Noctes Atticae

Books

• Praefatio

  Opening chapters on grammar, philosophy, and antiquarian curiosities. The format of the work: miscellaneous essays on whatever interests Gellius.

  357 lines
• Liber Secundus

  Discussions of Socratic philosophy, Latin grammar, and legal history. An anecdote about Herodes Atticus.

  354 lines
• Liber Tertius

  Literature and language. Questions about Virgil's text, archaic Latin words, and the dinner-party conversation of learned Romans.

  210 lines
• Liber Quartus

  Philosophy and etymology. How Greek philosophical terms translate into Latin. Stories from the lives of the philosophers.

  201 lines
• Liber Quintus

  Legal questions and literary criticism. Roman customs, the powers of tribunes, and the interpretation of poetry.

  246 lines
• Liber Sextus

  Anecdotes and word studies. The difference between Latin synonyms, the origins of Roman institutions, and curious historical facts.

  242 lines
• Liber Septimus

  Philosophical debates and rhetorical exercises. Gellius records conversations he witnessed or heard about from his teachers.

  148 lines
• Liber Octavus Except for one or two brief and doubtful fragments only the chapterheadings of Book VIII are preserved, and that only in the late and inferior manuscripts (ς).

  Grammar, history, and natural science. The length of pregnancy, the authenticity of Plato's letters, and the etymology of obscure words.

  18 lines
• Liber Nonus

  More miscellany: dream interpretation, prodigies, and the proper use of Latin prepositions.

  198 lines
• Liber Decimus

  Literary criticism and philology. Gellius compares Greek and Latin translations and argues about the meaning of archaic terms.

  252 lines
• Liber Undecimus

  Legal history and philosophy. The Twelve Tables, Stoic paradoxes, and the intellectual life of second-century Rome.

  142 lines
• Liber Duodecimus

  Conversations with Favorinus. The philosopher's dinner-table wit, his arguments on fate and free will, and his love of paradox.

  158 lines
• Liber Tertius Decimus

  More philological discussions. The pronunciation of Latin, the credibility of early Roman legends, and the habits of exotic animals.

  285 lines
• Liber Quartus Decimus

  Grammar and rhetoric. How to argue, how to read, and how to spot a fraud pretending to be a philosopher.

  111 lines
• Liber Quintus Decimus

  Natural history and medicine. Gellius collects facts about poisons, pregnancy, and the behaviour of animals.

  183 lines
• Liber Sextus Decimus

  Archaic Latin and legal antiquities. Gellius preserves fragments of early Roman law and literature that would otherwise be lost.

  197 lines
• Liber Septimus Decimus

  More miscellany: the meaning of archaic words, the chronology of Greek philosophers, and stories from Roman military history.

  274 lines
• Liber Octavus Decimus

  Philosophy and philology. Discussions of Epictetus, the Stoics, and the correct use of rare Latin words.

  152 lines
• Liber Nonus Decimus

  Rhetoric, grammar, and anecdotes. The final chapters range across the same vast territory of learning the whole work has covered.

  151 lines
• Liber Vicesimus

  The final book. More stories, more word studies, more conversations. The Noctes Atticae was designed to be endless — Gellius stopped writing, but the curiosity never ran out.

  136 lines