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Humanities Librarian
Leanna Goodwater
Contact:
University Library
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
lgoodwater@scu.edu
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
lgoodwater@scu.edu
408-554-5434
Subjects: Art & Art History, Classics, English, Ethics, Modern Languages, Music, Philosophy, Theatre & Dance
Historical Context: The Ancient World
The following reference books and databases are excellent places to start when researching aspects of life in the ancient world as a whole.
- Oxford Classical Dictionary This link opens in a new windowNow handily available online, this is the major one-volume scholarly encyclopedia in the English language on all aspects of the Greco-Roman world. To learn not only what we know about a topic in antiquity, but how we know it, this is the place to look. The articles tell which ancient (and modern) authors tell us about an event, and exactly where in their writings to find it.
- Oxford Classical Dictionary List of Author/Book AbbreviationsThe Oxford Classical Dictionary's list of abbreviations for ancient authors and their works is the standard system used by classical scholars. Check here whenever your sources use abbreviations to indicate the author and title of one of your ancient primary sources.
The following reference works are excellent sources for doing research on all aspects of life in ancient Greece and Rome, and the other peoples of the ancient world with whom they came in contact.
- Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient WorldThis is the major scholarly encyclopedia about all aspects of the Greek and Roman world. Fifteen volumes are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity, while five volumes are devoted to the influence of the classical heritage from the end of the Roman Empire to modern times.
- Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean: Greece and RomeThis is an excellent encyclopedia to start with to learn more about the ancient world. The highly readable articles are arranged by topic within broad subject areas (for example, "Greek Forms of Government" and "Slavery" are both articles in the section on Government and Society).
- The Encyclopedia of Ancient HistoryThis 13-volume encyclopedia covers the entire Mediterranean world, including the Near East and Egypt as well as ancient Greece and Rome, from the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE.
- Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and RomeThis multivolume encyclopedia, aimed at the student and general reader, serves not only as a reliable source of factual information, but also as a guide to recent approaches and interpretations of the significance of many aspects of the classical world.
Historical Context: Rome
The following are handy one-volume encyclopedias that are useful for doing research on ancient Rome.