Apuleius, as Lucius, had some problem when he tried to buy fish. In the Apology he tells us that the charge which the accusers
treated as strong support for their accusation was "the matter of the fish". They
accused Apuleius to have purchased and
dissected fish for making magic potions.
This is part of the text in English
translation:
“beginning with the charge which…they treated from the
start as the strongest argument for the suspicion of magic, that I bought some
species of fish from fisher men for a price. which of these pertains to magic? that I
sought the fish from fisher men? But of course—I
should have sought them from a seamstress or a
carpenter if I had wanted to avoid your calumniae, and had them change jobs, so the carpenter would
catch my fish, and the fisher do my woodwork. But perhaps it was from this that you
under stood a crime, that I sought the fish for a
price? I do believe if I had wanted them for a party I could
have got them for nothing. Why don’t you argue
against me from several other purchases? For I
have even bought fruits and vegetables and bread
and wine" (29. 1-5),
and then....
"But I ask you, is a man a magician for
seeking fish? Certainly I do not think so, any more
than if I were hunting rabbits, boars, or birds. But
perhaps fish have something secret from others, and known
to magicians? If you know what it is, you are a
magician; if you do not know, you are obliged to
confess that you do not know what you are accusing me of" (30. 1–2).
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