Research Guides: *Classics: Reference

Key Resources

Oxford Classical Dictionary
The full text of the fourth edition of this classic work, published in 2012.

Brill's New Pauly This link opens in a new window
The most complete and most authoritative modern encyclopedia of the classical world. In nearly 20,000 entries it covers two thousand years of history and culture of ancient Greece and Rome, and their reception in the two thousand years that followed. Articles are available in both English and the original German.
Oxford Bibliographies: Classics This link opens in a new window
Offers annotated bibliographies of the most important books and articles on specific topics in the field of classics. Particularly useful for anyone beginning research of one of the topics covered. Articles on ancient authors are particularly valuable for identifying the standard editions, translations, and commentaries.

Ancient Europe 8000 B.C.--A.D. 1000 : Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World (2004)
Useful for it's coverage of ancient Europe outside of classical Greece and Rome.
Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece (2006)
MAIN Reference 938.003 E559. Substantial, signed articles.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (2014).
MAIN Reference 930.03 E563. Major, 13-volume work.
Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition (2000)
MAIN Reference L 938.0803 E56. Substantial signed articles cover Greece from the Bronze age to the present, but with an emphasis on ancient Greece.
The Homer Encyclopedia (2014).
Also in print at MAIN Reference 881H8 Ff.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome (2010)
Also in print in the Oak Grove Library Center. Substantial articles on major figures and aspects of the ancient world.
Paulys Real-encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft
MAIN Library 880.3 P33. Published between 1894 and 1980, this remains an unparalleled source on information on the ancient world, offering much more detail than the New Pauly. Text in German; CD-ROM Gesamtregister available in the Mitchell Multimedia Center.
Stillwell, Richard. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. (1979).
STYBERG LIBRARY Reference DE59 .P7 1976 . Still the standard source for basic information on classical archaeological sites.
The Virgil Encyclopedia (2014).

Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Online version of many Oxford University Press reference works, ranging from specialized dictionaries and companions to major reference works such as the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink, among many others.

Thesaurus Linguae Latinae This link opens in a new window
The primary scholarly, historical dictionary of classical Latin. Covers historical shades of meaning and syntax extensively, with comprehensive listings of the use of each word through the Antonine period, and more selective listings through the year 600.

Oxford Latin Dictionary (1968-82)
MAIN Reference L 473 O98. The standard single-volume Latin-English Dictionary.
Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary (1879)
From the Perseus Project.
A Greek-English lexicon (1966)
MAIN Reference L 483 L71 1996. By Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, revised by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. Sometimes called LSJ. The standard classical Greek-English dictionary. The 1940 edition available through Perseus. An augmented edition is available through the TLG.
Lexikon des frühgriechischen Epos (1955- ).
Main Library 1 East - Reference Section Large 483 S671l The standard dictionary for the language of Homer and Hesiod.

Cambridge Ancient History.
MAIN Reference 930 C178 1970. Publication of this monumental set began in 1970 and continued for twenty-five years. The authoritative source on ancient history.

Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (2000).
MAIN Government Info (Atlas Case) 912.38 B276. Accompanied by two-volume map-by-map directory (also on CD-ROM in the Mitchell Multimedia Center). The standard atlas of the classical world.
Barrington Atlas Web Site.
Online resources meant to accompany the use of the Barrington Atlas.

World Biographical Information System WBIS This link opens in a new window
Includes the Biographisches Archiv der Antike (BAA), which comprises the full contents of 87 biographical and prosopographical encyclopedias for the ancient world. Includes all of the biographical entries from the Pauly-Wissowa Real-Encyclopädie.

Jenkins, Fred W. Classical Studies: A Guide to the Reference Literature (2006).
MAIN Reference 016.88 J52c 2006. Annotated guide to databases, bibliographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, and other reference materials for the study of the classical world.
Weeks, Medeiros. A Research Guide to the Ancient World: Print and Electronic Sources (2015)
More up-to-date, and perhaps more comprehensive than Jenkins's, but with fewer useful annotations on individual titles, and some carelessness in final editing.

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