the Maranon,' forms the Amazon. The Apurimac possesses the peculiarity that its tributaries, the chief of which are the Pampas, Mantaro, and Perene, are received from the west side. Among the tributaries of the Amazon, the Apurimac probably rises nearest to the Pacific Ocean. The Apurimac and its tributaries are of the nature of great mountain torrents, and their rocky and ruggeil banks are generally difficult of access, and ofttimes wholly inaccessible. The valleys through which they flow vary in climate and productiveness with change of altitude. The lower valleys yield the products of the tropics, and the upper ones those of temperate and cold clinuites. The basin of the Apurimac, as a whole, is said to be the finest part of Peru, and to contain the largest proportion of native population — the best specimens, apparently, of the aboriginal civilization.
APURIMAC. A department of Peru, bound-
ed by the department of Cuzco on the north and
east and A_vaeucho on the south and west (Map:
Peru, C 6). Area, 8,187 square miles. The sur-
face is largely elevated and well watered. The
population was officially estimated in 1806 at
177.387. Capital, Abancay.
A'QUA (Lat., water). A term often used by the alchemists, who called nitric acid aqua fort is: alcohol, aqua vitw, etc. A mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids is still called aqua regia. In modern pharmacy the word is used in the following terms: Aqua ainmoniw (water of ammonia), aqua ammonice fortior (strong
