Library Research Guides: CLASSICAL STUDIES: Context & Overviews

Reference Collections

Oxford Reference Online
Over 400 full-text academic encyclopedias, language dictionaries, books of quotations, and other sources. Includes subject-specific titles from art, classics, history, law, linguistics, literature, media studies, medicine, performing arts, philosophy, religion, science and technology, politics, and more.

Provide a general overview of your topic
Often written by scholars in the field
Can lead you to other sources

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome [e-resource]
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.
The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World [e-resource]
2,500 entries covers key aspects of ancient Greek and Roman life and literature, such as science, social structure, philosophy, and religion, and contains comprehensive articles on central figures, both real and mythological. Coverage from 776 BCE to 180 AD.
Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World [20 vols]
Call Number: Clapp Reference DE5 .N4813
An encyclopaedia of the ancient world for everyday use. Many articles are brief; but the survey articles provide orientation to periods, social and economic structures, genres, and philosophical systems of antiquity.
The Oxford companion to archaeology [e-resource]
700 essays explore the history of archaeology, biographies of figures in this field, methods used in archeological research, and essays on human evolution, as well as the general facets of culture.