Specialized Areas Within Classics

An introduction to word parts derived from Latin and ancient Greek.

Review of "Words and Ideas," by William J. Dominik, a course-in-a-book in word building and etymology as well as classical culture.

An introduction to the science of reading ancient graffiti.

An introduction to the religiously important Dead Sea Scrolls.

Certain early Greeks from Ionia (Asia Minor) and southern Italy, saw the world around them and asked questions about it. Instead of attributing its creation to anthropomorphic gods, these first philosophers, broke tradition and sought rational explanations. Their speculation formed the early basis for science and natural philosophy.

History emerged from other styles of non-fiction writing, particularly travel writing, based on the voyages of curious and observant men. There were also ancient biographers and chroniclers who produced similar material and data used by historians. Here are some of the major ancient writers of ancient history or the closely related genres.

There are many books about the first princeps of Rome, Augustus. Here you will find books that tend towards the scholarly, focusing on specific aspects of the man, his reign, or his times, or more general history books about the end of the Republican and the start of the Imperial period.