, or parasite, who sat among the
guests, exclaims "Give him a cup of wine," and he was taught various
tricks. His fame increases so that his master only admits people to see
him on payment. Finally being taken to the circus, and afraid that some
of the wild beasts might eat him by mistake, he slips away and gallops
to Cenchroea, where he prays to the goddess Iris, and is by her
restored to his human form. The descriptions in this work are often very
beautiful, and the humour in describing the misfortunes of the ass is
excellent.

In contrast to the humour of Lucian and Apuleius, we may place that of
the Emperor Julian, an ascetic and devotee, who was nephew of
Constantine the Great, and brought up a Christian. Julian's early life
was spent in terror, for Constantius, Constantine's son, imprisoned him
at Milan, after having put his elder brother to death. Perhaps this
treatment at the hands of a Christian may have prejudiced him against
the new religion, or his mild disposition may have been scandalized at
the fierceness of theological controversies, or at the lives of many of
the converts. His early education and experiences of life were more
inclined to imbue him with principles of toleration than to make him a
zealous Christian, and, finally, when he arrived at the age of twenty,
he determined to return back into Paganism. This retrograde movement,
not altogether out of keeping with his quaint character and love of
antiquity, has stamped him with the opprobrious title of the "Apostate,"
but in moral excellence he was superior to the age in which he lived.
Many of his writings show a sense of humour, such as that he wrote in
Lutetia (Paris) on "Barley wine" the drink of the Gauls.

"Who and whence art thou, Dionyse? for, by true Bacchus
I know thee not, but Jove's great son alone,
He smells of nectar, thou of goats, truly the Celts
For want of grapes made thee of ears of corn;
Wherefore thou shouldst be Cereal called, not Bacchus,
Pyrogenes and Bromos, not Bromion."[27]

Julian's principal work is on the Caesars. He commences it by saying that
he is not addicted to jesting, but he will relate a sort of fable in
which all the gods and Caesars are called to a great banquet.
Accordingly, he introduces various characters. Julius Caesar seems in his
pride to wish to dispute the throne even with Jupiter. Augustus he
compares to a chameleon, sometimes one colour, sometimes another; one
moment a visage ful