Aulus Gellius originated the modern use of "classical" and "humanities." His Attic Nights contains information on many aspects of antiquity, and preserve much early Latin literature that would otherwise be lost; they also offer personal reminiscences and vignettes of life in the second century AD. This comprehensive study examines his life and writings. It has been fully revised in the light of recent work.

• I. The Man and his Book


• 1: Life and Dates


• 2: Composition and Purpose


• 3: Language and Style


• 4: Presentation and Sources


• II. Preceptors and Acquaintances


• 5: Teachers


• 6: Favorinus


• 7: Honoured Orators


• 8: Miscellaneous Contemporaries


• III. Scholarship and Study


• 9: Scholarly Reading


• 10: The Latin Language


• 11: Roman Orators and Poets


• 12: Greek: Language, Poets, Orators


• 13: History


• 14: Philosophy


• 15: Other Sciences: Rhetoric, Law, Medicine


• 16: Miscellaneous Interest, Weak Spots, and Blind Spots


• Epilogue

Educated Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1967, MA 1970)
D.Phil. ('A Select Commentary on Aulus Gellius, Book 2') University of Oxford, 1971
Learned Reader, OUP, Printing Division, 1971-84
Desk-Editor, OUP, Publishing Division, 1984-95
Copy-Editor for Learned Editions, OUP, 1995-