LibGuides: Classics: Get Started

Select A Topic

Where to Find Ideas

Class discussions or readings
Articles in journals related to your discipline
Current events described in popular newspapers or magazines

Gather Background Information

Why gather background information?

Gathering background information, or pre-searching, helps you:

Gain familiarity with a topic
Establish a context for your topic
Focus your topic
Identify experts, or "big names," in the field
Find references to other books and articles relevant to your research

Encyclopedias, in print or online, are a good place to begin looking for background information. Try these sources:

ProQuest Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Discover over 20,000 full-text books in multiple academic and general interest subject areas.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

Core Reference Sources

The Oxford Classical Dictionary
The Oxford Classical Dictionary is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity," an encyclopedic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations.
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Brill's New Pauly Encyclopedia of the Ancient World
Fifteen volumes (Antiquity, 1-15) of Brill's New Pauly are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand.
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The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome offers a comprehensive overview of the major cultures of the classical Mediterranean world—Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman—from 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.
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Perseus Digital Library
An evolving collection of resources for the study of the ancient world, including archaeology, atlas, texts and translations, text tools and lexica.
The Cambridge Dictionary of Classical Civilization
This Guide, with over 1700 entries and 500 illustrations, is a key reference work on both, covering all the main branches of ancient literature, art and institutions. In addition, it explores traditionally neglected areas such as dress, housing, minority groups and social relations. Ranging from post-Bronze Age Greece to the later Roman Empire, it surveys not only ancient Greece and Rome, but discusses those cultures with which Greeks and Romans exchanged information and culture (e.g., Phoenicians, Celts and Jews) as well as the remote peoples with whom they were in contact (e.g., Persia, China and India).
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The Classical Tradition
Arranged alphabetically from Academy to Zoology, this collection of essays—designed and written to serve scholars, students, and the general reader alike—show how the Classical tradition has shaped human endeavors from art to government, mathematics to medicine, drama to urban planning, legal theory to popular culture.
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The Dictionary of Ancient History
Ranging from the year of the first Olympic Games in 776 BC to the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476, this dictionary contains over 2000 entries providing a reference guide to the ancient Greco-Roman world. It includes entries on personalities, events, politics, literature, art and society.
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Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: The Greek Tradition and Its Many Heirs
The Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists is the first comprehensive English language work to provide a survey of all ancient natural science, from its beginnings through the end of Late Antiquity. A team of over 100 of the world's experts in the field have compiled this Encyclopedia, including entries which are not mentioned in any other reference work, resulting in a unique and hugely ambitious resource which will prove indispensable for anyone seeking the details of the history of ancient science. Additional features include a Glossary, Gazetteer, and Time-Line.
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Oxford Companion to Classic Literature
The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature is the complete and authoritative reference guide to the classical world and its literary heritage.
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Find a Good Question

After you have obtained a working knowledge of your topic, focus on one aspect of it. Why? It is impoossible to cover everything about, say, cuneiform culture in 5-10 pages. But, you could focus on one period (Assyrian) and new developments (simplified characters). Alternately, you could compare the development of writing to the development of the Internet to explain the impact of new technologies. Narrowing your topic allows you to go into it in more depth and analysis. Remember, your job as a student is to contribute to the discussion on your topic: You want to offer up your own insight or interpretation of it and not merely summarize those of others.

Now, identify controversies or questions related to your narrowed topic.

Write down your preliminary question

Use these prompts to help you start thinking about your research question. Feel free to change the question to the future or past tense if that is more appropriate for your topic. Keep in mind that your research question will change as you research and write--it is all a part of the process!

How does . . .

What procedures or actions . . .

What problems . . .

What happens when . . .

What is the role of . . . in . . .

What is the difference between . . .

What causes . . .

What are the effects or results of . . .

How or why did . . . decide to . . .

Who or what influenced . . . to . . .

What is the relationship between . . . and . . .

What are the competing sides . . .

How does. . . change . . .