The work of the Roman writer Aulus Gellius (2nd century) “Attic Nights” - one of the largest works of ancient Roman literature known to us - is a collection of small essays of different themes, distinguished by a truly encyclopedic coverage of information about various aspects of the life and science of its time. The author touches on issues of literature and grammar, rhetoric and philosophy, law and history, physics and mathematics, natural science and medicine. Skillfully using the principle of combining instruction with entertainment, widespread in his time, Aulus Gellius - a very demanding stylist - can equally interestingly and gracefully present to the reader both stories about various outlandish things and very specific things - such as problems of Greek and Roman phonetics or subtleties interpretation of Roman law.