The romance of Apuleius, as Dr. Mahaffy has suggested, is probably derived from earlier sources, and dressed up to titillate the prurient tastes of a degraded society.
"Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius"
Samuel Dill
We see, therefore, the world in which he was now moving-a world in which those who belonged to it made it their first concern to titillate their sensibilities, and squandered their emotions with a profusion and abandonment in which self-respecting reserve was forgotten.
"The Youth of Goethe"
Peter Hume Brown
But the flutter failed to reach or to titillate the steady eyes.
"His Dog"
Albert Payson Terhune