less
imaginary,--and cast in the form of a dialogue. We get, even, pleasant
glimpses of autobiography from time to time. The author is not, however,
a deep or forceful character, on the whole. His heart is mostly set on
trifles.

Yet Gellius has been an assiduous student, both in Greece and Italy; and
his book gives us an agreeable, probably an adequate, view of the fields
which are included in the general culture of his time. Despite its
title, the work is chiefly Roman. In history, biography, antiquities,
grammar, literary criticism, his materials and authors are prevailingly
Latin. He is perhaps most widely known and quoted on early Roman life
and usages. Thus, one of his chapters gives a mass of curious
information as to the choice of the Vestal Virgins. We are also largely
indebted to him for citations from lost authors. We have already quoted
under Ennius the sketch, in eighteen hexameters, of a scholar-soldier,
believed to be a genial self-portraiture. These lines are the finest
specimen we have of the 'Annales.' Similarly, under Cato, we have quoted
the chief fragment of the great Censor's Roman history. For both these
treasures we must thank Gellius. Indeed, throughout the wide fields of
Roman antiquities, history of literature, grammar, etc., we have to
depend chiefly upon various late Latin scrap-books and compilations,
most of which are not even made up at first hand from creative classical
authors. To Gellius, also, the imposing array of writers so constantly
named by him was evidently known chiefly through compendiums and
handbooks. It is suspicious, for instance, that he hardly quotes a poet
within a century of his own time. Repetitions, contradictions, etc., are
numerous.

Despite its twenty "books" and nearly four hundred (short) chapters, the
work is not only light and readable for the most part, but quite modest
in total bulk: five hundred and fifty pages in the small page and
generous type of Hertz's Teubner text. There is an English translation
by Rev. W. Beloe, first printed in 1795, from which we quote below.
Professor Nettleship's (in his 'Essays in Latin Literature') has no
literary quality, but gives a careful analysis of Gellius's subjects and
probable sources. There is a revival of interest in this author in
recent years. We decidedly recommend Hertz's attractive volume to any
Latin student who wishes to browse beyond the narrow classical limits.

FROM 'ATTIC NIGHTS'

ORIGIN AND PL