Attic Nights, Volume II: Books 6–13

by Gellius, John Carew Rolfe (Translator)

Aulus Gellius (ca. 123-170 CE) is known almost wholly from his "Noctes Atticae, " 'Attic Nights', so called because it was begun during the nights of an Attic winter. The work collects in twenty books (of Book VIII only the index is extant) interesting notes covering philosophy, history, biography, all sorts of antiquities, points of law, literary criticism, and lexicographic matters, explanations of old words and questions of grammar. The work is valuable because of its many excerpts from other authors whose works are lost; and because of its evidence for people's manners and occupations. Some at least of the dramatic settings may be genuine occasions.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of "Attic Nights" is in three volumes.

Genres: History, Philosophy, Nonfiction

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1927

Reviews

[Simon Goldenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a massive nerd. Imagine going on a date with him and he just babbles on about grammarians. Wonderful

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another entry into the 'Classical books which everyone quotes, but no one reads' category. Aulus Gellius' Attic Nights is a fascinating miscellany which began as Gellius' random notes on things he read which he began while living in Athens as a student. The notes cover a wide range of topics from history to science to philosophy to grammar/rhetoric, lots of grammar and rhetoric. Now, you'd think that this would make this book deadly to read, but Gellius writes engagingly and can even be rather funny at times.

The result is a book which is a bit of a treasure trove for the Classicist (thus, explaining why everyone quotes it) because Gellius reads very widely in Latin and in Greek. That means that he has access to sources which have been lost for millenia. Indeed, because of his evident love of pre-Vergillian poets, this work garners a surprisingly high proportion of our fragments for these writers. His major concerns are literary, so we see him frequently defending authors against what he feels to be unjust criticism and dealing out his own criticism when he sees fit. One of his favourite tropes is the ignorant pseudo-critic put down by a more educated peer (Gellius himself or his teacher, Favorinus, among others). Gellius has an easy familiarity with Greek and Roman literature and, as a result, gives a native speaker's point of view on Latinity. We can't know if this was a general view, but the insider's view is precious for scholars today.

For all its charm and usefulness, I should also note that readers with a low tolerance for pomposity might find this an annoying part of this book. Gellius is learned, but really a learned dilittante. He is a bit affected and more than a little pompous. He is that literate friend who has an opinion on everything. Interesting, but, occasionally, annoying. He's still well worth reading for his lively style and his interesting content.

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Once upon a time, when I was riding in a carriage, to keep my mind from being dull and unoccupied and a prey to worthless trifles, it chanced to occur to me to try to recall the names of weapons, darts and swords which are found in the early histories, and also the various kinds of boats and their names."

hasta, pilum, phalarica, semiphalarica, soliferrea, gaesa, lancea, spari, rumices, trifaces, tragulae, frameae, mesanculae, cateiae, rumpiae, scorpii, sibones, siciles, veruta, enses, sicae, macherae, spathae, lingulae, pugiones, clunacula.

[jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were better versed in Latin, it would be five stars. Love the lore of this book--fascinating!

[Evan Leach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full work reviewed here.