HISTORY 301.003 CONSTRUCTING IDENTITY: ETHNICITY, GENDER AND RELIGION IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
Prof. GADDIS
HELPFUL INTERNET RESOURCES
Translated primary sources online:
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Probably the best single site for primary sources in translation; a staggeringly large assortment. Be sure to check out separate sections for Ancient History, Jewish History, Byzantine Studies, Women’s History, etc. In addition to primary texts, also includes helpful essays on critical techniques, methodology, research tools. Spend a good few hours exploring this one! Many of the other sites listed below also cover Christian material well, but this one (esp. the Ancient section) is probably the best place to find pagan and/or secular stuff from the late Roman period.
Perseus Project: Excellent general site for Classics/Ancient History (though not quite as good for late antique/early Christian). Translated texts of Greek and Latin authors. Huge library of images: art, buildings, archaeological site plans, coins, etc.
Fathers of the Church: all 38 volumes of the massive Ante-Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series. Translations from Christian authors from the first to the sixth centuries, both Latin and Greek. NB: Almost all of the online texts assigned on the syllabus can be found here. Texts arranged preserving the order of the original print volumes. Footnotes hyperlinked; much easier to navigate and to find particular sections within a large text. Particular texts may be read online or downloaded as .txt, .zip or .pdf files. Alternate location: same texts, arranged alphabetically. Not as well formatted.
St. Pachomius Library: many early Christian, Byzantine and Greek Orthodox texts; an especially good selection of saints’ lives. Thoughtfully provides warning labels on texts considered "heretical."
Noncanonical Homepage: Apocryphal texts, both Old and New Testament; Nag Hammadi/Gnostic texts; some church fathers.
Gnostic Society Library: A bit New-Agey, but a good source for original Gnostic, Nag Hammadi, Apocrypha, Manichaean texts.
Miscellaneous:
Fayum Portraits: Site devoted to those haunting faces from Roman Egypt. Hundreds of pictures in low- and high-res, with explanation and commentary.
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An online encyclopedia of Roman and Byzantine emperors (search chronologically or alphabetically), with links to maps, portraits and coins, family trees, short biographies, up-to-date bibliography. Currently has excellent coverage for the fourth and fifth centuries, a bit spotty for second and third centuries.
Diotima: Best place to look for materials relating to women and gender in the ancient world. Primary sources, images, course syllabi, bibliographies, links.
Duke Papyrus Archive: See what papyri documents actually look like, scanned in hi-res. Thousands of them archived, and searchable by period, genre, language, etc; much bibliography. Unfortunately, few translations available online.