This book springs from a doctoral dissertation written at the University of Leeds between October 2013 and November 2016. This project came into being because of a genuine curiosity about magic in the Greco-Roman world, a topic of which I knew little before my arrival at Leeds. This ‘reckless curiosity’ has led me to delve into Apuleius’ extraordinary Apologia, which this book attempts to explore. I owe many debts of gratitude to various people, without whose contributions and assistance this work would not have been possible. First, I would like to thank my doctoral supervisors Regine May and Malcolm Heath. They have been a precious source of advice, and have patiently read and commented on the drafts of the dissertation and then the book itself. I am also indebted to Jan Bremmer, Ben Cartlidge, Robert Carver, Sara Chiarini, Christopher Faraone, Julia Gaisser, Luca Graverini, Owen Hodkinson, Dániel Kiss, Almuth Lotz, Juan Martos, Tom McCreight, Svenja Nagel, Lara Nicolini, Michael Paschalis, Luigi Pellecchi, Francesca Piccioni, Emmanuel Plantade, Patricia Rosenmeyer, and Stefan Tilg for their encouragement and for their kind help on matters concerning Apuleius, the Second Sophistic, literary and textual criticism, and ancient magic. I wish to express my gratitude to my PhD examiners Emma Stafford and Stephen Harrison. He and Antonio Stramaglia have greatly helped me in the process of turning the doctoral dissertation into the present book, for which I am deeply grateful. Finally, I want to thank my family and Hollie, to whom this book is dedicated.