Classics
Lectures/Events/Shows
TV:
Digging for Britain - currently available on iPlayer though may be disappearing soon!
QI: on various platforms. Not strictly "Classics" but frequently references Classical authors and the ancient world.
Exhibitions:
Luxury and Power, Persia to Greece - currently on at the British Museum (until August 13th 2023)
Theatre:
Hadestown, a musical about the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is coming to London from Broadway.
Midsummer Night's Dream, and Macbeth are both coming to the Globe this summer: neither are "Classics" but Shakespeare stuffs all his plays full of Classical references.
Books (fiction)
These books are recommendations only; parental discretion is advised.
This list is by no means exhaustive!
Fiction based on or inspired by Greek and Roman history and mythology, in no particular order:
KS3
Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, Rick Riordan
The Heroes of Olympus series, Rick Riordan
The Trials of Apollo series, Rick Riordan
Many more books by Rick Riordan
The Roman Mysteries series, Caroline Lawrence
Myth-O-Mania series, Kate McMullan
Goddess Girls series, Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams:
The Olympians series of graphic novels, George O’Connor
The Mythic Misadventure series, Caroline Hennesy
Special mention: The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett is not directly related to the Greco-Roman world, but has a wide range of themes and references which are related to the Roman world.
KS4 and above
The Silver Pigs, Lindsey Davis (the first in a series)
Roman Blood, Steven Saylor (the first in a series)
The Mythos series, Stephen Fry
Girl Meets Boy, Ali Smith
Circe, Madeline Miller
The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker
Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes
The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood
Ariadne, Jennifer Saint
An Orchestra of Minorities, Chigozie Obioma
A Thousand Ships, Natalie Haynes
Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
House of Names, Colm Toibin
Autobiography of Red, Anne Carson
Ulysses, James Joyce
The Secret History, Donna Tartt - Mr Risdon’s recommendation
The Maidens, Alex Michaelides
The Giant Dark, Sarvat Hasin
I, Claudius, Robert Graves
Books/Articles (non-fiction)
One of the best ways of discovering about Classics is to read Omnibus, the journal produced twice a year by the Joint Association of Classical Teachers specially for sixth-formers. Every issue contains a dozen or so short articles on aspects of Classics, written by those who teach in universities. It costs only £3 and both the current number and back-numbers are available from https://classicalassociation.org/publications/omnibus/ We also have a fairly large collection in the office, available for students to borrow on request.
There are countless books on the ancient world out there. We've selected a few, largely based on recommendations from the Classics department websites of Oxford and Cambridge Univerities:
SPQR. A History of Ancient Rome, Mary Beard, (2015)
Women and Power, Mary Beard (2018)
From the Gracchi to Nero: a history of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68., H. H. Scullard, (this has been published in many editions: the latest is by Routledge, 1998)
O. Murray, Early Greece (Fontana, 2nd ed. 1993)
Democracy and Classical Greece, J.K. Davies, (Fontana, 2nd ed. 1993)
Rubicon, Tom Holland
Persian Fire, Tom Holland
Pax, Tom Holland
Homer, R. B. Rutherford, (Greece & Rome New Surveys in the Classics, Oxford, 2nd Ed. 2013)
Homer on Life and Death, J. Griffin, (Oxford, 1980)
Homeric Soundings, O. Taplin, (Oxford, 1992)
The Cambridge Companion to Homer, R. Fowler, ed. (Cambridge, 2004)
Homer: the Iliad, W, Allan (Bristol, 2012)
Virgil, P. R. Hardie, (Greece & Rome New Surveys in the Classics, Oxford, 1998)
An Introduction to Virgil’s Aeneid, W. A. Camps, (paperback, Oxford 1969)
Further Voices in Vergil’s Aeneid, R. O. A. M. Lyne, (paperback, Oxford 1992)
The Cambridge Companion to Virgil, C. Martindale, ed. (Cambridge, 1997).
The Oxford History of the Ancient World, J. Boardman, J. Griffin and O. Murray (editors), (Oxford 1986; a paperback version has subsequently been published in two volumes, Greek and Roman).
Books (originals in translation)
The following are probably aimed at more advanced readers. There are many different translations available, and new ones coming out all the time: have a browse in a bookshop, or preview online, and pick your favourite.
Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War (especially books 1–2) – Thucydides’ reflections on the problems of discovering what happened and working out why it happened have been immensely influential.
Plato Republic – an extraordinary work which makes clear the links between political actions, moral judgements and what it is to know something.
Tacitus Annals (especially books 1–4): a gripping analysis of the problems for an absolute ruler in securing elite and popular support to run an empire.
Plato, Symposium
Herodotus, The Histories
Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars
Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
Ovid, Metamorphoses
Homer, Odyssey
Homer, Iliad
Virgil, Aeneid
Documentaries / Films
Please check age rating and content warnings before viewing!
Again, in no particular order:
Gladiator (2000)
Gladiator 2 (2024 - coming soon!)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Spartacus (1960)
Ben Hur (1969)
The Eagle (2011)
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Clash of the Titans (2012)
Chi-Raq (2015)
Hercules (1997)
I, Claudius (1976)
Podcasts/YouTube channels
Just a few. If you stumble across any do let us know and we'll add them to the list! Parental discrection advised.
Podcasts:
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, Natalie Haynes
History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor
In Our Time, Melvyn Bragg
The Classics Podcast, The Classical Association
Reimagining Ancient Greece and Rome, Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama
No Such Thing as a Fish - From the writers of QI. Not strictly "Classics" but frequently references Classical authors and the ancient world!
You’re Dead to Me (BBC Sounds)
Roman Empire (docudrama) - currently on Netflix
YouTube (many of these are not limited to Classics, and may need parental discrection.)
Websites
https://antigonejournal.com/ - A new (2021) online Classics journal
https://www.theguardian.com/education/classics - Classics in Education
http://ephemeris.alcuinus.net/ - The news, in Latin!
Oxford - Good for keeping up to date with Classics-related TV and Radio shows
The Cambridge Latin Course - ecce! Caecilius!
The Ancient History Encyclopedia contains a wealth of regularly updated and absurdly interesting news stories.
Ultimate History - Scroll down for various ancient history links.
Museums
The National Gallery - There are plenty of paintings (especially renaissance) inspired by classical mythology (especially the tales of Ovid)