Delphi Complete Works of Aulus Gellius - ’The Attic Nights’ (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 70)

2240 Pages·2016·8.35 MB·English

by  Aulus Gellius

The Complete Works of
AULUS GELLIUS
(c. 125 – after 180 AD)
Contents
The Translation
THE ATTIC NIGHTS
The Latin Text
CONTENTS OF THE LATIN TEXT
The Dual Text
DUAL LATIN AND ENGLISH TEXT
The Biography
LIFE OF AULUS GELLIUS by G. H. Nall
The Delphi Classics Catalogue
© Delphi Classics 2016
Version 1

The Complete Works of
AULUS GELLIUS
By Delphi Classics, 2016
COPYRIGHT
Complete Works of Aulus Gellius First published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by Delphi
Classics.
© Delphi Classics, 2016.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be
otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.
ISBN: 978 1 78656 377 4
Delphi Classics
is an imprint of
Delphi Publishing Ltd Hastings, East Sussex United Kingdom
Contact: [email protected] www.delphiclassics.com
The Translation
Ancient Rome — likely Aulus Gellius’ birthplace
THE ATTIC NIGHTS
Translated by John C. Rolfe
Aulus Gellius (c. AD 123–170) is known almost wholly from his Noctes Atticae,
so called because the work was begun during the nights of an Attic winter. The
work collects, in twenty books, interesting notes covering philosophy, history,
biography, antiquities, points of law, literary criticism, explanations of old words
and matters of grammar. The book is valuable due to its many excerpts from
other authors whose works are now lost and because of its evidence for people’s
manners and occupations. Some at least of the dramatic settings are believed to
be based on genuine occasions.
The collection is compiled out of an Adversaria, or commonplace book, in
which Gellius had jotted down everything of unusual interest that he had heard
in conversation or read in books. The most famous story in The Attic Nights is
the fable of Androcles and the Lion, which is often included in compilations of
Aesop’s fables, though it was not originally from that source.
Of the twenty books, all have come down to us complete, except for the
eighth, of which nothing remains but the index. The Attic Nights provide a
valuable insight of the nature of the society and pursuits of Gellius’ times and
the intriguing view of a gradual, though desultory development of learning of a
Roman citizen.
The editio princeps appeared in Rome in 1469. The earliest critical edition
was published by Jakob Gronovius (Leyden, 1706). A later edition is that of M.
Hertz (Berlin, 1883–85; there is also a smaller edition by the same author,
Berlin, 1886), revised by C. Hosius, 1903, with bibliography. A volume of
selections, with notes and vocabulary, was published by Nall (London, 1888).
John Carew Rolfe’s English translation appeared in 1927 for the Loeb Classical
Library edition of Aulus Gellius and is the text provided in this edition.
Frontispiece of a 1706 Latin edition of ‘The Attic Nights’ by Jakob Gronovius
CONTENTS
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK I
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK II
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK III
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK IV
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK V
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK VI
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK VII
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK VIII
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK IX
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK X
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XI
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XII
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XIII
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XIV
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XV
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XVI
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XVII
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XVIII
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XIX
CHAPTER HEADINGS OF BOOK XX
BOOK I
BOOK II
BOOK III
BOOK IV
BOOK V
BOOK VI
BOOK VII
BOOK VIII
BOOK IX
BOOK X
BOOK XI
BOOK XII
BOOK XIII
BOOK XIV