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THE GOLDEN ASS, OR METAMORPHOSES |
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A Note on Money The relative values of the sums of money that change hands in the course of the narrative can be calculated from the table I gold piece (aureus) = 25 denarii = 100 sestertii. However, it is clear that Apuleius habitually manipulated and exaggerated prices for comic or dramatic effect or indeed on occasion for no apparent reason at all (see R. Duncan-Jones. The Economy of the Roman Empire, Cambridge. 1974. pp. 248-51). For instance, the fluctuations in the price of Lucius-as-ass as he is sold on from one owner to another do not seem to follow any discernible pattern or make any implicit point. It follows that any attempt to relate these sums of money to contemporary economic reality or translate them into modern equivalents is bound to be fruitless.
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