How to Use This Page
There are useful primary sources located and sorted by topic/movie in the boxes below. While some are online, others will be found in books that you can get at VSU, at another library using GIL-Express, or through Inter-Library Loan. These are useful sources, but the best way to get into them and to understand which parts of these writings to approach is to use your secondary sources and their bibliographies. You probably won’t want to read all of Plutarch’s or Julius Caesar’s writings.
Reminder: Some primary sources might provide abundant information and others will provide only fragments.
See also - Finding Primary Sources page for general websites that may be helpful as well.
Recommended Primary Sources by Movie/Topic
Herodotus by
*Four volumes* One of the masterpieces of classical literature, the Histories describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus' natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colourful digressions - a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; an account of European lake-dwellers; and far-fetched accounts of dog-headed men and gold-digging ants. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fact and legend, the Histories offers a compelling Greek view of the world of the fifth century BC
Call Number: PA3612 .H5 1975Publication Date: 1975
Diodorus Siculus, the Persian Wars to the Fall of Athens by
The most momentous century of Hellenic history is covered in an accessible translation of the Bibliotheke for students, teachers, and general readers. Only one surviving source provides a continuous narrative of Greek history from Xerxes' invasion to the Wars of the Successors following the death of Alexander the Great--the Bibliotheke, or "Library," produced by Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus (ca. 90-30 BCE). Yet generations of scholars have disdained Diodorus as a spectacularly unintelligent copyist who only reproduced, and often mangled, the works of earlier historians. Arguing for a thorough critical reappraisal of Diodorus as a minor but far from idiotic historian himself, Peter Green published Diodorus Siculus, Books 11-12.37.1, a fresh translation, with extensive commentary, of the portion of Diodorus's history dealing with the period 480-431 BCE, the so-called "Golden Age" of Athens. This is the only recent modern English translation of the Bibliotheke in existence. In the present volume--the first of two covering Diodorus's text up to the death of Alexander--Green expands his translation of Diodorus up to Athens' defeat after the Peloponnesian War. In contrast to the full scholarly apparatus in his earlier volume (the translation of which is incorporated) the present volume's purpose is to give students, teachers, and general readers an accessible version of Diodorus's history. Its introduction and notes are especially designed for this audience and provide an up-to-date overview of fifth-century Greece during the years that saw the unparalleled flowering of drama, architecture, philosophy, historiography, and the visual arts for which Greece still remains famous
FOR MORE VOLUMES, SEE THE LOEB EDITIONS BELOW.
Call Number: eBook & PA 3612.D48 1968ISBN: 0292779089Publication Date: 2010-01-01
Diodorys of Sicily in Twelve Volumes by
Diodorus Siculus, Greek historian of Agyrium in Sicily, ca. 80-20 BCE, wrote forty books of world history, called Library of History, in three parts: mythical history of peoples, non-Greek and Greek, to the Trojan War; history to Alexander's death (323 BCE); history to 54 BCE. Of this we have complete Books I-V (Egyptians, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Greeks) and Books XI-XX (Greek history 480-302 BCE); and fragments of the rest. He was an uncritical compiler, but used good sources and reproduced them faithfully. He is valuable for details unrecorded elsewhere, and as evidence for works now lost, especially writings of Ephorus, Apollodorus, Agatharchides, Philistus, and Timaeus. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Diodorus Siculus is in twelve volumes.
ISBN: 9780674993075Publication Date: 1933-01-01
Aeschylus: Persians and Other Plays by
A new, accurate, and readable translation of four of Aeschylus' plays: Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Suppliants, and Prometheus Bound. It is based upon the most authoritative recent edition of the Greek text and particular care is taken with the many lyric passages. A lengthy introduction sets the plays in their original context, and includes short appreciative essays on them. The explanatory notes treat dramatic issues,structure and form, and theatrical aspects, as well as details of content and language. Major difficulties in the texts themselves, which affect general interpretation, are briefly discussed. The volume as a whole should provide an informative, reliable, and suggestive basis for study and enjoyment.
Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780191518317Publication Date: 2008-02-01
Greek Lives: A Selection of Nine Greek Lives by
"I treat the narrative of the Lives as a kind of mirror...The experience is like nothing so much as spending time in their company and living with them: I receive and welcome each of them in turn as my guest." Here, Plutarch introduces the major figures and periods of classical Greece, detailing the lives of nine personages, including Lycurgus, Solon, Themistocles, Cimon, Alexander, Pericles, Nicias, Alcibiades, and Agesilaus. Oxford presents the most comprehensive selection available, superbly translated and accompanied by a lucid introduction, explanatory notes, bibliographies, maps, and indexes. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Call Number: DE7 .P52 2008ISBN: 9780199540051Publication Date: 2009-04-01
- Of Leonidas the Son of AlaxandriadasThis is a section from Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 1.
Mummies
The Landmark Herodotus by
From the editor of the widely praised The Landmark Thucydides comes a new edition the The Histories, a readable and comprehensively useful edition to the classical work. Purvis clarifies the text with illustrations, annotations, and maps along with essays written by history scholars. 17,500
Call Number: D58 .H4713 2007ISBN: 9780375421099Publication Date: 2007-11-06
Images from tomb and temple walls are also primary sources, so look for books on Egyptian funerary art.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
This is a primary source that tells about the afterlife and you will need a lot of secondary sources works on Egyptian religion to understand and contextualize it.
Use what works best for you from the versions listed below:
The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani by
A New Edition of the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, Perfect for History Buffs, Budding Archaeologists, or Mythology Enthusiasts! The Egyptian Book of the Dead is unquestionably one of the most influential books in all history. Containing the ancient ritual to be performed for the dead with detailed instructions for the behavior of the soul in the afterlife, it served as the most important repository of religious authority for some three thousand years. Chapters were carved on the pyramids of the ancient 5th Dynasty, texts were written in papyrus, and selections were painted on mummy cases well into the Christian era. In a certain sense, it represented all history and research of Egyptian civilization. In the year 1888, Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge, then purchasing agent for the British Museum, followed rumors he heard of a spectacular archaeological find in Upper Egypt, and found in an 18th Dynasty tomb near Luxor a perfectly preserved papyrus scroll. It was a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, written around 1500 B.C. for Ani, Royal Scribe of Thebes, Overseer of the Granaries of the Lords of Abydos, and Scribe of the Offerings of the Lords of Thebes. This Papyrus of Ani is presented here by Dr. Budge. Reproduced in full are a clear copy of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, an interlinear transliteration of their sounds (as reconstructed), a word-for-word translation, and separately a complete smooth translation. All this is preceded by an original introduction of more than 150 pages. This classic material combined with a brand-new foreword by Dr. Foy Scalf of Chicago University gives the reader has a unique opportunity to experience all the fascinating aspects of The Egyptian Book of the Dead.
ISBN: 9781949846249Publication Date: 2021-03-16
The Egyptian Book of the Dead by
Hope for life after death is evidenced even in prehistoric times in Upper Egypt. The first written aids for attaining and supporting life in the hereafter were the Pyramid Texts inscribed within royal tombs towards the end of the Old Kingdom. In the Middle Kingdom, many texts were borrowed from the pyramid chambers and mingled with new spells; this new form, which today we call Coffin Texts, was usually written inside coffins. These eventually gave way to what we now know as the Book of the Dead. The collections of spells were usually written on rolls of papyrus, that is, in the form of an Egyptian book. Presented here are seventy Book of the Dead documents housed in the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago. These documents, represented in whole or in part - all Eighteenth Dynasty or later - include seven papyri, three coffins, a shroud, a statuette, three stelae or similar and fifty-five ushabties.
ISBN: 9781885923806Publication Date: 2011-01-31
The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead by
The Book of the Dead is the name now given to a collection of religious and magical texts known to the ancient Egyptians as The Chapters of Coming-forth by Day. Their principal aim was to secure for the deceased a satisfactory afterlife and to give him the power to leave his tomb when necessary. Copies of The Book of the Dead written on papyrus rolls were placed in the tombs of important Egyptians, each roll containing a selection of chapters. Many examples have survived from antiquity, dating mostly from c. 1500 BCE-250 BCE. In this volume, the text translated by the late Dr. R.O. Faulkner is that found in the papyrus prepared for the scribe Ani which is one of the greatest treasures in the British Museum. The vignettes are taken from the many finely illustrated copies which are preserved in the collections of the British Museum.
ISBN: 9780292704251Publication Date: 1990-09-01
The Egyptian Book of the Dead by
The sacred wisdom of the priests of ancient Egypt and the experiences of the soul after death: one of the most important books in Egyptian history. Includes full hieroglyphic text along with a transliteration of sounds, word-for-word translation, and a separate smooth translation.
Call Number: PJ1555 .A3 E39 1967ISBN: 9780486218663Publication Date: 1967-06-01
The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife by ISBN: 9780801435157Publication Date: 1999-06-08Will be helpful when using the Book of the Dead.
Journey Through the Afterlife by ISBN: 9780674057500Publication Date: 2010-12-31Will also be helpful when looking at the Book of the Dead
Cleopatra
- Shakespeare's Plutarch; the lives of Julius Caesar, Brutus, Marcus Antonius, and Coriolanus by
The life of Julius Caesar -- The life of Marcus Brutus -- The life of Marcus Antonius -- The life of Martius Coriolanus
Call Number: PR2955.P6 S6 1964Publication Date: 1964
- Josephus. by
1. The life. Against Apion -- 2-3. The Jewish War -- 4-9. Jewish antiquities.
Call Number: PA3612 .J6 1976Publication Date: 1976
- Dio's Roman History by
9 total volumes. Covering some 1,400 years of Roman history, Dio's work spans 80 books, with books 36-60 partially or substantially complete. Abridgments, fragments, and epitomes round out the work. Dio labored on his history for 22 years, until 229 AD. Dio's work represents one of the important extant sources of Roman history
Call Number: PA3612 .C3 1969Publication Date: 1969
- Propertius by
The passionate and dramatic elegies of Propertius gained him a reputation as one of Rome's finest love poets. Here he portrays the exciting, uneven course of his love affair with Cynthia and tells us much about his contemporaries and the society in which he lives, while in later poems he turns to mythological themes and the legends of early Rome. In this new edition of Propertius, G. P. Goold solves some longstanding questions of interpretation and gives us a faithful and stylish prose translation. His explanatory notes and glossary/index offer steady guidance and a wealth of information.
Call Number: PA6156 .P8 1976ISBN: 9780674990210Publication Date: 1991-01-01
Also look at works by:
- Cicero
- Virgil
- Horace
- Ovid
Ancient Egypt and Religion
- Take a look at the Wikipedia page Ancient Egyptian Religion paying attention to the References, Bibliography, Further Readings, and External Links
- Look up information for Pharaoh Akhenaten
- He made major changes in the Egyptian religious practices by switching worship from many gods to the one god - the Sun God Aten
- Early monotheism
- For Egyptian papyri writings, you will probably be able to find plenty in secondary sources
- Ancient EgyptThis site contact links to translations of several Egyptian Primary sources
- Plutarch's Lives by
NOTE: See vol 5 Plutarch, Isis and Osirius
Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45-120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned.
Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the 46 Parallel Lives, biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch's many other varied extant works, about 60 in number, are known as Moralia or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics and religion.
Call Number: PA3612 .P7 1967Publication Date: 1967
Also check out the Wikipedia page Clothing in Ancient Egypt to check out their references and primary sources.
Meditations by
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) is a private notebook of philosophical reflections, written by a Roman emperor probably on military campaign in Germany. In short, highly charged comments, Marcus draws on Stoic philosophy to confront challenges that he felt acutely, but which are also shared by all human beings - the looming presence of death, making sense of one's social role and projects, the moral significance of the universe. They bring us closer to the personality of the emperor, who is often disillusioned with his own status and with human activities in general; they are both a historical document and a remarkable spiritual diary. This translation by Robin Hard brings out the eloquence and universality of Marcus' thoughts. The introduction and notes by Christopher Gill place the Meditations firmly in the ancient philosophical context. A selection of Marcus' correspondence with his tutor Fronto broadens the picture of the emperor as a person and thinker.
Call Number: B580 .H25 2011ISBN: 9780199573202Publication Date: 2011-09-25
Historia Augusta by
The Historia Augusta is a biographical work roughly following the model of the imperial biographer Suetonius (LCL 31, 38) and covering the lives of the Roman emperors from Hadrian (r. 117-138) to Carinus (r. 283-285), with a lacuna between the lives of the Gordians and the Valerians. Although the work comes down to us as a collection of thirty books written by six different authors, it is now generally considered to be the creation of a single individual writing under several pseudonyms no earlier than the late fourth century. It is a thoroughly enigmatic work whose origins, nature, and purpose remain obscure; the very beginning of the life of Hadrian is lost, and with it any general introduction that may have existed.
ISBN: 9780674997448Publication Date: 2022-07-12- Dio's Roman History by
9 total volumes. Covering some 1,400 years of Roman history, Dio's work spans 80 books, with books 36-60 partially or substantially complete. Abridgments, fragments, and epitomes round out the work. Dio labored on his history for 22 years, until 229 AD. Dio's work represents one of the important extant sources of Roman history
Call Number: PA3612 .C3 1969Publication Date: 1969
Herodian by
The History of Herodian (born ca. 178-179 CE) covers a period of the Roman empire from the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (180 CE) to the accession of Gordian III (238), half a century of turbulence, in which we can see the onset of the revolution which, in the words of Gibbon, "will ever be remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth." In these years, a succession of frontier crises and a disastrous lack of economic planning established a pattern of military coups and increasing cultural pluralism. Of this revolutionary epoch we know all too little. The selection of chance has destroyed all but a handful of the literary sources that deal with the immediate post- Antonine scene. Herodian's work is one of the few that have survived, and it has come down to us completely intact. Of the author we know virtually nothing, except that he served in some official capacity in the empire of which he wrote. His History was apparently produced for the benefit of people in the Greek-speaking half of the Roman empire. It betrays the faults of an age when truth was distorted by rhetoric and stereotypes were a substitute for sound reason. But it is an essential document for any who would try to understand the nature of the Roman empire in an era of rapidly changing social and political institutions. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Herodian is in two volumes.
Call Number: PA3612 .H49 1969ISBN: 9780674995017Publication Date: 1970-01-01
- On the Natural Faculties by Galen"Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (September 129 AD – c.?200/c.?216), often Anglicized as Galen and better known as Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Arguably the most accomplished of all medical researchers of antiquity, Galen influenced the development of various scientific disciplines, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic. The son of Aelius Nicon, a wealthy architect with scholarly interests, Galen received a comprehensive education that prepared him for a successful career as a physician and philosopher. Born in Pergamon (present-day Bergama, Turkey), Galen traveled extensively, exposing himself to a wide variety of medical theories and discoveries before settling in Rome, where he served prominent members of Roman society and eventually was given the position of personal physician to several emperors. Galen's understanding of anatomy and medicine was principally influenced by the then-current theory of humorism (also known as the four humors – black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm), as advanced by ancient Greek physicians such as Hippocrates. His theories dominated and influenced Western medical science for more than 1,300 years. His anatomical reports, based mainly on dissection of monkeys, especially the Barbary macaque, and pigs, remained uncontested until 1543, when printed descriptions and illustrations of human dissections were published in the seminal work De humani corporis fabrica by Andreas Vesalius where Galen's physiological theory was accommodated to these new observations. Galen's theory of the physiology of the circulatory system remained unchallenged until ca. 1242, when Ibn al-Nafis published his book Sharh tashrih al-qanun li’ Ibn Sina (Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon), in which he reported his discovery of the pulmonary circulation. Galen saw himself as both a physician and a philosopher, as he wrote in his treatise entitled That the Best Physician Is Also a Philosopher. Galen was very interested in the debate between the rationalist and empiricist medical sects, and his use of direct observation, dissection and vivisection represents a complex middle ground between the extremes of those two viewpoints. Many of his works have been preserved and/or translated from the original Greek, although many were destroyed and some credited to him are believed to be spurious. Although there is some debate over the date of his death, he was no younger than seventy when he died. In medieval Europe, Galen's writings on anatomy became the mainstay of the medieval physician's university curriculum, but because of the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West they suffered greatly from stasis and intellectual stagnation. However, in the Eastern Roman Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate they continued to be studied and followed. Some of Galen's ideas were incorrect: he did not dissect a human body. Greek and Roman taboos had meant that dissection was usually banned in ancient times, but in Middle Ages it changed: medical teachers and students at Bologna began to open human bodies, and Mondino de Luzzi (ca. 1275–1326) produced the ?rst known anatomy textbook based on human dissection. Galen's original Greek texts gained renewed prominence during the early modern period. In the 1530s, Belgian anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius took on a project to translate many of Galen's Greek texts into Latin. Vesalius's most famous work, De humani corporis fabrica, was greatly influenced by Galenic writing and form."
Roman Britain/Sarmatians Early Medieval Sources
- Legendary History of Britain by
Part I: The historia regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth -- Introductory: Sources and scholarship for Geoffrey's historia -- Geoffrey's British geography -- Continental geography -- Personages and their names -- Merlin -- Arthur -- Saints and churchmen -- Religion and the church -- Law -- Politics -- Imperialism -- Warfare -- Customs and manners -- Popular elements -- Geoffrey's historiography -- Geoffrey's racial sympathies -- The propecies of Merlin -- Geoffrey's motives in writing the historia -- The date of the historia -- Biographical -- Part II: Early vernacular versions of the historia -- Minor French versions -- Wace -- Lawman.
Call Number: DA140.G37 T3 1950ISBN: 0877521689Publication Date: 1975-02-01
- History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum) by
The History of the Britons is a purported history of the indigenous British people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century.
Publication Date: 2006
The History of the Kings of Britain (Historia regum Britanniae) by ISBN: 9781843832065Publication Date: 2007-11-15Written in the 1130s, Geoffrey's imaginative history of the Britons from Brutus to Cadwallader, and the first to recount the woes of Lear and the glittering career of Arthur, rapidly became a bestseller. An ideal text for scholars, this is a reprint of the Latin text with a facing English translation.
Welsh Sources
- William Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the Earliest Period tot he Reign of King Stephen by
A translation of Gesta regum Anglorum, and Historia novella, based on the English version of Rev. J. Sharpe.
Call Number: DA130 .W513 1968Publication Date: 1968
- Le Morte D’Arthur: King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table (Vol I) by Publication Date: 2009
- Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table (Vol II) by Publication Date: 2009
Samaritan/Samaritan Sources
- The History of Herodotus by Call Number: DA58 .H5 1928Publication Date: 1928Other (online) translations are also available at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2707/2707-h/2707-h.htm
http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.html - Hippocrates by Call Number: PA3612 .H65 1967Publication Date: 1967Volumes included are:
Volume I: Ancient Medicine. Airs, Waters, Places. Epidemics 1 and 3. The Oath. Precepts. Nutriment.
Volume II: Prognostic. Regimen in Acute Diseases. The Sacred Disease. The Art. Breaths. Law. Decorum. Physician (Ch. 1). Dentition.
Volume III: On Wounds in the Head. In the Surgery. On Fractures. On Joints. Mochlicon.
Volume IV: Nature of Man. Regimen in Health. Humours. Aphorisms. Regimen 1-3. Dreams.
Volume V: Affections. Diseases 1-2.
Volume VI: Diseases 3. Internal Affections. Regimen in Acute Diseases.
Volume VII: Epidemics 2 and 4-7.
Volume VIII: Places in Man. Glands. Fleshes. Prorrhetic 1-2. Physician. Use of Liquids. Ulcers. Haemorrhoids and Fistulas.
Volume IX: Anatomy. Nature of Bones. Heart. Eight Months' Child. Coan Prenotions. Crises. Critical Days. Superfetation. Girls. Excision of the Fetus. Sight.
Volume X: Generation. Nature of the Child. Diseases 4. Nature of Women. Barrenness.
Volume XI: Diseases of Women 1-2.
NOTE: Several online translations are available - search "Hippocrates" in the catalog for eBooks or visit - http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/index.html 
The Geography of Strabo by
*8 Volumes are included*
Strabo (ca. 64 BCE to ca. 25 CE), an Asiatic Greek of Amasia in Pontus, studied at Nysa and after 44 BCE at Rome. He became a keen traveller who saw a large part of Italy, various near eastern regions including the Black Sea, various parts of Asia Minor, Egypt as far as Ethiopia, and parts of Greece. He was a long time in Alexandria where he no doubt studied mathematics, astronomy, and history. Strabo's historical work is lost, but his most important Geography in seventeen books has survived. After two introductory books, numbers 3 and 4 deal with Spain and Gaul, 5 and 6 with Italy and Sicily, 7 with north and east Europe, 8-10 with Greek lands, 11-14 with the main regions of Asia and with Asia Minor, 15 with India and Iran, 16 with Assyria, Babylonia, Syria, and Arabia, 17 with Egypt and Africa. In outline he follows the great mathematical geographer Eratosthenes, but adds general descriptions of separate countries including physical, political, and historical details. A sequel to his historical memoirs, Geography is planned apparently for public servants rather than students--hence the accounts of physical features and of natural products. On the mathematical side it is an invaluable source of information about Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Posidonius. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Strabo is in eight volumes.
Call Number: PA3612 .S9 1969ISBN: 9780674992016Publication Date: 1924-01-01
Other
- The Annales Cambriae (Annals of Wales)The Annales Cambriae is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales.
- Nennius: Historia Brittonum, 8th CenturyNennius was an eighth-century historian who is a major source for tales of King Arthur. Unlike the much more careful Bede, Nennius was, as one modern historian writes "unrestrainedly inventive" [ Gerhard Herm, The Celts, [London, 1976], p. 275]. Not all of Nennius can be dismissed as he apparently had access to no-longer available 5th century sources, but neither can he be entirely trusted.
- Gildas (c.504 - 570): WorksMore info found here: http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/artgue/guesthoward.htm
- Vita Merlini (The Life of Merlin)By Geoffrey of Monmouth
Translated by John Jay Parry
The Letters of Napoleon to Josephine by
Napoleon was but a poor, insignificant army officer. Josephine was a widow. They met in a Paris ravaged by revolution and despairing of war. They fell in love and married. Their relationship became a legend. From those early days in Paris to the bitter divorce in 1809 the couple kept in touch through intimate letters. Napoleon's insatiable ambition took him from Italy to Egypt, from general to emperor, yet he and Josephine wrote frank, revealing letters to keep in touch. This collection of letters reveals much about the times through which Napoleon and Josephine prospered and about the forces which played upon a couple who rose at astonishing speed to the very height of prestige, power and success. This new edition has commentaries, a chronology and biographies of leading personalities. Here is their love, here are their squabbles. Napoleon and Josephine live on in the pages of this book.
ISBN: 9781905043026Publication Date: 2004-12-31- Napoleon on Napoleon: An Autobiography of the Emperor by
De Chair has edited, abridged, and retranslated (where necessary) Napoleon's Commentaries at St. Helena, Memoirs, and Supper at Beaucaire, arranging events in chronological order. The text is illustrated with 20 pages of color plates and numerous black & white reproductions. Distributed in the US by Sterling Publishing Co. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
ISBN: 9780304344550Publication Date: 1996-12-01
- Memoirs of the Empress Josephine: The Life of Josephine Bonaparte and the Story of the Rise of Napoleon by
Memoirs of the Empress Josephine in two volumes, is a biographical account of Madame de Rémusat, lady-in-waiting, of Josephine Bonaparte, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Madame de Rémusat, born Clair de Vergennes, lost her father and grandfather in Revolution. Her mother was friend with Josephine, and when Josephine became Empress, she took Clair with her to be her lady-in-waiting. Madame de Rémusat was with Josephine to the end. She followed her into retirement and then took up her pen to write of court affairs and prominent people. Her memoirs present a vivid portrait not only of Josephine and Napoleon, but of surrounding Court life, seen through her eyes. Also, the memoirs can be useful as a survey of the first years of the nineteenth century. They illustrate what changes the institution of the Empire caused at Court, and how the life continuously modified to reflect the shifting fortunes of its master. The figure of the Napoleon stands out even though he is presented unsympathetically, since the memoirist was loyal to her mistress in struggles against the Bonaparte family.
Call Number: eBookPublication Date: 1899
George III by
George III reigned for sixty years, from 1760 to 1820. The Government was his - he sacked five Prime Ministers; interfered endlessly; and was in part responsible for the loss of thirteen American colonies. The Whig leader, Charles James Fox, called him 'Satan'. Yet after the French Revolution George became a much-loved figure; a bastion against anarchy, terror and mob-rule; the father figure of the nation, who stood up to Napoleon. Never was 'God Save the King' sung with such fervour. The debate continues with Prince Charles and the pro-George lobby. This book presents all of George's complex character: as 'Farmer George' carrying pails around his farms and selling milk to eke out his finances; as a father let down by his sons, who became debauched womanisers, gamblers and spendthrifts, while his daughters became old maids because their mother refused to let them marry whom they wanted; as a cultural patron, founder of the Royal Academy of Arts; and as a sick man, suffering from recurrent attacks of madness. George ruled through the golden age of English caricature. He suffered at the hands of the genius of Gillray; the robustness of Rowlandson; and the skilful darts of Isaac Cruikshank. And there were others: the brilliant young artist, Richard Newton, who died from jail fever aged only twenty-one; and the vulgarian William Dent, who loved bare bottoms and farting. Caricaturists were the paparazzi of the day, capturing the celebrities - the King and Queen and the politicians. Here we can see George III as his contemporaries saw him. Kenneth Baker draws upon his own experience of high politics, as well as his personal collection of caricatures. He sets George's reign in the context of the dramatic international events: the American War of Independence; the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars; and he places all the big politicians of the time - Wilkes, Fox, William Pitt and Edmund Burke. Many of these amusing and irreverent images have not been published before and provide new insight into the story of one of the nation's most well known but least understood monarchs.
Call Number: DA506.A2 B35 2007ISBN: 9780500251409Publication Date: 2007-10-01- The Confidential Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte with his Brother Joseph by Call Number: online & DC213 .C74 Vol. 1 & Vol. 2Publication Date: 1856
Napoleon: on War by
This is the book on war that Napoleon never had the time or the will to complete. In exile on the island of Saint-Helena, the deposed Emperor of the French mused about a great treatise on the art of war, but in the end changed his mind and ordered the destruction of the materials he had collected for the volume. Thus was lost what would have been one of the most interesting and important books on the art of war ever written, by one of the most famous and successful military leaders of all time. In the two centuries since, several attempts have been made to gather together some of Napoleon's "military maxims", with varying degrees of success. But not until now has there been a systematic attempt to put Napoleon's thinking on war and strategy into a single authoritative volume, reflecting both the full spectrum of his thinking on these matters as well as the almost unparalleled range of his military experience, from heavy cavalry charges in the plains of Russia or Saxony to counter-insurgency operations in Egypt or Spain. To gather the material for this book, military historian Bruno Colson spent years researching Napoleon's correspondence and other writings, including a painstaking examination of perhaps the single most interesting source for his thinking about war: the copy-book of General Bertrand, the Emperor's most trusted companion on Saint-Helena, in which he unearthed a Napoleonic definition of strategy which is published here for the first time. The huge amount of material brought together for this ground-breaking volume has been carefully organized to follow the framework of Carl von Clausewitz's classic On War, allowing a fascinating comparison between Napoleon's ideas and those of his great Prussian interpreter and adversary, and highlighting the intriguing similarities between these two founders of modern strategic thinking.
Call Number: eBook & DC151 .N37 2015ISBN: 9780199685561Publication Date: 2015-07-22
- French Revolution Digital ArchivesContains collections such as Images de la Révolution française and Archives parlementaires - all digitized.
- Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité: Exploring the French RevollutionA site dedicated to primary sources from the French Revolution
Searching Napoleon returns a lot of results.
"Do you want to study the connections between media in a period of upheaval? Or look at how a set of documents, visual prints, or songs represents and even reshapes the political debates of the time? The materials you need can be found here to study the relationships between different media as well as those between the media and the events depicted."
"... this site includes 250 images, 350 text documents, 13 songs, 13 maps, a timeline, and a glossary as well as 12 topical essays." - Napoleonic SatiresCollection of satires, including print caricatures, digitized
"Considered with other forms of military memorabilia, satiric prints serve as a reminder that printed images were effectively used as a weapon of sorts. As such, satires made in Britain and continental Europe that depict Napoleon as a diminutive brat combat Napoleon's self-constructed imperial image as a powerful god-like ruler. Satires such as these participate in a broad conversation that spans genres to suggest that the official French images of Napoleon are no more authentic or permanent than the satiric image. To this day Napoleon's imperial image is popularly conflated with his satirical representation — namely his short stature, which is largely a satiric invention. - Euro Docs - France: 1789-1871Section on Napoleonic France Includes several links to Primary Source Sites.
Highlights include:
- Napoleonic Primary Sources
- Historical and Political Cartoons from the Napoleonic Era
- Prints from the Curzon Collection: Images of Napoleon and British Fears of Invasion
- The McGill University Napoleon Collection
- Napoleonic Caricatures
- The Napoleonic Guide
- Napoleon Period Collection
- English translation of Napoleon's Farewell to the Old Guard
- English translations of Napoleon's Correspondence
- English Translations of Legislation, Decrees, and Proclamations
- The Napoleonic Digital Library
- Eyewittness to History - Firsthand accounts of the Battle of Waterloo and Napoleon Exiled to St. Helena (English transcriptions)
... and more
- The Elegies of Tibullus by
See section - 3.16.3 – 4
Albius Tibullus was born around 55 BC. Little is known about his life. Later references to his life are often short and many are of a doubtful factual basis.His chief friend and patron was the orator, poet, statesman and commander Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, who is most noted for putting down a revolt in the Aquitaine, in modern day France. Tibullus may have fought for him or been part of his inner circle arounds that time.The only certain works that survive are his two poetry books although many others have been wrongly attributed to him. We have included Book 3 and part of Book 4 on this basis. Tibullus died prematurely, most probably in 19 BC and very shortly after the death of Virgil. His death was deeply felt in Rome and an Elegy written by Ovid pays due homage to this.
ISBN: 1803540133Publication Date: 1905
Anger, Mercy, Revenge by
NOTE See On Mercy, 1. 24. 1
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BCE 65 CE) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, dramatist, statesman, and adviser to the emperor Nero, all during the Silver Age of Latin literature. The Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca is a fresh and compelling series of new English-language translations of his works in eight accessible volumes. Edited by world-renowned classicists Elizabeth Asmis, Shadi Bartsch, and Martha C. Nussbaum, this engaging collection restores Seneca whose works have been highly praised by modern authors from Desiderius Erasmus to Ralph Waldo Emerson to his rightful place among the classical writers most widely studied in the humanities." Anger, Mercy, Revenge "comprises three key writings: the moral essays "On Anger" and "On Clemency" which were penned as advice for the then young emperor, Nero and the "Apocolocyntosis," a brilliant satire lampooning the end of the reign of Claudius. Friend and tutor, as well as philosopher, Seneca welcomed the age of Nero in tones alternately serious, poetic, and comic making "Anger, Mercy, Revenge" a work just as complicated, astute, and ambitious as its author."
Call Number: eBookISBN: 1282679295Publication Date: 2010-08-10
On Farming (De agricultura) by
Note: advises that slaves on farming estates be given a cloak and tunic every two years.
Cato's earliest surviving work of Latin literature, about the cultivation of vines, olives, fruit, and the management of slaves.
ISBN: 9780907325802Publication Date: 1998-08-10
See also the Wikipedia page for Clothing in Ancient Rome. Make sure to look at the References and Cited Sources pages.
- The Complete Greek Tragedies by
Volume one contains Agememnon.
Volume two contains plays by Sophocles.
Can also find these plays online.
Call Number: PA3626.A2 G67ISBN: 9780226307688Publication Date: 1959
Theogony ; Works and days ; Testimonia by
Hesiod describes himself as a Boeotian shepherd who heard the Muses call upon him to sing about the gods. His exact dates are unknown, but he has often been considered a younger contemporary of Homer. This volume of the new Loeb Classical Library edition offers a general introduction, a fluid translation facing an improved Greek text of Hesiod's two extant poems, and a generous selection of testimonia from a wide variety of ancient sources regarding Hesiod's life, works, and reception. In Theogony Hesiod charts the history of the divine world, narrating the origin of the universe and the rise of the gods, from first beginnings to the triumph of Zeus, and reporting on the progeny of Zeus and of goddesses in union with mortal men. In Works and Days Hesiod shifts his attention to the world of men, delivering moral precepts and practical advice regarding agriculture, navigation, and many other matters; along the way he gives us the myths of Pandora and of the Golden, Silver, and other Races of Men.
Call Number: PA4009 .A2 2006ISBN: 0674996224Publication Date: 2007-01-15
The shield ; Catalogue of women ; Other fragments by
The second volume contains The Shield and extant fragments of other poems, including the Catalogue of Women, that were attributed to Hesiod in antiquity. The former provides a Hesiodic counterpoint to the shield of Achilles in the Iliad; the latter presents several legendary episodes organized according to the genealogy of their heroes' mortal mothers. None of these is now thought to be by Hesiod himself, but all have considerable literary and historical interest. Glenn W. Most has thoroughly revised his edition to take account of the textual and interpretive scholarship that has appeared since its initial publication
ISBN: 9780674997202Publication Date: 2018-11-13
Metamorphoses by
Ovid's Metamorphoses is one of the most influential works of Western literature, inspiring artists and writers from Titian to Shakespeare to Salman Rushdie. These are some of the most famous Roman myths as you've never read them before--sensuous, dangerously witty, audacious--from the fall of Troy to birth of the minotaur, and many others that only appear in the Metamorphoses. Connected together by the immutable laws of change and metamorphosis, the myths tell the story of the world from its creation up to the transformation of Julius Caesar from man into god. In the ten-beat, unrhymed lines of this now-legendary and widely praised translation, Rolfe Humphries captures the spirit of Ovid's swift and conversational language, bringing the wit and sophistication of the Roman poet to modern readers. This special annotated edition includes new, comprehensive commentary and notes by Joseph D. Reed, Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature at Brown University.
Call Number: eBookISBN: 0253034493Publication Date: 2018-04-13
Greek Epic Fragments by
Take note of the Cypria in this work.
Greek epics of the archaic period include poems that narrate a particular heroic episode or series of episodes and poems that recount the long-term history of families or peoples. They are an important source of mythological record. Here is a new text and translation of the examples of this poetry that have come down to us. The heroic epic is represented by poems about Heracles and Theseus, and by two great epic cycles: the Theban Cycle, which tells of the failed assault on Thebes by the Seven and the subsequent successful assault by their sons; and the Trojan Cycle, which includes Cypria, Little Iliad, and The Sack of Ilion. Among the genealogical epics are poems in which Eumelus creates a prehistory for Corinth and Asius creates one for Samos. In presenting the extant fragments of these early epic poems, Martin West provides very helpful notes. His Introduction places the epics in historical context.
ISBN: 0674996054Publication Date: 2003-04-30
Classical Mythology (OLDER VERSION ON RESERVE AT FIRST FLOOR CIRC DESK) by
Building on the best-selling tradition of previous editions, Classical Mythology, Ninth Edition, is the most comprehensive survey of classical mythology available in one volume. Featuring the authors' extensive translations of original sources as well as their clear explanations andcommentary, the book brings to life the myths and legends of Greece and Rome in a lucid and engaging style. The text contains a wide variety of faithfully translated passages from Greek and Latin sources, including Homer, Hesiod, all the Homeric Hymns, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides,Herodotus, Plato, Lucian, Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid, and Seneca. In addition, it offers historical and cultural background on the myths, including evidence from art and archaeology, as well as ample interpretive material.Classical Mythology, Ninth Edition, is now full-color throughout, making the robust art program even more useful and attractive. The map program has also been revised and enhanced. Michael Sham, who wrote the study guide for past
ISBN: 9780195397703Publication Date: 2010-02-26
The Iliad by
One of the oldest extant works of Western literature, the Iliad is a timeless epic poem of great warriors trapped between their own heroic pride and the arbitrary, often vicious decisions of fate and the gods. Renowned scholar and acclaimed translator Peter Green captures the Iliad in all its surging thunder for a new generation of readers. Featuring an enticingly personal introduction, a detailed synopsis of each book, a wide-ranging glossary, and explanatory notes for the few puzzling in-text items, the book also includes a select bibliography for those who want to learn more about Homer and the Greek epic. This landmark translation--specifically designed, like the oral original, to be read aloud--will soon be required reading for every student of Greek antiquity, and the great traditions of history and literature to which it gave birth.
Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780520961326Publication Date: 2015-05-14
Thucydides by
This full-scale sequential reading of Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War will be invaluable to the specialist and also to those in search of an introduction and companion to the Histories. Moving beyond other studies by its focus on the reader's role in giving meaning to the text, it reveals Thucydides' use of objectivity not so much as a standard for the proper presentation of his subject matter as a method for communicating with his readers and involving them in the complexity and suffering of the Peloponnesian War. W. Robert Connor shows that as Thucydides' themes and ideas are reintroduced and developed, the initial reactions of the reader are challenged, subverted, and eventually made to contribute to a deeper understanding of the war.
Call Number: PA4461 .C58 1984ISBN: 0691102392Publication Date: 1987-10-21
Any Greek myths, and Greek tragedies that connect to the story are also part of Primary sources.
- Homer
- Greek Tragedies such as Agamemnon
- Greek Mythology
Archaeology
- In Search of the Trojan War by Call Number: DF221.T8 W66 1985ISBN: 9780816013555Publication Date: 1986-04-01The author reconstructs what is known about Troy and the Trojan War by studying the artifacts and weeding through the discoveries and theories of others.
- Troja : results of the latest researches and discoveries on the site of Homer's Troy by Call Number: DF221.T8 S35 1967Publication Date: 1884Narrative of the explorations at Troy and in the Troad in 1882 -- The first prehistoric settlement on the hill of Hissarlik -- The second city ; Troy proper ; the "Ilios" of the Homeric legend -- The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth settlements on the site of Troy -- The seventh city--the Greek and Roman Ilium -- The conical mounds, called heroic tumuli -- Other explorations in the Troad.
- Troy and its remains; a narrative of researches and discoveries made on the site of Ilium, and in the Trojan Plain. by
Troy, with its 4,000 years of history, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. The first excavations at the site were undertaken by the famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1870. In scientific terms, its extensive remains are the most significant demonstration of the first contact between the civilizations of Anatolia and the Mediterranean world. Moreover, the siege of Troy by Spartan and Achaean warriors from Greece in the 13th or 12th century B.C., immortalized by Homer in the Iliad, has inspired great creative artists throughout the world ever since
Call Number: DF221.T8 S25 1976Publication Date: 1976
- Mycenae : a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenae and Tiryns by
Excavations at Tiryns -- Topography of Mycenæ. Gate of the lions and treasury of Atreus -- History of Mycenæ and the family of Pelops. The sepulchres of Agamemnon and his companions -- Excavations in the Citadel of Myceanæ -- Excavations in and near the Acropolis. The Lions' Gate and the Agora -- The second great treasury; Acropolis; and Cyclopean remains in the neighbourhood of Mycenæ -- The first, second, and third tombs in the Acropolis -- The fourth tomb in the Acropolis of Mycenæ -- The fifth sepulchre, and the first again -- Connection of the five tombs with the royal house of Pelops; and date of the Agora -- Treasure of the tomb south of the Agora.
Call Number: DF221.M9 S35 1967Publication Date: 1967
Look at:
- Heinrich Schiemann
- Micahel Wood
- Information on the archeology of:
- Mycenae
- The late Bronze Age
Other
- The Greek Dramatistis: Aeschylus, Sophocles and EuripidesThe short-lived democratic system of Ancient Greece gave way to three major dramatists: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. This film examines the dramatist culture of Ancient Greece, the role its government played, and the freedom of speech delivered onstage; a brief overview of Greece’s early political history is given. The evolution of theater and drama were forever changed by the three tragedians studied. Listen to readings from each of the playwrights’ work.
