Aulus Gellius was a
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He was educated in
AthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, after which he returned to Rome, where he held a judicial office. He is famous for his
Attic Nights, a commonplace book, or compilation of notes on
grammarIn linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
,
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
,
historyHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, antiquarianism and other subjects, preserving fragments of many authors and works who otherwise might be unknown today.
Life
The only source for the life of Aulus Gellius are the details recorded in his writings. He was of good family and connections, possibly of
AfricaThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, and the small Mediterranean coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor...
n origin, but he was probably born and certainly brought up in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He traveled much, especially in
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, and resided for a considerable period in
AthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. He studied rhetoric under Titus Castricius and
Sulpicius ApollinarisSulpicius Apollinaris, a learned grammarian of Carthage, who flourished in the 2nd century AD. He taught Pertinax, himself a teacher of grammar before he was emperor, and Aulus Gellius, who speaks of him in the highest terms. He is the reputed author of the metrical arguments to the Aeneid and to...
; philosophy under Calvisius Taurus and
Peregrinus ProteusPeregrinus Proteus was a Cynic philosopher, from Parium in Mysia. Leaving home at a young age, he first lived with the Christians in Palestine, before eventually being expelled from that community and adopting the life of a Cynic philosopher and eventually settling in Greece...
; and enjoyed also the friendship and instruction of
FavorinusFavorinus of Arelata was a Roman sophist and philosopher who flourished during the reign of Hadrian.He was of Gaulish ancestry, born in Arelate . He is described as a hermaphrodite by birth...
,
Herodes AtticusLucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, otherwise known as Herodes Atticus was a very distinguished, rich Greek aristocrat who served as a Roman Senator and a Sophist. He is notable as a proponent in the Second Sophistic by Philostratus.-Ancestry and Family:Herodes Atticus...
, and
FrontoMarcus Cornelius Fronto , Roman grammarian, rhetorician and advocate, was born at Cirta in Numidia. He also was suffect consul of 142.- Life :Fronto, who was born a Roman citizen c...
.
He returned to Rome, where he held a judicial office. He was appointed by the
praetorPraetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
to act as an umpire in civil causes, and much of the time which he would gladly have devoted to literary pursuits was consequently occupied by judicial duties. The precise date of his birth, as of his death, is unknown; but from the names of his teachers and companions, he must have lived under
HadrianHadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
,
Antoninus PiusAntoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...
, and
Marcus Aurelius.
Writings
His only known work, the
Attic Nights , takes its name from having been begun during the long nights of a winter which he spent in Attica. He afterwards continued it in Rome. It is compiled out of an
Adversaria, or commonplace book, in which he had jotted down everything of unusual interest that he heard in conversation or read in books, and it comprises notes on
grammarIn linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
,
geometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
,
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
,
historyHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and many other subjects. One story is the fable of Androcles, which is often included in compilations of
AesopAesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
's fables, but was not originally from that source.
The work, deliberately devoid of sequence or arrangement, is divided into twenty books. All these have come down to us except the eighth, of which nothing remains but the index. The
Attic Nights are valuable for the insight they afford into the nature of the society and pursuits of those times, and for its many excerpts from works of lost ancient authors.
Further reading
- Anderson, G. "Aulus Gellius: A Miscellanist and His World," in Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt. Bd. II.34.2. (Berlin, 1994), 1834-1862.
- Lakmann, Marie-Luise, Der Platoniker Tauros in der Darstellung des Aulus Gellius (Leiden, Brill, 1994) (Philosophia Antiqua, 63).
- Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Aulus Gellius. An Antonine Scholar and his Achievement. Rev. ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).
- The Worlds of Aulus Gellius, edd. Leofranc Holford-Strevens and Amiel Vardi (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004).
- Keulen, Wytse, Gellius the Satirist: Roman Cultural Authority in Attic Nights (Leiden, Brill, 2008) (Mnemosyne Supplements, 297).
External links
- Attic Nights (Latin text: complete; English translation: Preface thru Book 13)
- Attic Nights (Latin text: Books 1‑11, 13, 20)