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Knowing where to start isn't always easy, especially when you're dealing with an unfamiliar subject. Sometimes the best place to start is a subject specific dictionary or encyclopedia. Below is a selected list of print and online reference resources.
Available Online
- Oxford Bibliographies This link opens in a new windowLiterary guide to significant sources on a variety of subjects. Works as an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia.
- New Pauly This link opens in a new window
Encyclopaedic coverage of the second millennium BCE to early medieval Europe; with special emphasis on the interaction between Greco-Roman culture and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Also includes the aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of ancient heritage, and the history of classical scholarship.
- Oxford Research Encyclopedias This link opens in a new windowLong-form overview articles written, peer-reviewed, and edited by leading scholars. Both foundational and cutting-edge topics are covered in order to develop, over time, an anchoring knowledge base for major areas of research.
Access to selected content only. Some articles may not be available. - Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford’s art reference works: Grove Art Online, the Benezit Dictionary of Artists, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
- WebLIMCThe wealth of ancient myths and legends which we call Classical Mythology is one of the major elements of our cultural heritage. A huge amount of documents and photographs were assembled in the course of the preparation of the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC; 1981-1999 and 2009) and the Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum (ThesCRA; 2004-2014). This dataset is regularly updated and enhanced with new documents.
weblimc.org gives access to the digital ressources (ca. 50'000 ancient objects and photographs) provided by three components of the late Foundation for the LIMC: - Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC)The LIMC tries to present what we know of the iconography of Greek, Etruscan and Roman mythology as well as of the neighbouring Mediterranean cultures. Each of the illustrated figures of Greek, Etruscan and Roman mythology is discussed in alphabetic order, usually in an individual article of a uniform structure.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History by ISBN: 9781405179355
The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture by Call Number: Available OnlineISBN: 0195300823
Available in Print
- Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World
Central Library, Reference 6th-flr: ATLAS G1033 .B3 2000
In 99 full-color maps, the atlas recreates the entire world of the Greeks and Romans from the British Isles to the Indian subcontinent and deep into North Africa
- Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC)
Central Library, Reference 4th-flr: NX650 .M9 L494
The LIMC tries to present what we know of the iconography of Greek, Etruscan and Roman mythology as well as of the neighbouring Mediterranean cultures. Each of the illustrated figures of Greek, Etruscan and Roman mythology is discussed in alphabetic order, usually in an individual article of a uniform structure.
- Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae
Central Library, Stacks 3rd-flr: DG63 .L49 1993
Encyclopedia covering the physical fabric of ancient Rome, both as it survives in archeological remains and as it can be deduced from literary, numismatic, epigraphical, and other sources. Organized alphabetically.
Petra: Splendors of the Nabataean Civilization
Petra takes readers on a memorable journey through this wonderland of hundreds of temples, tombs, and elaborate buildings carved out of solid stone. Tracing the city's origins to prehistoric times, the text describes its evolution, demise, and eventual rediscovery in 1812.
The Hellenistic Settlements of Syria, the Red Sea Basin and North Africa
This authoritative and sweeping compendium, the second volume in Getzel Cohen's organized survey of the Greek settlements founded or refounded in the Hellenistic period, provides historical narratives, detailed references, citations, and commentaries on all the settlements in Syria, The Red Sea Basin, and North Africa.
Patterns in the economy of Roman Asia Minor
Asia Minor under Rome was one of the wealthiest and most developed parts of the Empire, but there have been few modern studies of its economics. The twelve papers in this book, written by an international team of scholars, study the direct impact of Roman rule; the organisation of large agricultural estates; changing patterns of olive production; threats to rural prosperity from pests and the animal world; inter-regional trade in the Black Sea; the significance of civic market buildings; the economic role of temples and sanctuaries; the contribution of private benefactors to civic finances; monetization in the third century AD, and the effect of transitory populations on local economic activity.
City and Country in the Ancient World
The ancient Greco-Roman world was a world of citie, in a distinctive sense of communities in which countryside was dominated by urban centre. This volume of papers written by influential archaeologists and historians seeks to bring together the two disciplines in exploring the city-country relationship.
Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective After Two Millenia
This deluxe volume on Caesarea, climaxing new excavations in 1992-95, discusses comprehensively a famous ancient city's archaeology, history and culture. New discoveries include the amphitheater and royal palace, temple dedicated to Roma and Augustus, and the spectacular artificial harbor explored under water.
Sculpture: The Assemblage from the Theater
This book presents in detail the freestanding sculptures, assembled from fragmentary remains, and reveals an additional group of architectural sculptures as well as figures in niches and between columns. With Corinth IX.2 it completes the publication of sculptures excavated from the theater by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Drawing on over 30 years of study, the author also presents her ideas about sculptural decoration in the Corinth theater and throughout the Roman East.
The Ancient City
In this book, Arjan Zuiderhoek provides a sketch of the chief characteristics of Greek and Roman cities. He argues that the ancient Greco-Roman city was indeed a highly specific form of urbanism, but that this does not imply that the ancient city was somehow 'superior' or 'inferior' to forms of urbanism in other societies, just (interestingly) different.
Urban Centers and Rural Contexts in Late Antiquity
Recent publications on urbanism and the rural environment in Late Antiquity, most of which explore a single region or narrow chronological niche, have emphasized either textual or archeological evidence. None has attempted the more ambitious task of bringing together the full range of such evidence within a multiregional perspective and around common themes. Urban Centers and Rural Contexts seeks to redress this omission.
The Cities of the Plain
This book explores urbanism in Antiquity from an archaeological perspective, focusing on the area of western Thessaly in central Greece. Presenting all the available evidence for ancient urban sites in the region, the study outlines and discusses the origins, development, and decline of urbanism in the area.
The City in Roman and Byzantine Egypt
After Egypt became part of the Roman Empire in 30 BC, Classical and then Christian influences both made their mark on the urban environment. This book examines the impact of these new cultures at every level of Egyptian society. The result is a new and fascinating insight into the creation of a specific urban society in the Roman Empire, as well as a case study for the model of urban development in antiquity.
Roman architecture in Provence
This book provides a survey of the architecture and urbanism of Provence during the Roman era. Provence, or 'Gallia Narbonensis' as the Romans called it, was one of the earliest Roman colonies in Western Europe. In this book, James C. Anderson, jr. examines the layout and planning of towns in the region, both those founded by the Romans and those redeveloped from native settlements.
