Mastering Oratory: The Mock-Trial in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses 3.3.1–7.1

The playful manipulation of ritual, literary, and legal elements marks the Festival of Laughter in Book 3 of the Metamorphoses (1–11) as one of the most innovative episodes of Apuleius’ novel. This article examines the rhetorical and judicial strategy adopted by the prosecutor and the defendant in the mock-trial. It also argues that Lucius’ defense speech is modeled on Cicero’s Pro Milone. By revitalizing the portrait of Cicero acting in defense of Milo, the learned novelist devises a new, amusing form of entertainment, increasing the fictionality of the oratorical-theatrical performance and making Lucius-Cicero producer, performer, and victim of the collective hoax.