The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius: An Intermediate Reader and Grammar Review

The second year of Latin instruction can be the most difficult for student and teacher alike. Students must remember a seemingly endless array of grammatical rules and vocabulary, and often the material to be translated seems dull and lengthy beyond endurance. P. L. Chambers has found a way to overcome these problems, with the help of one ancient Roman.

Aulus Gellius, a well-educated nobleman, is best known today for a collection of observations titled Noctes Atticae, a project he began during the long winter nights he spent in Attica, the region of Greece where Athens is located. The selections chosen for this reader touch on diverse aspects of Roman culture and can be easily understood and translated by intermediate students. For the Second Edition, Chamber added three new chapters, one of which centers on Aulus Gellius’s translation of a letter to Aristotle by Philip of Macedon announcing the birth of his son Alexander.

A classroom-tested book, The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius, Second Edition, will motivate second-year students to continue their course of study while providing a much-needed alternative for Latin instructors seeking accessible textbooks for their students. A Teacher Key accompanies the text.