Subject Guides: Classics: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Primary sources in Classics are the literary works (poems, plays, and histories, for example), and artifacts (pottery, coins and sculptures, for example) and other materials from the ancient world.

The Loeb Classical Library is a respected modern collection of Greek and Roman literature. Each volume contains the Greek or Latin text on one page with the English translation on the opposite page.

Penguin and Oxford (World's Classics) also publish good translations of the most popular ancient authors and their well-known works. In the library catalogue, try a keyword search with the name of an ancient author and the word penguin or Oxford World's classics. For example, thucydides and penguin.

When trying to locate primary sources for your research, think about the ancient authors you have studied in class, read your textbook and class notes, and examine your course outline.

General

Ancient History Sourcebook
Full-text documents related to art, literature, history philosophy and religion. With specific categories for Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Israel Greek civilizations, the Hellenistic world, Rome, late antiquity and Christian origins. From Fordham University.

Greek and Roman

Loeb Classical Library This link opens in a new window
Presents a searchable virtual library of Greek and Latin literature. Includes epic and lyric poetry, tragedy and comedy, oratory, the great medical writers and mathematicians, the Church Fathers, and more. Provides up-to-date texts with English translations.
Access: Access limited to Grant MacEwan University IP addresses. Remote login with a MacEwan network user ID and password.
Conditions of Use: Use of this database is restricted to members of the MacEwan University community and to users physically present in the Library. It is the responsibility of each user to ensure that they use this database for individual, non-commercial, educational or research purposes only, and do not systematically download or retain substantial portions of information.

Internet Classics Archive
Mainly works from Greek and Roman authors (some Chinese and Persian).
Perseus Collection Greek and Roman Materials
Covers the history, literature and culture of the Greco-Roman world. From Tufts University.
Theoi Classical Texts and Greek Mythology Library
Includes Loeb translations of key Greek and Roman literary works. Before using content from other parts of this website, please contact your professor or instructor to confirm the information can be used in your assignments.

Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds : A Sourcebook by Daniel Ogden
Collection of translations of primary texts relevant to women's religion in Western antiquity, from the fourth century BCE to the fifth century CE. (eBook copy available from the MacEwan University Library).
Women's Religions in the Greco-Roman World: A Sourcebook by Ross Shepard Kraemer
Translations of primary texts relevant to women's religion in Western antiquity, from the fourth century BCE to the fifth century CE (eBook available from the MacEwan University Library)
Greek and Roman Technology: a Sourcebook by Andrew N. Sherwood; Milo Nikolic; John W. Humphrey; John P. Oleson
ISBN: 9781138927902
Translations of ancient texts provide a history of the origins and development of technology in the classical world (print copy available from the MacEwan University Library)
Greek and Roman Sexualities: a Sourcebook by Jennifer Larson
ISBN: 9781441158895
A selection of primary sources documenting sexualities, sexual behaviors, and perceptions of sex, sexuality, gender, and the body among people in the ancient Greco-Roman world (print copy available from the MacEwan University Library).

Greek

Arete by Stephen G. Miller
Includes primary sources on boxing, pentathlon, literary competitions, and female bodybuilding (eBook available from the MacEwan University Library).
Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook with Translations by Waldo E. Sweet
This sourcebook looks at sport and recreation in ancient Greece through translated accounts of ancient Greek and Latin authors (eBook available from the MacEwan University Library).
Women in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook by Bonnie MacLachlan
A compilation of source material in translation from the Greek mainland and the communities along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, to Egypt and the Greek West (modern day southern Italy and Sicily). Beginning in the eighth century BCE the coverage continues through Archaic and Classical Athens concluding with the Hellenistic era.
Ancient Greece: social and historical documents from archaic times to the death of Alexander the Great. by Matthew Dillon (Editor); Lynda Garland (Editor)
Collection of source material on the society and culture of the Greeks.
A Guide to Scenes of Daily Life on Athenian Vases by John H. Oakley
Presents visual representations of everything from pets and children's games to drunken revelry and funerary rituals. An an ideal sourcebook for classics and art history.
Ancient Greek Laws: A Sourcebook by Ilias Arnaoutoglou
A collection of ancient Greek laws is situated in their legal and historical contexts and elucidated with relevant selections from Greek literature and epigraphical testimonies.

Roman

The Government of the Roman Empire: A Sourcebook by Barbara Levick
Sourcebook on the administration of the empire. Also included are bibliographies (eBook copy available from the MacEwan University Library).
The Roman Games: Historical Sources in Translation by Alison Futrell (Editor)
This sourcebook focuses on gladiatorial combat and chariot racing (print book available from the MacEwan University).

Spectacles in the Roman World: a sourcebook
Collection of primary sources on Roman games and spectacles in their various forms (open access book from BCcampus).

As the Romans Did: a sourcebook in Roman social history by Jo-Ann Shelton; Pauline Ripat
Translation of texts arranged by theme including family life, housing, education, entertainment, religion and other important topics. (Print book available from the MacEwan University Library)
Christianity in the Later Roman Empire: a Sourcebook by David M. Gwynn
ISBN: 9781441122551
Translations of writings that explore Christianity's rise as the dominant religion of the Later Roman empire (print book available from the MacEwan University Library).
The Roman Household: A Sourcebook by Jane F. Gardner; Thomas E. J. Wiedemann
This book illustrates the activities associated with the household, demonstrating the different and frequently conflicting roles and moral values expected from its various members: male and female, old and young, freedman and slave (ebook available from the MacEwan University Library).
Women and the Law in the Roman Empire: A Sourcebook on Marriage, Divorce and Widowhood by Judith Evans Grubbs
Sourcebook of legal material of the imperial period - from Augustus (31 BCE - 14 CE) to the end of the western Roman Empire (476 CE), incorporating both pagan and Christian eras (eBook copy available from the MacEwan University Library).

Ancient Near Eastern

Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings by Miriam Lichtheim (Editor)
Translations of texts in three volumes (vol. 1 Old and Middle Kingdoms, vol. 2 The New Kingdom and vol. 3 The Late Period) (eBook copies are also available from the MacEwan University Library).
The Ancient near East by Mark W. Chavalas (Editor)
Contains translations of Mesopotamian and ancient Near Eastern texts (print book available from the MacEwan University Library).
Ancient near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement by James B. Pritchard (Editor)
Historical, legal, mythological, liturgical and secular texts of the ancient Near East (eBook available from the MacEwan University Library).
Fighting for the King and the Gods by Charlie Trimm
An introduction to the topic of war and the variety of texts concerning many aspects of warfare in the ancient Near East. (eBook copy available from the MacEwan University Library).
The Persian Empire: a corpus of sources from the Achaemenid period by Amélie Kuhrt
Translation of critical texts (print copy available from the MacEwan University Library).
Sourcebook for Ancient Mesopotamian Medicine by Jo Ann Scurlock
Translations on the development of medicine in the ancient Near East (eBook copy available from the MacEwan University Library).

ETANA Core Texts
Electronic Texts and Ancient Near Eastern Archives (ETANA) has digitized texts for teaching and research related to ancient Near Eastern studies.
Digital Persian Archive
The database includes "public" and "private" documents: royal decrees and orders, official correspondence, and shari'a court documents, such as contracts of sale and lease, vaqf deeds, marriage contracts, and court orders. It also serves as a bibliographic reference tool, being a continually updated repertoire of published historical documents.

Art and Architecture

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
ARTstor digital image library documents architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts and design as well as many other forms of visual culture across many time periods and cultures. Access is restricted to MacEwan University students, faculty and staff.
Access: Access limited to Grant MacEwan University IP addresses. Remote login with a MacEwan network user ID and password.
Conditions of Use: Use of this database is restricted to members of the MacEwan University community and to users physically present in the Library. It is the responsibility of each user to ensure that they use this database for individual, non-commercial, educational or research purposes only, and do not systematically download or retain substantial portions of information.

Timeline of Art History
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
British Museum Collection
Allows access to almost four and a half million objects in more than two million records.
The Louvre Museum Online Collection
The online collection of the Louvre museum comprises high-resolution pictures and scans of artworks. The Atlas database covers some 30,000 objects on display in the museum. Art works include: Near Eastern Antiquities, Islamic Art, Egyptian Antiquities, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities, Decorative Arts, Sculptures, Paintings, and Prints and Drawing.
National Archaeological Museum (Athens)
Largest archaeological museum in Greece and one of the most important museums in the world devoted to ancient Greek art.
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
Contains more than 100,000 objects related to civilizations existing around the Mediterranean. From the University of Michigan.
Classical Art Research Centre: the Beazley Archive
From the University of Oxford.

Classics

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