Essential Reference Sources for Classics
- Intro to Brill's New Pauly OnlineGoogle Doc intro/how-to with similar information as the above video.
- Brill’s New Pauly Online This link opens in a new windowBrill´s New Pauly presents the current state of traditional and new areas of research in Classical Studies and contains two sections: one on Antiquity and one on Classical Tradition. Many entries contain maps, illustrations and all contain bibliographic references.
The Oxford Classical Dictionary by Call Number: Online Resource (also available in print in the Reference Collection)Offers broad coverage of topics relating to ancient Greece and Rome: history, religion, literature, philosophy, law, science, art and archaeology.
Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Publication Date: 2014The newly revised and expanded, Dictionary of Classical Mythology, is a comprehensive A - Z guide to Greek and Roman mythology. All major myths, legends and fables are here, including gods and goddesses, heroes and villains, dangerous women, legendary creatures and monsters. Also included are two maps of the ancient world, a list of the ancient sources and their chronology, the more important genealogies, and an index of recurrent mythical motifs.
How to use these sources?
Reference sources help you to define unfamiliar terms or concepts, find background information, and generally provide context for your studies. They can be particularly helpful for Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies as we are seeking to learn more about a world and culture that is unfamiliar to us.
Often, reference sources can be great resources to help you develop your topic or expand your knowledge of related ideas.
Some uses of reference sources include:
- Reading topical encyclopedia pages to inspire questions and topics
- Using dictionaries and encyclopedias to understand what a word or phrase that shows up in your sources means and why it's important
- Using a multi-language dictionary to translate a word that appears in its original language
- Using an atlas or other image-heavy source to get a sense of where something is/was and what it looks/looked like.
References sources are one option you have for these research needs- one benefit of using reference sources like the ones on this page is that they tend to have a high level of academic authority because they are written and reviewed by academic experts.
Some Print Reference Sources for Classics
Ancient Greece and Rome by Call Number: DE5 .O95 2010This seven volume encyclopedia covers Greek and Roman culture and civilization from the Bronze Age to the fall of the Roman Empire. Less comprehensive than Brill's New Pauly, it contains articles of interest to those beginning research in Classics.
Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World by Call Number: (Map/GIS collection) G1033 .B3 2000Full color topographic maps representing the entire Greek and Roman world from archaic Greece to the Late Roman Empire.
A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome by Call Number: (Reference Collection) DG68 .R5 1992A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome defines and describes the known buildings and monuments, as well as the geographical and topographical features, of ancient Rome.
Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae by Call Number: (Reference Collection) DG63 .L49 1993Written by scholars from around the world, this five volume encyclopedia contains articles in several languages on individual Roman monuments.
