Athenaeus (lived 3rd century)

Greek writer, born at Naucratis in Egypt; he studied at Alexandria and Rome. He wrote a miscellany Deipnosophistae/Scholars at Dinner in the form of conversations of learned guests at a prolonged feast. The book affords valuable information on Greek letters and science, and is one of the main sources for fragments of lost comedies and other works. Of the original 30 books only 15 and an abridgement survive.