Astonishing and delightful. The Greek Athenaeus, born in Egypt and writing for a 2nd century Roman audience, uses the structure of a seemingly endless banquet of itinerant scholars who compete and revel in their erudition about classical authors. Ribald, full of wit and beauty, its quotations are all we have left of hundreds of writers and books from ancient times. To read it is to be amazed and deeply saddened for our loss, simultaneously, on nearly every page. The Loeb books are the best available. ( )