The objective of this edition is textual and translational in nature. Since the works of Lydus are replete with Latin vocabulary, this book serves to bring it into English. The translation is faithful to the original and accurate so as to express Lydus' intended thoughts. His repetitious use of certain linguistic expressions, although sometimes awkward to render to English, have been retained in order to capture his peculiar linguistic and seemingly crabbed style. The book tries to put his words into working English for the first time, and the translators were meticulous in trying to do a tight word for word translation based on the text, free from interpretation.