Understanding Ancient Rome with Lacus Curtius
If you’re a student of understanding Ancient Rome, and you don’t knowLacusCurtius, you’re playing in hard mode. There is probably no better resource to help you get a real feel for ancient Italy, and certainly no better website to inspire the joy of discovery. They don’t make websites like this anymore (even though as far as I can tell, the owner is still active here). It truly is a ktema es aiei.
Who it's For:
Everyone! It can be dense to navigate, so I wouldn’t count it among the most “user friendly” sites, but it is still straightforward enough for anyone.
Cost:
Just the cost of internet access!
In Detail:
Understanding Ancient Rome Through Literature
Source texts are vital to understanding the Roman Republicand Empire. They don’t give us a full picture — they never can — but a wide enough variety of Latinand Greek can give us a good start.
This page is dedicated to Ancient Rome, so the literatureis focused on that period, whether it’s Latinor Greek or in translation. There’s also a collection of Latininscriptions, which provide greater flavor into daily life.
Understanding Ancient Rome Through Scholarship
There’s also a collection of older scholarship — older, but vital.
We are fortunate that for the study of antiquity, old scholarship doesn’t mean bad scholarship. We get new evidence, new insights, but a lot of the core knowledge about antiquity came through diligent documentation. LacusCurtius is, in many ways, the digital version and the digital successor to this mindset. As such, it contains secondary sources that still help the student of antiquity some 100 years after they were written.
Understanding Ancient Rome on a Personal Level
In some ways, the value and charm of LacusCurtius is simply the thorough job done by Bill Thayer. He has taken the time to be a model for historians. He’s proofread thousands of pages in countless languages. He collaborates with other resources. He marks who (if anyone) holds the copyright for easy viewing.
The webpage feels outdated in terms of style and user interface, but that doesn’t diminish its value at all.
Best website.
Rating:
This website gets a Trajan/Trajan.