Research Guides: Late Antiquity Resources: Primary Texts & Tools

Texts Available Online

A large number of ebooks are also available through the Library Catalog.

BHLms (Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina manuscripta)
This database combines the resources of the repertory of Latin hagiographic texts known as Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina(BHL) with those of the catalogues of hagiographic manuscripts published in the series Subsidia hagiographica and Analecta Bollandiana. Entering the Latin name of a saint, one has access to his “dossier” (the various texts relating to him, as listed in BHL). A specific text can also be found by entering its BHL number. A list of all the manuscripts containing that text is then provided. The manuscripts can be ordered either in the alphabetical order of the places of conservation, or in chronological order.
Bibliotheca Palatina - Digital
One of the consequences of the Thirty Years' War was that the most important collection of books in the 17th century Holy Roman Empire, the Bibliotheca Palatina, was divided between two principal locations: Heidelberg and the Vatican. Since 2001, Heidelberg University Library has been working on several projects that aim to digitize parts of this great collection, the final goal being a complete virtual reconstruction of the 'mother of all libraries'.
A Digital Corpus for Graeco-Arabic Studies
The Digital Corpus assembles a wide range Greek texts and their Arabic counterparts. It also includes a number of Arabic commentaries and important secondary sources. The texts in the corpus can be consulted individually or side by side with their translation. The majority of texts can also be downloaded for further analysis.
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Between the 8th and 10th centuries CE, hundreds of Greek philosophical, medical and scientific works were translated into Arabic. These translations helped shape the development of philosophy and science in the Islamic world. Through later Latin translations, they also exerted some influence in the Latin West.
Most importantly, Arabic translations were crucial for preserving, transmitting and extending ancient Greek thought: many Greek texts were lost in the intervening centuries and are now only extant in Arabic translation. The Arabic translators also had access to manuscripts that were often several centuries older and potentially closer to the Greek originals than those available to editors of ancient Greek texts today.
The Arabic translators’ understanding of their Greek sources was informed by their historical, cultural, religious and linguistic background. Their reading of these texts offers a new perspective on the ancient world that has the potential to enhance our own understanding.
digilibLT: Digital Library of Late-Antique Latin Texts
The digilibLT project is planning to offer a complete database of late-antique Latin authors and works, as well as an exhaustive canon. Access to the canon and the database is free. Search windows are designed to allow users to search either the entire collection of texts or a selection of them (by author, period, or type of text) or single authors and works. Texts can be downloaded freely, which will allow individual scholars to work on their areas of interest with maximum flexibility. Texts are codified according to the TEI coding standard.
Digital Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (DFHG)
A project directed by Monica Berti at the Alexander von Humboldt Chair of Digital Humanities at the University of Leipzig for producing the digital version of the five volumes of the Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (FHG) edited by Karl Müller in the 19th century.
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
The largest Internet repository of ancient texts and commentary.
The Latin Library
Collection of Latin texts including works from the Classical and Medieval Periods.

Loeb Classical Library This link opens in a new window
Greek and Latin literature. Epic and lyric poetry, tragedy and comedy, history, travel, philosophy, oratory, medical writers and mathematicians; and Church Fathers who made particular use of pagan culture. Latin, Greek, and English texts.
Jacoby Online This link opens in a new window
Revised edition of the Greek texts of Felix Jacoby’s Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker. English translations of the Greek fragments, critical commentary, and a brief encyclopedia-style entry about each historian’s life and works, with a select bibliography.

The Online Medieval & Classical Library
A collection of some of the most important literary works of Classical and Medieval civilization. Browse by author, title, genre or language.

Past Masters This link opens in a new window
Scholarly editions of major philosophers, from Aristotle to Santayana; and the collected letters of major English writers: Austen, Burney, Coleridge, Wordsworth, and selected Romantics. Also includes the Oxford Classical Dictionary and the Oxford Duden German Dictionary.

Perseus Digital Library
Contains sources for the study of ancient Greece and Rome including primary and secondary texts, site plans, maps, and art and archaeology catalogs and images.

Key Monographic Series

Loeb Classical Library

Standard editions of Greek and Latin texts. Text is presented with the original Greek or Latin text on the left and a literal translation on the facing page.

Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library

The Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library is a groundbreaking new facing-page translation series designed to make written achievements of medieval and Byzantine culture available to both scholars and general readers in the English-speaking world. It offers the classics of the medieval canon as well as lesser-known gems of literary and cultural value to a global audience through accessible modern translations based on the latest research by leading scholars in the field.

Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana

The Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana, also knows as Bibliotheca Teubneriana or Teubner, established in 1849, has evolved into the world’s most venerable and extensive series of editions of Greek and Latin literature, ranging from classical to Neo-Latin texts. The series consists of critical editions by leading scholars (now always with a full critical apparatus on each page).

Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis

Also known as The Oxford Classical Texts, Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, are renowned for their reliability, and for their presentation. The series consists of texts without commentary but with a brief apparatus criticus at the foot of each page. There are now over a hundred volumes, representing the greater part of classical Greek and Latin literature.

Corpus Christianorum

"Critical editions of texts by Christian authors from Late Antiquity till the end of the Middle Ages . . . The core task of Corpus Christianorum, namely the editions of primarily Latin and Greek texts, is supplemented by the production of ancillary handbooks, bibliographies, monographic studies and electronic databases" (from the Corpus Christianorum home page,).

Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium

Critical editions of Eastern Christian texts in Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, and Georgian.

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum

Critical editions of the Latin Church Fathers.

Oxford Early Christian Texts

"[P]rovides reliable working texts of important early Christian writers in both Greek and Latin. Each volume contains an introduction, text, and select critical apparatus, with English translations en face, and brief explanatory references" (from the Oxford UP website).

Patrologia Orientalis

Texts of the Eastern Church Fathers in Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Greek, Georgian, Slavonic, and Syriac, published with a Latin, English, Italian or (mostly) French translation.

Sources Chretiennes

Collection of patristic writings which includes the original text (usually Greek or Latin, though at times Syriac, Arabic, or Georgian), accompanied by a French translation, notes, and an introduction that situates the work in its historical and doctrinal contexts.

Texts from Christian Late Antiquity

Ancient Chrisitan texts in their original languages with English translations.

Text and Tools

Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) This link opens in a new window
User login is required. Click "register" link in upper right.
Project of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG®), a research center located at the University of California, Irvine. The project's goal is to create a comprehensive digital library of Greek literature from antiquity to the present era.
Access Note: Personal user account is required for search. Click "register" link in upper right if account is needed. Select the HELP links on the main database Web page if you are unsure which input and Greek display option you should choose.
For assistance with using Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, please consult the online help.
Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL) This link opens in a new window
Latin texts from the classical period up to about 600 C.E.
Bibliotheca Teubneriana Latina (BTL) This link opens in a new window
All editions of Latin texts published in the Bibliotheca Teubneriana, from antiquity and late antiquity to medieval and neo-Latin texts.
Library of Latin Texts - Series A & B This link opens in a new window
Series A includes literature from antiquity, patristic authors, Middle Ages, and neo-Latin literature. Series B includes Latin texts of all genres and all periods: medical and veterinary texts from Late Antiquity, from east-central European historians, east-central European authors, and works from authors of the Italian and Northern renaissances.
Classical Latin Texts This link opens in a new window
Latin literary texts written before A.D. 200, and some texts selected from later antiquity from the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI).
Canon of Latin Authors: http://latin.packhum.org/canon

Documenta Catholica Omnia
Collection of Catholic Church documents, including Migne's Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Latina and Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca; papal bullae, encyclicals, and other writings

Patrologiae Graeca This link opens in a new window
Greek material (with Latin translations) relevant to the study of the history of the Christian Church from its beginnings through the Council of Florence in 1439. Texts are interlaced, with columns of Greek and Latin.
Coverage: -1439.
Vetus Latina Database This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive patristic records for the Vetus Latina Institut in Beurum. Brepolis homepage in English, French, German, and Dutch; user interface in German; text in Latin.
Access Note: Access is through the Brepolis web Gateway. Click on Enter Databases, then click on the GO button by Vetus Latina.

Enigma: Unpuzzling difficult Latin readings in medieval manuscripts
Enigma helps scholars to decipher Latin words which are difficult to read in medieval manuscripts. It is sometimes impossible to decipher all the letters in a word, for various reasons (difficult palaeography, unclear writing, damage to the document, etc.) If you type the letters you can read and add wildcards, Enigma will list the possible Latin forms, drawing from its database of more than 400 000 forms.
Nota bene: Enigma does NOT solve abbreviations.