Apuleio il grande?

In a passage of De ostentis (44, 98.6-7 Wachsmuth2) John Lydus seems to have highly extolled the fame of Apuleius by calling him “the Great”. A preliminary survey of the quotations from Apuleius in Lydus’ works, however, shows that the ancient author’s name is never accompanied by ὁ μέγας or any other comparable a!ribute. In fact, the transmitted reading ὁ μέγας Ἀπουλήϊος appears to be the result of a textual corruption. On the basis of a new examination of the manuscripts containing the passage in question, coupled with a critical analysis of the di+erent choices made by various editors of the text and an attentive consideration of Lydus’ usus scribendi that suggests more appropriate punctuation, the paper proves that the reading ὁ μέγας is clearly unsustainable. An emendation is, therefore, clearly needed, and ὁμοίως is proposed as a reasonable one because it would restore the syntax of the passage and is perfectly adequate to the context.