Library Guides: Classics: Background Information

Overview of Classics

Classics is the study of ancient Greece and Rome from the Late Bronze Age to the waning of the Roman Empire. Courses often cover the ancient Greek and Latin languages, Greek and Roman literature, and in the history, culture, and archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean world.

Related subjects include: Byzantine Studies and Medieval Studies.

Dictionaries

Dictionaries are most often collections of words in one or more specific languages, usually arranged in alphabetical order, providing information like word meanings, usage, etymology, and, when they contain more than one language, translations. Some dictionaries include information more commonly found in encyclopedias. Encyclopedias are collections of information on terms, figures, eras, locations also arranged alphabetically, and, alongside definitions of terms, they also include more in-depth general information on a topic. Encyclopedias can be general or subject-specific.

Abbreviationes This link opens in a new window
An electronic dictionary of medieval Latin abbreviations. Note: This resource may require the ATimes.ttf font.

Lexicon of Greek personal names
Website for the Oxford Classics research project "to collect and publish all ancient Greek personal names, drawing on the full range of written sources from the 8th century B.C. down to the late Roman Empire." Includes LGPN online "name search over 35,000 published names."--Home page.

Oxford classical dictionary This link opens in a new window
In its digital form, the new OCD is a continuously updated and ever-expanding resource that will ensure scholarship remains current and reflective of emerging subfields and perspectives. New and revised articles written by leading international authors will appear on a rolling basis. The OCD also incorporates intuitive search and browse features and multimedia, including images, links, and audiovisual clips that complement textual content and connect readers to innovative digital materials that have become integral to the field.
Oxford dictionary of Byzantium This link opens in a new window
Contains searchable entries covering all aspects of Byzantine history and civilization from the 4th through the 15th centuries, with special depth in subjects such as bureaucratic titles and fiscal terms, urban life, and rural economy.

Oxford dictionary of the classical world
Spanning almost one thousand years, from the first Olympic Games in 776 BC to the death of Marcus Aurelius in AD 180, this accessible and wide-ranging reference work draws on the groundbreaking Oxford Classical Dictionary to present more than 2,500 entries on the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. The dictionary covers key aspects of ancient Greek and Roman life and literature, such as science, social structure, philosophy, and religion, and contains comprehensive articles on central figures, both real and mythological, from Achilles to Zeno.

Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Brings together digitized entries from Oxford's Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias, spanning multiple subject areas.

Perseus Digital Library
Megasite of Classical resources, primarily major Greek and Latin texts linked to grammars and dictionaries.
Who's who in the classical world
Focusing exclusively on real people, this is a dictionary of ancient biography, covering Greek and Roman history and politics, literature, philosophy, science, and art. Shorter entries provide lucid factual accounts, while the longer entries are short essays covering major historical and cultural themes in antiquity, centred round individuals as varied as Herodotus, Socrates, Plato, Alexander the Great, and Augustus.

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias are collections of information on terms, figures, eras, locations also arranged alphabetically, and, alongside definitions of terms, they also include more in-depth general information on a topic. Encyclopedias can be general or subject-specific.

Encyclopedia of ancient history
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History is the only comprehensive collection of twenty-first century scholarship available on the entire ancient Mediterranean world. Our board of experienced and internationally diverse editors has collected over 5,000 original entries spanning the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE. Entries extend to all Mediterranean civilizations, including the Near East and Egypt, and represent an unprecedented level of coverage of the ancient world.

New Pauly online This link opens in a new window
Updated version and English translation of Pauly's Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Usage info: Licensed for 3 simultaneous users.

Guides, Handbooks & Finding Aids

Reference resources like Handbooks, Guides, and Manuals provide subject-specific, sometimes technical information to aid in understanding important aspects of the discipline or subject that they treat. Finding Aids are useful for finding information within libraries, archives, or specific collections.

Brill's companions in classical studies online I This link opens in a new window
Handbooks providing graduate-level synthesis of debate and the state of scholarship on key authors and subjects from Antiquity. Each volume contains an up-to-date general bibliography.
Brill's companions in classical studies online II This link opens in a new window
Handbooks providing graduate-level synthesis of debate and the state of scholarship on key authors and subjects from Antiquity. Each volume contains an up-to-date general bibliography.
Cambridge companions complete collection This link opens in a new window
Offers full-text, cross-searchable collections, including Cambridge Companions Complete Collection with its three sub-collections: Cambridge companion to literature and classics; Cambridge companion to philosophy, religion and culture; and Cambridge companion to music.
Companion to digital humanities This link opens in a new window
Offers a concise overview of the emerging field of humanities computing. Contains original articles written by leaders in the field. Major sections focus on the experience of particular disciplines in applying computational methods to research problems; the basic principles of humanities computing; specific applications and methods; and production, dissemination and archiving.
Literature resource center This link opens in a new window
Provides biographical, bibliographical, and critical content on literary figures from all time periods; draws on Gale Group's Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, and Dictionary of Literary Biography; selected full text from Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism; includes full text articles from numerous literary journals and periodicals.

Oxford companion to classical civilization
The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization provides an authoritative survey of the Greek and Roman worlds in all their aspects. Drawing on the latest edition of the highly praised Oxford Classical Dictionary, the Companion offers articles on diverse fields such as, history and politics; ethics and morals; law and punishment; social and family life; language, literature, and art; religion and mythology; technology, science, and medicine.
Oxford companion to classical literature
The third edition of The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature is the complete and authoritative reference guide to the classical world and its literary heritage. It not only presents the reader with all the essential facts about the authors, tales, and characters from ancient myth and literature, but it also places these details in the wider contexts of the history and society of the Greek and Roman worlds.

Oxford handbooks online. Classical studies This link opens in a new window
Brings together the world's leading scholars to write review essays that evaluate the current thinking on a field or topic, and make an original argument about the future direction of the debate. Articles review the key issues, reveal original arguments and concepts, and set the agenda for new research.

Indexes and Abstracts

Indexes are alphabetical lists of names, subjects, or other categories, such as collections of books or documents, with references to the places where they occur, typically found at the end of a book. Abstracts represent summaries of the contents of a book, article, formal speech, or other piece of content. Indexes and abstracts are useful tools for helping researchers quickly traverse, parse, and better understand a body of research for a particular field.

Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt
A searchable index to the print series of the same title, containing citations to articles from the series on the world of ancient Rome.

Gale Academic OneFile Select This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing, abstracts, and selected full text for 3,500+ scholarly journals and general interest periodicals embracing all academic disciplines (citations only for The New York Times). Search can be limited to book reviews.
Index Islamicus online This link opens in a new window
Index to literature on Islam, the Middle East and Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, and Muslim minorities elsewhere. Includes citations to over 2,000 journals, conference proceedings, monographs, and book reviews from 1906 to present.
Periodicals contents index PCI / This link opens in a new window
Index to millions of articles in over 4,500 periodicals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences published beginning 1770 or subsequently; scope is worldwide, covering major Western languages. Complete PCI Index, including links to selected full text articles. Only the index is searchable.
Philosopher's index with full text This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text titles from journals, magazines, and conference proceedings published in 139 countries. Includes the full text to the "Journal of philosophy" from 1904 to the present. Topics covered include aesthetics, axiology, epistemology, ethics, logic, meta-philosophy, metaphysics, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of education, philosophy of history, philosophy of language, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, political philosophy, and social philosophy.

TOCS-IN: Tables of Contents of Journals of Interest to Classicists
TOCS-IN provides the tables of contents of a selection of Classics, Near Eastern Studies, and Religious Studies journals, both in text format and through a Web search program. Where possible, links are given with articles of which the full text or an abstract is available online (about 15%). The project began to archive current tables of contents in 1992, and now contains ca 185 journals, and over 45,000 articles, in a database at Toronto. In addition, the Louvain mirror site archives much additional material for some of the journals before 1992. Searches of all data can be made at both sites.

Classics

Curator, Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts

Overview of Classics

Other Related Guides

Dictionaries

Encyclopedias

Guides, Handbooks & Finding Aids

Indexes and Abstracts