The only source for the life of Aulus Gellius is the details recorded in his writings. The precise date of his birth, as of his death, is unknown. He was of good family and connections, possibly of African origin, but he was probably born in 125 and certainly brought up in Rome.
He studied grammar and rhetoric at Rome and philosophy at Athens, after which he returned to Rome, where he held a judicial office.
He was appointed by the praetor 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.
His only work, the Nodes Atticae, takes its name from having been begun during the long nights of a winter which he spent in Attica.
Hе afterwards continued it at Rome.
The work, which is utterly 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 Nodes Atticae is valuable for the insight it affords into the nature of the society and pursuits of those times, and for the numerous excerpts it contains from the works of lost ancient authors. Editio princeps (Rome, 1469); the best editions are those of Gronovius (1706) and M. Hertz (1883-1885).
There is a translation in English by W. Beloe (1795), and in French by various hands (1896).
