gems, ancient texts, Greek, Greece, ancient geography

Aulus Gellius’ Noctes Atticae (Attic Nights), written in the second century AD, is a miscellany of observations and extracts from Greek and Roman authors assembled from notes made during Gellius’ studies and travels. The work preserves information from many ancient writings that are now lost and ranges widely over philosophy, history, law, language, medicine, natural history, mathematics, and antiquarian lore. Vol. 1 of the Loeb edition contains Books 1–5, with the Latin text and English translation on facing pages. Of gemological interest are passages reflecting ancient beliefs about stones and other natural substances and, more broadly, the methods by which Greek and Roman writers described and explained unusual natural phenomena. Gellius frequently quotes or discusses earlier authorities, making the work valuable for tracing the transmission of classical scientific and mineralogical traditions as well as for preserving fragments of otherwise lost authors. This Loeb edition was translated by John C. Rolfe.