Library Guides: Classics: Getting Started

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Books & Articles

University of Chicago Library Catalog

Find items in all campus libraries, including books, periodicals, sound recordings, videos, DVDs and more.
WorldCat (OCLC)

WorldCat is a database that allows researchers to search the combined catalogs of hundreds of libraries around the world. It contains more than 52 million records for books, journals, audiovisual materials and more. This source can help researchers find items, verify citations, and identify which libraries hold a particular title.
L'Année philologique

Indexes all aspects of classical studies, including authors and texts, literature, linguistics, archaeology, epigraphy and numismatics, history, philosophy, science, and technology.
ZENON DAI: Zentraler Online-Katalog des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts

Zentraler Online-Katalog des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts. ZENON indexes books and articles based on the subject catalogues of the offices of the German Archaeological Institute.
Guide to Zenon DAI is available from the Clark Art Institute.
JSTOR

A database of back issues of core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. All issues of each journal are included in full-text except for the most recent 2-to-5 years.
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Classics

Regularly updated annotated bibliography addressing themes and topics in Classics.
Google Scholar
With citation linking
Web of Science
For citation linking. Uncheck the Science Index.

Authoritative, multidisciplinary content covers over 10,000 of the highest impact journals worldwide, including Open Access journals and over 110,000 conference proceedings. You'll find current and retrospective coverage in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, with coverage available to 1900. Includes the Science Citation Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Web of Science is especially useful for its citation linking.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Includes citations for materials from the first U.S. dissertation (1861) to those accepted as recently as last semester. Starting in 1997 full-text is often available. If full-text is not available information about ordering the document is provided.

E-Journals

UChicago E-Journals

The Electronic Journals Database provides access to the majority of the electronic journal titles available through the University of Chicago Library. Browse by journal title or conduct a title keyword or ISSN search.
Serial Guide: Classics, Ancient Near East, Medieval Latin & Byzantine Studies

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Encyclopedia of Ancient History

Comprehensive collection of twenty-first century scholarship available on the entire ancient Mediterranean world. Our board of experienced and internationally diverse editors has collected over 5,000 original entries spanning the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE. Entries extend to all Mediterranean civilizations, including the Near East and Egypt, and represent an unprecedented level of coverage of the ancient world.
From their Website
New Pauly Online

The entire text of Metzler's Der neue Pauly, which was published in 18 volumes (13 on Antiquity, 5 on the Classical Tradition) and one index volume, is available here together with all volumes of Brill's New Pauly now in print, with regular updates when new translations become available. Advanced search functions, complimented by keyword and subject indices, enable the user to search and combine data efficiently from a vast corpus of over 27,000 entries and sub-entries. The guiding principle in developing the online version of the New Pauly was to supply its users with exactly the same information the book itself would provide, while improving their ability to search and, consequently, use the information.
Oxford Classical Dictionary

For almost half a century, The Oxford Classical Dictionary has been regarded as the unrivalled one-volume reference work on all aspects of the Graeco-Roman world. It provides both scholars and non-specialists with a comprehensive source of reference which aims to answer all their questions about the classical world. Written by the very best of classical scholars from all over the world, the Dictionary provides coverage of Greek and Roman history, literature, myth, religion, linguistics, philosophy, law, science, art and archaeology, and topics in near eastern studies and late antiquity. (Description from Oxford website.)
Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture

The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture edited by Gordon Campbell (Oxford, 2007) is a comprehensive reference resource for the visual arts of the Classical period.
Logeion

Logeion was developed to provide simultaneous lookup of entries in many Greek and Latin dictionaries. Dictionaries include the Perseus Classical collection (Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon (1940); Liddell and Scott's Intermediate Greek Lexicon (1889); Autenrieth's Homeric Dictionary (1891); Lewis and Short's Latin-English Lexicon (1879); Lewis's Elementary Latin Dictionary (1890)) as well as The Diccionario Griego-Espaol Project, Du Cange, et al., Glossarium medi et infim latinitatis (1883-1887), Basiswoordenlijst Latijn (1975), and Pinksters Woordenboek Latijn/Nederlands (2011).
Liddell & Scott's Greek-English Lexicon, 1940

Henry George Liddell & Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1940.
Cambridge Greek Lexicon

Entries are organised according to meaning, with a view to showing the developing senses of words and the relationships between those senses. Other contextual and explanatory information, all expressed in contemporary English, is included, such as the typical circumstances in which a word may be used.
Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL)
Also available Open access PDFs (not searchable)

Kommission fr die Herausgabe des Thesaurus linguae Latinae :The TLL, when complete, will be the first comprehensive scholarly dictionary of ancient Latin from the earliest times down to AD 600.

Greek & Latin Texts

TLG: Thesaurus Linguae Graecae
For full access, users must create an account by clicking "Register" in the top right corner.

An increasingly comprehensive collection of all the surviving texts of Greek literature from Homer to the fall of Byzantium in AD 1453.
Library of Latin Texts (BTL & CLCLT)
Available within the Cross Database Searchtool

Database contains texts from the beginning of Latin literature through to the texts of the Second Vatican Council. Covers all the works from the classical period up to the 2nd century C.E./A.D; the most important patristic works starting around 200 C.E./A.D. with Tertullian, ending with the death of Venerable Bede in 735; a very extensive corpus of Medieval Latin literature as well as works of recentior latinitas - texts taken from the Corpus Christianorum series and from many other leading editions; and, Neo-Latin literature (1501-1962) including decrees from the modern ecumenical Church councils up to Vatican II, and translations into Latin of important sixteenth-century works.
Digital Loeb Classical Library

Loeb Classical Library in electronic form, which includes more than 520 volumes of Classical Greek and Latin literature.
Cross Database Searchtool

Including Library of Latin Texts (A & B), Monument Germaniae Historica, Archive of Celtic-Latin Literature, and Aristoteles Latinus Database.
Oxford Scholarly Editions Online

Provides full-text access to over 1,700 editions covering over 2000 years of history, showcasing their authoritative editorial notes directly alongside the text and enabling advanced search within and between editions.
Perseus under PhiloLogic

Including Greek texts, Latin texts, commentaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries, grammars and grammar lookup, dictionary lookup, commentary finder, and parser.
Papyrological Navigator

The Papyrological Navigator currently retrieves and displays information from the Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS), the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri (DDbDP) and the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis (HGV).

Encyclopaedias & Bibliographies

These resources are good for background information and for beginning your bibliography. Each article has "further reading" or "key sources." Articles also contain references to relevant primary sources.

Oxford Classical Dictionary
Single volume encyclopedia. Best place to start.

For almost half a century, The Oxford Classical Dictionary has been regarded as the unrivalled one-volume reference work on all aspects of the Graeco-Roman world. It provides both scholars and non-specialists with a comprehensive source of reference which aims to answer all their questions about the classical world. Written by the very best of classical scholars from all over the world, the Dictionary provides coverage of Greek and Roman history, literature, myth, religion, linguistics, philosophy, law, science, art and archaeology, and topics in near eastern studies and late antiquity. (Description from Oxford website.)
Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece & Rome

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome offers a comprehensive overview of the major cultures of the classical Mediterranean worldGreek, Hellenistic, and Romanfrom the Bronze Age to the fifth century CE. It also covers the legacy of the classical world and its interpretation and influence in subsequent centuries. The Encyclopedia brings the work of the best classical scholars, archaeologists, and historians together in an easy-to-use format. The nearly eleven hundred articles, written by leading scholars in the field, seek to convey the significance of the people, places, and historical events of classical antiquity, together with its intellectual and material culture. Broad overviews of literature, history, archaeology, art, philosophy, science, and religion are complimented by articles on authors and their works, literary genres and periods, historical figures and events, archaeologists and archaeological sites, artists and artistic themes and materials, philosophers and philosophical schools, scientists and scientific areas, gods, heroes, and myths. (From their Web site)
New Pauly Online
Multi-volume set in German with English translations

The entire text of Metzler's Der neue Pauly, which was published in 18 volumes (13 on Antiquity, 5 on the Classical Tradition) and one index volume, is available here together with all volumes of Brill's New Pauly now in print, with regular updates when new translations become available. Advanced search functions, complimented by keyword and subject indices, enable the user to search and combine data efficiently from a vast corpus of over 27,000 entries and sub-entries. The guiding principle in developing the online version of the New Pauly was to supply its users with exactly the same information the book itself would provide, while improving their ability to search and, consequently, use the information.
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Classics

Regularly updated annotated bibliography addressing themes and topics in Classics.
Encyclopedia of Ancient History

Comprehensive collection of twenty-first century scholarship available on the entire ancient Mediterranean world. Our board of experienced and internationally diverse editors has collected over 5,000 original entries spanning the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE. Entries extend to all Mediterranean civilizations, including the Near East and Egypt, and represent an unprecedented level of coverage of the ancient world.
From their Website

Abstracting & Indexing

Below are the primary indexes for books and articles in Classical Studies. These databases include very specialized articles and are therefore not where the beginner should start. Return to these databases after creating your bibliography to make sure you have not missed anything.

L'Année philologique
Includes abstracts for books and articles in Classics as well as book reviews. Abstracts may be in English, French, or German.

Indexes all aspects of classical studies, including authors and texts, literature, linguistics, archaeology, epigraphy and numismatics, history, philosophy, science, and technology.
ZENON DAI: Zentraler Online-Katalog des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts
Zenon is especially good for books and articles on classical art and archaeology.

Zentraler Online-Katalog des Deutschen Archologischen Instituts. ZENON indexes books and articles based on the subject catalogues of the offices of the German Archaeological Institute.
Guide to Zenon DAI is available from the Clark Art Institute.

Indexes that link citations are a great way to bring your bibliography up to day. Enter an important article and click times cited.

Google Scholar
The first link gives you books and articles; the Web of Science link gives you more articles.

Abbreviations of Ancient Authors and Their Works

Classical

Liddell & Scott's Greek-English Lexicon, 1940
PA445.E5L824 RR4Cla Abbreviations from 1940 edition

Henry George Liddell & Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1940.

Oxford Latin Dictionary
PA2365.E5095 RR4Cla

Lewis and Short's Latin Dictionary, 1879
PA2365.E5A71 RR4Cla Abbreviations online
New Pauly Online
Click on database and select Prelims at bottom of the page to find abbreviations.

The entire text of Metzler's Der neue Pauly, which was published in 18 volumes (13 on Antiquity, 5 on the Classical Tradition) and one index volume, is available here together with all volumes of Brill's New Pauly now in print, with regular updates when new translations become available. Advanced search functions, complimented by keyword and subject indices, enable the user to search and combine data efficiently from a vast corpus of over 27,000 entries and sub-entries. The guiding principle in developing the online version of the New Pauly was to supply its users with exactly the same information the book itself would provide, while improving their ability to search and, consequently, use the information.

Diccionario Griego-Español
PA445.S6D5 RR4Cla

Oxford Classical Dictionary
Abbreviations in 4th edition

For almost half a century, The Oxford Classical Dictionary has been regarded as the unrivalled one-volume reference work on all aspects of the Graeco-Roman world. It provides both scholars and non-specialists with a comprehensive source of reference which aims to answer all their questions about the classical world. Written by the very best of classical scholars from all over the world, the Dictionary provides coverage of Greek and Roman history, literature, myth, religion, linguistics, philosophy, law, science, art and archaeology, and topics in near eastern studies and late antiquity. (Description from Oxford website.)

Byzantine

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
DF521.O930 1991 RR4Cla

Edited by Alexander P. Kazhdan . With more than 5,000 entries by an international group of eminent historians, this is the standard research tool on 1,100 years of Byzantine history. Exhaustive in its coverage, entries on patriarchy and emperors coexist with entries on surgery, musical instruments, and the baking of bread, bringing to life this vastly important culture and empire, from the 4th century to the 15th. (From their Web site)

Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität. Verzeichnis der Abkürzungen
PA1125.L494 2001 RR4Cla

Patristic

Lampe, ed. Patristic Greek Lexicon PA881.P3 RR4Cla, RR4
Dekkers, Clavis Patrum Latinorum BR60.D45 1995 RR4Cla, RR4
Geerard, Clavis Patrum Graecorum BR67.G29 RR4
H. J. Frede, ed., Kirchenschriftsteller: Verzeichnis und Sigel. Vetus Latina BS71 1949 v. 1pt.1 ed. 4 RR4Cla and RR4.

Abbreviations of Journals, Standard Reference Works, and Corpora

General

Serial Guide: Classics, Ancient Near East, Medieval Latin & Byzantine Studies
Includes multiple abbreviations for journals

Dictionary of Bibliographic Abbreviations Found in the Scholarship of Classical Studies and Related Disciplines (2003)
Print available: PA99.W44 2003 RR4Cla and RR4

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Compiled by J. S. Wellington (2003). This work is useful not only for tracking down abbreviations, but also for discovering alternate titles or title changes. This work is useful not only for tracking down abbreviations, but also for discovering alternate titles or title changes.
List of Abbreviations of Editions and Works of Reference for Alphabetic Greek Epigraphy (GrEpiAbbr)
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Preamble THIS LIST WAS PREPARED BY A COMMITTEE* WORKING FROM LATE 2017 TO SPRING 2020 AND EMBODIES A COMPROMISE BETWEEN FOUR PRINCIPLES : – to change accepted conventions as little as possible; – to create a system as coherent as possible ; – to prefer abbreviations to acronyms (IGF, for instance, means little to a non-specialist ; so we propose IG France). Wherever it is possible and not too much in violation of long-accepted conventions we have tried to generalise the abbreviation « I. xxx » (on the model of « P. xxx » for papyri). – to be, on the model of the papyrologists’ checklist, as clear as possible, and not just for epigraphists but rather for everbody interested in antiquity in the broadest sense: Latinists, Roman historians, philologists, papyrologists, legal scholars, archaeologists, etc. These four principles, however, are mutually incompatible, after almost 200 years of learned publications which have followed very different traditions and models. We have accordingly attempted a compromise, proposing certain rules and aiming for the most general consensus possible. This compromise between existing practices and rules for the future has meant that the commission cannot always adopt unchanged some of the abbreviations proposed by editors of epigraphic collections themselves. We hope that they will put up with these proposals for change in their particular areas, geographical or thematic, if they bear in mind the changes which they will find acceptable or natural in other fields. In a list containing more than five hundred abbreviations, all users will inevitably encounter a few not completely to their liking.
From website

L'Année philologique

Indexes all aspects of classical studies, including authors and texts, literature, linguistics, archaeology, epigraphy and numismatics, history, philosophy, science, and technology.

"Instructions for Contributors," American Journal of Archaeology

Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic Papyri, Ostraca and Tablets

ed. J.F. Oates, R.S. Bagnall, S.J. Clackson, A.A. OBrien, J.D. Sosin, T.G. Wilfong and K.A. Worp. The current print version is the 5th, BASP Suppl. 9 (2001). [Oxbow]. Z6604.C47 2001 RR4Cla
The Web version is kept current by J.F. Oates and J.D. Sosin.
Oxford Classical Dictionary

For almost half a century, The Oxford Classical Dictionary has been regarded as the unrivalled one-volume reference work on all aspects of the Graeco-Roman world. It provides both scholars and non-specialists with a comprehensive source of reference which aims to answer all their questions about the classical world. Written by the very best of classical scholars from all over the world, the Dictionary provides coverage of Greek and Roman history, literature, myth, religion, linguistics, philosophy, law, science, art and archaeology, and topics in near eastern studies and late antiquity. (Description from Oxford website.)
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium

Edited by Alexander P. Kazhdan . With more than 5,000 entries by an international group of eminent historians, this is the standard research tool on 1,100 years of Byzantine history. Exhaustive in its coverage, entries on patriarchy and emperors coexist with entries on surgery, musical instruments, and the baking of bread, bringing to life this vastly important culture and empire, from the 4th century to the 15th. (From their Web site)

Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität. Verzeichnis der Abkürzungen
PA1125.L494 2001 RR4Cla

Epigraphy and Papyrology

Table des abréviations in Guide de l’épigraphiste (4th ed.)

Supplementum Epigrahicum Graecum

The Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum Online includes the printed SEG volumes 1-54. Future volumes will be added to the online edition.

Abbreviations in CLAROS: Concordance of Greek Inscriptions

Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic Papyri, Ostraca and Tablets

ed. J.F. Oates, R.S. Bagnall, S.J. Clackson, A.A. OBrien, J.D. Sosin, T.G. Wilfong and K.A. Worp. The current print version is the 5th, BASP Suppl. 9 (2001). [Oxbow]. Z6604.C47 2001 RR4Cla
The Web version is kept current by J.F. Oates and J.D. Sosin.

ChecklistDem. Check-list of Demotic Text Editions and Re-editions
Out of print. Order ILL

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by S.P. Vleeming and A.A. den Brinker. Leiden 1993. (Uitgaven Vanwege de Stichting "Het Leids Papyrologisch Instituut" 14).
ChecklistArab. Checklist of Arabic Documents
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ed. P.M. Sijpesteijn, J.F. Oates and A. Kaplony.
Blanchard, Sigles et abréviations dans les papyrus documentaires grecs: recherches de paléographie
Z113.8.B5 1974 RR4Cla and PA25.L841 no.30 Gen

Biblical and Ancient Near East

Abréviations des périodiques et collections en usage à l’Ifao, by Bernard Mathieu. 7th ed
This edition online only; earlier editions at Z3015.M38 2003 RR4 Religion/ANE

Abbreviations for Assyriology (CDLI)
Reallexikon der Assyriologie
DS69.1.R3 RR4 Religion/ANE
SBL Handbook of Style: for Biblical Studies and Related Disciplines 2014
Print: PN147.S26 2014 RR4 Religion/ANE

Serial Guide: Classics, Ancient Near East, Medieval Latin & Byzantine Studies

Subject Specialist

Catherine Mardikes

she/her

Send Email

Contact:

Bibliographer for Classics, the Ancient Near East, Linguistics, and General Humanities
Joseph Regenstein Library,
Room 468
Office: 773-702-2783
Cell: 773-820-2842

Subjects: Ancient Near East, Classics, General Humanities, Humanities, Linguistics, Medieval and Byzantine Studies