Matz - Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome: contemporary accounts of daily life

A sourcebook such as Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome could never be compiled without the assistance of countless translations, commentaries, dictionaries, and reference works. To provide each of these resources with the appropriate recognition would be a daunting task; however, several of them can be singled out.

First and foremost are the translations of the works of Greek and Roman authors to be found in the Loeb Classical Library series (LCL). These translations are highly readable, well annotated and indexed, invariably feature useful and interesting introductions to the translations, and offer the additional advantage of providing the Greek or Latin text on the page facing the English translation. All the major ancient authors are represented in the series, and these volumes collectively form a true sine qua non for anyone wishing to seriously study and research any aspect of life in antiquity.

Also indispensible are major reference works such as The Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD) and Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. These and similar resources save the day again and again for the author who cannot quite remember details like Suetonius's birth year, or the length of time required for the construction of the Parthenon, or the number and titles of the surviving plays of Aristophanes, or hundreds of other factoids that are critically important for a sourcebook like Voices.

Many of the definitions or explanations of Greek and Latin words and phrases appearing in Voices have been provided by the premier lexicons of the two ancient languages: Liddell and Scott's A Greek-English Lexicon and Glare's Oxford Latin Dictionary. Older, but still serviceable, is Lewis and Short's A Latin Dictionary. The LCL editors and translators also offer perceptive comments on some of the trickier or more obscure Greek and Latin words that occur in the original sources.

For quick and concise information about mythological characters or places, it would be difficult to imagine a more useful reference work than J. E. Zimmerman's Dictionary of Classical Mythology. All major gods, heroes, and legendary notables are represented within its pages, as well as brief citations of the ancient literature in which they appear.

Special mention ought to be made of Lillian Feder's Apollo Handbook of Classical Literature. This very readable reference contains biographical information for all major ancient authors, as well as informative synopses of their works. Synopsis, indeed, may not be the operative word, because many of the entries pertaining to these works are quite detailed, and this feature is perhaps what constitutes the greatest utility in Feder's book.

Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold have collected a wide assortment of source material in their two-volume set Roman Civilization Sourcebook I: The Republic and Roman Civilization Sourcebook II: The Empire. Both volumes are well stocked with pertinent selections from ancient sources, as well as introductions and commentaries.

Few websites are mentioned in the bibliographies, partially because of their impermanence and partially because of their potential for purveying inaccurate information. However, relevant Internet sites, including translations of ancient works, can be quickly accessed via search engines by readers who prefer electronic media to hard copy.

Babbitt, Frank Cole (tr.). Plutarch's Moralia. Volume III. [LCL.] London and New York, 1931.

Barker, Ernest (tr.). The Politics of Aristotle. Oxford, 1958.

Blanco, Walter (tr.). Herodotus: The Histories. New York, 1992.

Brownson, Carleton L. (tr.). Xenophon: Anabasis. Volume III. [LCL.] London and Cambridge, 1922.

Bury, The Rev. R. G. (tr.). Plato: Timaeus; Critias; Cleitophon; Menexenus; Epistles. [LCL.] London and Cambridge, 1929.

Butler, H. E. (tr.). The Institutio Oratoria of Quintilian. Volume I. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1920.

Clement, Paul A. (tr.) Plutarch's Moralia. Volume VIII. [LCL.] London and Cambridge, 1969.

Cornford, Francis MacDonald (tr.). The Republic of Plato. New York and London, 1941.

Creekmore, Hubert (tr.). The Satires of Juvenal. New York, 1963.

de Selincourt, Aubrey (tr.), revised by A. R. Burn. Herodotus: The Histories. Baltimore, 1954.

de Selincourt, Aubrey (tr.). Livy: The War with Hannibal, Books XXI-XXX. Baltimore, 1965.

Dover, Kenneth (ed.). Aristophanes: Clouds. Oxford, 1968.

Fagles, Robert (tr.). Homer: The Iliad. New York, 1990.

Fairclough, H. Rushton (tr.). Virgil: Eclogues; Georgics; Aeneid. Volume I. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1916.

Fowler, Harold N. Plato: Cratylus; Parmenides; Greater Hippias; Lesser Hippias. [LCL.] London and New York, 1926.

Fuller, Edmund (tr.). Plutarch: Lives of the Noble Greeks. New York, 1968.

Glover, T. R. (tr.). Tertullian: Apology; De Spectaculis. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1931.

Godley, A. D. (tr.). Herodotus. Volume I. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1920.

Granger, Frank (tr.). Vitruvius on Architecture. Volume I. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1934.

Grant, Michael (tr.). Selected Political Speeches of Cicero. New York, 1969.

Gulick, Charles Burton (tr.). Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists. Volume I. [LCL.] London and New York, 1927.

Gummere, Richard M. (tr.). Seneca: Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. Volume II. [LCL.] London and Cambridge, 1920.

Harmon, A. M. (tr.). Lucian. Volume V. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1936.

Henderson, Jeffrey (tr.). Aristophanes: Clouds; Wasps; Peace. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1998.

Hubbell, H. M. (tr.). Cicero: De Inventione; De Optimo Genere Oratorum; Topica. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1949.

Humphries, Rolfe (tr.). Ovid: Metamorphoses. Bloomington, IN, 1955.

Jones, W. H. S. (tr.). Hippocrates. Volume I. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1923.

Jones, W. H. S. (tr.). Pausanias: Description of Greece. Volume III. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1933.

Jones, W. H. S. (tr.). Pliny: Natural History. Volume VIII. [LCL.] London and Cambridge, 1963.

Lamb, W. R. M. (tr.). Plato: Laches; Protagoras; Meno; Euthydemus. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1924.

Marchant, E. C. (tr.). Xenophon: Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. Volume IV. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1923.

Miller, Walter (tr.). Cicero: De Officiis. [LCL.] London and New York, 1913.

Moore, Clifford H. (tr.). Tacitus: The Histories, Books IIII. Volume II. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1925.

More, Otis. Ovid: Metamorphoses. http://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidMetamorphoses15.html

Murray, A. T. (tr.). Demosthenes: Private Orations. Volume VI. [LCL.] Cambridge and London, 1939.

Palmer, George Herbert (tr.). The Odyssey: Homer. New York, 1962.

Perrin, Bernadotte (tr.). Plutarch's Lives. Volume I. [LCL.] London and Cambridge, 1914.

Perrin, Bernadotte (tr.). Plutarch's Lives. Volume V. [LCL.] London and Cambridge, 1917.

Peterson, Sir William (tr.). Tacitus: Dialogus; Agricola; Germania. Cambridge and London, 1914.