5 Classics and Religious Studies
Classical Studies (CLA)
HIS 103: Ancient World History to 1300 C.E.∗
Meshack Owino, Shelley Rose, and Kelly L. Wrenhaven (Cleveland State University)
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This textbook is divided into three sections: Africa, Asia & Americas, and Europe. It explores the history of the world from pre-historic times to 1300 C.E., paying specific attention to the interconnections (or disconnections) between peoples and regions. Students are encouraged to think beyond their experiences with western civilizations to recognize the widespread impact of historical events and trends, including how they helped shape the world today. Touching upon each world region, the readings investigate the impact of environment, economics, politics, and religion on diverse societies. Key topics are sites of change and integration such as the rise of cities, religion, technology, migration and trade, the spread of disease, gender relationships, warfare and social movements.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, and MOBI
Suggested for:
CLA 3110 Topics in Ancient History I
CLA 4150 Ancient History Seminar
Greek and Latin Roots: Part I – Latin 
Peter Smith (University of Victoria)
2016
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Greek and Latin Roots: Part I – Latin is part one of a two-part series. This series examines the systematic principles by which a large portion of English vocabulary has evolved from Latin and (to a lesser degree) from Greek. This book focuses on Latin roots. A link to the second part focusing on the Greek roots can be found below. Part I will try to impart some skill in the recognition and proper use of words derived from Latin. There is a stress on principles: although students will be continually looking at interesting individual words, their constant aim will be to discover predictable general patterns of historical development, so that they may be able to cope with new and unfamiliar words of any type that they have studied. They will be shown how to approach the problem by a procedure known as “word analysis,” which is roughly comparable to the dissection of an interesting specimen in the biology laboratory. The text assumes no previous knowledge of Latin and does not involve the grammatical study of this language—except for a few basic features of noun and verb formation that will help students to understand the Latin legacy in English. Although there will be some attention paid to the historical interaction of Latin with English, this text is definitely not a systematic history of the English language. It focuses on only those elements within English that have been directly or indirectly affected by this classical language. In order to provide the broadest possible service to students, the text emphasizes standard English vocabulary in current use. The more exotic technical vocabulary of science and medicine can be extremely interesting but is explored in only summary fashion. Nevertheless, this text should be of considerable value, say, to a would-be botanist or medical doctor, if only by providing the foundation for further specialized enquiry.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Includes: Exercises, key to exercises, and summary of vocabulary tables
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 2170 Greek and Latin Roots of Medical Terminology
Greek and Latin Roots: Part II – Greek
Peter Smith (University of Victoria)
2016
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Greek and Latin Roots: Part II – Greek is part two of a two-part series. This series examines the systematic principles by which a large portion of English vocabulary has evolved from Latin and (to a lesser degree) from Greek. This book focuses on Greek roots. A link to the first part focusing on the Latin roots can be found below. Part II will try to impart some skill in the recognition and proper use of words derived from Greek. There is a stress on principles: although students will be continually looking at interesting individual words, their constant aim will be to discover predictable general patterns of historical development, so that they may be able to cope with new and unfamiliar words of any type that they have studied. They will be shown how to approach the problem by a procedure known as “word analysis,” which is roughly comparable to the dissection of an interesting specimen in the biology laboratory. The text assumes no previous knowledge of Greek, and does not involve the grammatical study of this language—except for a few basic features of noun and verb formation that will help students to understand the Greek legacy in English. All students will be asked to learn the Greek alphabet. This skill is not absolutely essential for a general knowledge of Greek roots in English. However, it will help students understand a number of otherwise puzzling features of spelling and usage. Although there will be some attention paid to the historical interaction of Greek with English, this text is definitely not a systematic history of the English language. It focuses on only those elements within English that have been directly or indirectly affected by this classical language. In order to provide the broadest possible service to students, the text emphasizes standard English vocabulary in current use. The more exotic technical vocabulary of science and medicine can be extremely interesting but is explored in only summary fashion. Nevertheless, this text should be of considerable value, say, to a would-be botanist or medical doctor, if only by providing the foundation for further specialized enquiry.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Includes: Exercises, key to exercises, and summary of vocabulary tables
Suggested for:
CLA 2170 Greek and Latin Roots of Medical Terminology
Guide to Ancient Greek Art
Ruth Ezra, Beth Harris, and Steven Zucker (Smarthistory)
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This book contains all of Smarthistory’s content for Ancient Greek art.
Format: PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 2120 Greek Art
Guide to Ancient Roman Art
Ruth Ezra, Beth Harris, and Steven Zucker (Smarthistory)
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This book contains all of Smarthistory’s content for Ancient Roman art.
Format: PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 2121 Roman Art
Mythology Unbound: An Online Textbook for Classical Mythology∗
Jessica Mellenthin and Susan O. Shapiro (Utah State University)
2017
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This Greek mythology text covers introductory concepts in classical mythology, from Apollo to Zeus.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, and MOBI
Includes: Maps and illustrations
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 1101 Greek Civilization [as a reference text]
CLA 2323 Greek Mythology
The Roman Empire: Roots of Imperialism∗
Neville Morley (University of Bristol)
2010
Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Note: assigning sections is permitted, but adaptations are not allowed without permission)
A millennium and a half after the end of the period of its unquestioned dominance, Rome remains a significant presence in western culture. This book explores what the empire meant to its subjects. The idea of Rome has long outlived the physical empire that gave it form, and now holds sway over vastly more people and a far greater geographical area than the Romans ever ruled. It continues to shape our understanding of the nature of imperialism, and thus, however subtly, to influence the workings of the world. Unlike most works on Roman history, this book does not offer a simplistic narrative, with military triumph followed by decline and fall. Instead, it analyses the origins and nature of Roman imperialism, its economic, social, and cultural impact on the regions it conquered, and its continuing influence in discussions and debates about modern imperialism. This book is perfect for students of classics and ancient history who want to see another side of the Roman empire. (Description from publisher Pluto Press)
Formats: Read online and PDF
Includes: Timeline
Suggested for:
CLA 1102 Roman Civilization
Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach∗
Michael Lipka (University of Patras)
2009
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
Drawing exclusively on the evidence from urban Rome up to the age of Constantine, the book analyzes the pagan, Jewish, and Christian concepts of “god” along the lines of space, time, personnel, function, iconography, and ritual.
Format: PDF
Suggested for:
CLA 1102 Roman Civilization
Western Civilization∗
Lumen Learning
2014
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
This peer-reviewed, open Lumen Learning course covers introductory concepts in western civilization, from the Hittites to the Protestant Reformation.
Formats: Website
Includes: Learning objectives, key points and terms at the beginning of each section
Suggested for:
CLA 1101 Greek Civilization
CLA 1102 Roman Civilization
Western Civilization: A Concise History – Volume 1∗
Christopher Brooks (Portland Community College)
Last updated: February 2020 (2nd edition)
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Volume 1 covers introductory concepts in western civilization, from Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome.
Formats: Google doc (can be saved as a PDF)
Includes: Maps and illustrations
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 1101 Greek Civilization
CLA 1102 Roman Civilization
Classics (LCL)
Beginners Intensive Latin, Volume 1
Claude Eilers (McMaster University)
2022
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Textbook for Beginners Latin.
Format: PDF
Suggested for:
LCL 1101 Latin I
Cicero, Against Verres, 2.1.53-86. Latin Text with Introduction, Study Questions, Commentary, and English Translation
Ingo Gildenhard (Cambridge University)
2011
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Looting, despoiling temples, attempted rape, and judicial murder: these are just some of the themes of this classic piece of writing by one of the world’s greatest orators. This particular passage is from the second book of Cicero’s Speeches against Verres, who was a former Roman magistrate on trial for serious misconduct. Cicero presents the lurid details of Verres’ alleged crimes in exquisite and sophisticated prose.
This volume provides a portion of the original text of Cicero’s speech in Latin, a detailed commentary, study aids, and a translation. As a literary artifact, the speech gives us insight into how the supreme master of Latin eloquence developed what we would now call rhetorical “spin”. As a historical document, it provides a window into the dark underbelly of Rome’s imperial expansion and exploitation of the Near East.
Ingo Gildenhard’s illuminating commentary on this A-Level set text will be of particular interest to students of Latin at both high school and undergraduate level. It will also be a valuable resource to Latin teachers and to anyone interested in Cicero, language and rhetoric, and the legal culture of Ancient Rome.
Formats: Online and PDF
Suggested for:
CLA 4100 Latin Authors
Cicero, On Pompey’s Command (De Imperio), 27-49. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, Commentary, and Translation
Ingo Gildenhard (Cambridge University) and Louise Hodgson (Durham University)
2014
Licence: CC BY 4.0
In republican times, one of Rome’s deadliest enemies was King Mithridates of Pontus. In 66 BCE, after decades of inconclusive struggle, the tribune Manilius proposed a bill that would give supreme command in the war against Mithridates to Pompey the Great, who had just swept the Mediterranean clean of another menace: the pirates. While powerful aristocrats objected to the proposal, which would endow Pompey with unprecedented powers, the bill proved hugely popular among the people, and one of the praetors, Marcus Tullius Cicero, also hastened to lend it his support. In his first ever political speech, variously entitled pro lege Manilia or de imperio Gnaei Pompei, Cicero argues that the war against Mithridates requires the appointment of a perfect general and that the only man to live up to such lofty standards is Pompey. In the section under consideration here, Cicero defines the most important hallmarks of the ideal military commander and tries to demonstrate that Pompey is his living embodiment.
This course book offers a portion of the original Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and a commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, the incisive commentary will be of particular interest to students of Latin at both AS and undergraduate levels. It extends beyond detailed linguistic analysis and historical background to encourage critical engagement with Cicero’s prose and discussion of the most recent scholarly thought.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 4100 Latin Authors
Cornelius Nepos, ‘Life of Hannibal’: Latin Text, Notes, Maps, Illustrations and Vocabulary
Bret Mulligan (Haverford College)
2015
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Trebia. Trasimene. Cannae. With three stunning victories, Hannibal humbled Rome and nearly shattered its empire. Even today Hannibal’s brilliant, if ultimately unsuccessful, campaign against Rome during the Second Punic War (218-202 BC) make him one of history’s most celebrated military leaders. This biography by Cornelius Nepos (c. 100-27 BC) sketches Hannibal’s life from the time he began traveling with his father’s army as a young boy, through his sixteen-year invasion of Italy and his tumultuous political career in Carthage, to his perilous exile and eventual suicide in the East.
As Rome completed its bloody transition from dysfunctional republic to stable monarchy, Nepos labored to complete an innovative and influential collection of concise biographies. Putting aside the detailed, chronological accounts of military campaigns and political machinations that characterized most writing about history, Nepos surveyed Roman and Greek history for distinguished men who excelled in a range of prestigious occupations. In the exploits and achievements of these illustrious men, Nepos hoped that his readers would find models for the honorable conduct of their own lives. Although most of Nepos’ works have been lost, we are fortunate to have his biography of Hannibal. Nepos offers a surprisingly balanced portrayal of a man that most Roman authors vilified as the most monstrous foe that Rome had ever faced. Nepos’ straightforward style and his preference for common vocabulary make Life of Hannibal accessible for those who are just beginning to read continuous Latin prose, while the historical interest of the subject makes it compelling for readers of every ability.
This book contains embedded audio files of the original text read aloud by Christopher Francese.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 4100 Latin Authors
Elementary New Testament Greek
Joseph R. Dongell (Asbury Theological Seminary)
2014
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
The first 12 chapters of this grammar are designed to correspond to the first semester’s instructional agenda. In these chapters we introduce all the parts of speech, explain and drill the basic elements of grammar, set forth the larger verb system (excluding the perfect system), teach the tenses of the Indicative Mood only (again, excluding the perfect system), and help students build a vocabulary of all NT words occurring 100 times or more. We also lead students into the NT itself with carefully chosen examples, while at the same time guiding them in each lesson to learn the use of the standard NT lexicon [BDAG] and an exegetical grammar [Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics]. We are well aware of the limitations of this approach, but genuinely believe that some instruction along these lines is better than none, and that such an approach provide a foundation for students interested in moving beyond the first semester (into chapters 13-24) into a firmer grasp of the language of the NT.
Formats: PDF, EPUB, and MOBI
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
LCL 2151 Ancient Greek I
Intermediate Biblical Greek Reader: Galatians and Related Texts
Nijay K. Gupta and Jonah M. Sandford (Portland Seminary of George Fox University)
2018
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
After completing basic biblical Greek, students are often eager to continue to learn and strengthen their skills of translation and interpretation. This intermediate graded reader is designed to meet those needs. The reader is “intermediate” in the sense that it presumes the user will have already learned the basics of Greek grammar and syntax and has memorized Greek vocabulary words that appear frequently in the New Testament. The reader is “graded” in the sense that it moves from simpler translation work (Galatians) towards more advanced readings from the book of James, the Septuagint, and from one of the Church Fathers. In each reading lesson, the Greek text is given, followed by supplemental notes that offer help with vocabulary, challenging word forms, and syntax. Discussion questions are also included to foster group conversation and engagement. There are many good Greek readers in existence, but this reader differs from most others in a few important ways. Most readers offer text selections from different parts of the Bible, but in this reader, the user works through one entire book (Galatians). All subsequent lessons, then, build off of this interaction with Galatians through short readings that are in some way related to Galatians. The Septuagint passages in the reader offer some broader context for texts that Paul quotes explicitly from the Septuagint. The Patristic reading from John Chrysystom comes from one of his homilies on Galatians. This approach to a Greek reader allows for both variety and coherence in the learning process.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, PDF, EPUB, and MOBI
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
LCL 2152 Ancient Greek II
Ovid, Amores (Book 1)
William Turpin (Vassar College)
2016
Licence: CC BY 4.0
From Catullus to Horace, the tradition of Latin erotic poetry produced works of literature that are still read throughout the world. Ovid’s Amores, written in the first century BC, is arguably the best-known and most popular collection in this tradition.
The Amores were originally published in five books, but reissued around 1 AD in their current three-book form. This edition of the first book of the collection contains the complete Latin text of Book 1, along with commentary, notes, and full vocabulary. Both entertaining and thought-provoking, this book will provide an invaluable aid to students of Latin and general readers alike.
This book contains embedded audio files of the original text read aloud by Aleksandra Szypowska.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 4100 Latin Authors
Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3.511-733. Latin Text with Commentary
Ingo Gildenhard (Cambridge University) and Andrew Zissos (University of California, Irvine)
2016
Licence: CC BY 4.0
This extract from Ovid’s ‘Theban History’ recounts the confrontation of Pentheus, king of Thebes, with his divine cousin, Bacchus, the god of wine. Notwithstanding the warnings of the seer Tiresias and the cautionary tale of a character Acoetes (perhaps Bacchus in disguise), who tells of how the god once transformed a group of blasphemous sailors into dolphins, Pentheus refuses to acknowledge the divinity of Bacchus or allow his worship at Thebes. Enraged, yet curious to witness the orgiastic rites of the nascent cult, Pentheus conceals himself in a grove on Mt. Cithaeron near the locus of the ceremonies. But in the course of the rites, he is spotted by the female participants who rush upon him in a delusional frenzy, his mother and sisters in the vanguard and tear him limb from limb.
The episode abounds in themes of abiding interest, not least the clash between the authoritarian personality of Pentheus, who embodies ‘law and order’, masculine prowess, and the martial ethos of his city, and Bacchus, a somewhat effeminate god of orgiastic excess, who revels in the delusional and the deceptive, the transgression of boundaries, and the blurring of gender distinctions.
This course book offers a wide-ranging introduction, the original Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and an extensive commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, Gildenhard and Zissos’s incisive commentary will be of particular interest to students of Latin at AS and undergraduate level. It extends beyond detailed linguistic analysis to encourage critical engagement with Ovid’s poetry and discussion of the most recent scholarly thought.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 4100 Latin Authors
Tacitus, Annals, 15.20-23, 33-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary
Mathew Owen (Caterham School) and Ingo Gildenhard (Cambridge University)
2013
Licence: CC BY 4.0
The emperor Nero is etched into the Western imagination as one of ancient Rome’s most infamous villains, and Tacitus’ Annals have played a central role in shaping the mainstream historiographical understanding of this flamboyant autocrat.
This section of the text plunges us straight into the moral cesspool that Rome had apparently become in the later years of Nero’s reign, chronicling the emperor’s fledgling stage career including his plans for a grand tour of Greece; his participation in a city-wide orgy climaxing in his publicly consummated ‘marriage’ to his toy boy Pythagoras; the great fire of AD 64, during which large parts of central Rome went up in flames; and the rising of Nero’s ‘grotesque’ new palace, the so-called ‘Golden House’, from the ashes of the city.
This building project stoked the rumours that the emperor himself was behind the conflagration, and Tacitus goes on to present us with Nero’s gruesome efforts to quell these mutterings by scapegoating and executing members of an unpopular new cult then starting to spread through the Roman empire: Christianity.
All this contrasts starkly with four chapters focusing on one of Nero’s most principled opponents, the Stoic senator Thrasea Paetus, an audacious figure of moral fibre, who courageously refuses to bend to the forces of imperial corruption and hypocrisy.
This course book offers a portion of the original Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and a commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, Owen’s and Gildenhard’s incisive commentary will be of particular interest to students of Latin at both A2 and undergraduate levels. It extends beyond detailed linguistic analysis and historical background to encourage critical engagement with Tacitus’ prose and discussion of the most recent scholarly thought.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 4100 Latin Authors
Virgil, Aeneid, 4.1-299. Latin Text, Study Questions, Commentary and Interpretative Essays
Ingo Gildenhard (Cambridge University)
2012
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Love and tragedy dominate book four of Virgil’s most powerful work, building on the violent emotions invoked by the storms, battles, warring gods, and monster-plagued wanderings of the epic’s opening.
Destined to be the founder of Roman culture, Aeneas, nudged by the gods, decides to leave his beloved Dido, causing her suicide in pursuit of his historical destiny. A dark plot, in which erotic passion culminates in sex, and sex leads to tragedy and death in the human realm, unfolds within the larger horizon of a supernatural sphere, dominated by power-conscious divinities. Dido is Aeneas’s most significant other, and in their encounter, Virgil explores timeless themes of love and loyalty, fate and fortune, the justice of the gods, imperial ambition and its victims, and ethnic differences.
This course book offers a portion of the original Latin text, study questions, a commentary, and interpretative essays. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, Ingo Gildenhard’s incisive commentary will be of particular interest to students of Latin at both A2 and undergraduate levels. It extends beyond detailed linguistic analysis to encourage critical engagement with Virgil’s poetry and discussion of the most recent scholarly thought.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
CLA 4100 Latin Authors
Religious Studies (SRS)
HIS 337: Greek Gods, Heroes, and Worship∗
Kelly L. Wrenhaven (Cleveland State University)
2021
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This book examines ancient Greek religion and considers its role in the contexts of Greek culture and thought. Literary and material sources, such as epic, poetry, architecture, sculpture, and vase painting will be examined in order to establish the nature and function of religion in Greek society. Topics include the gods/goddesses, heroes, cult, magic, curses, initiation rites, athletic competition, local mythic traditions, religious festivals, oracles, and healing sanctuaries. (Note: many links lead to institution-specific resources that are not open)
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, and MOBI
Suggested for:
SRS 3333 Religions of the Graeco-Roman World
Six Ways of Being Religious: A Framework for Comparative Studies of Religion
Dale Cannon (Western Oregon University)
1996 (rights reversion to author 2017)
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
The book proposes the hypothesis that six generic ways of being religious may be found in any large-scale religious tradition such as Christianity or Buddhism or Islam or Hinduism: sacred rite, right action, devotion, shamanic mediation, mystical quest, and reasoned inquiry. These are recurrent ways in which, socially and individually, devout members of these traditions take up and appropriate their stories and symbols in order to draw near to, and come into right relationship with, what the traditions attest to be the ultimate reality.
Format: PDF
Includes: Chapter summaries, study questions, and glossary
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
SRS 1112 The Religions of the World I
SRS 2113 The Religions of the World II
Studying the Bible: The Tanakh and Early Christian Writings
Gregory Eiselein, Anna Goins, and Naomi J. Wood (Kansas State University)
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
Studying the Bible: The Tanakh and Early Christian Writings is a university-level, textbook introduction to the study of the Bible, its literary forms, and historical and cultural contexts. This textbook examines the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Tanakh) and the early Christian writings of the New Testament. It is an introduction to the analysis of biblical texts, their histories, and their interpretations. The emphasis throughout this textbook is on the literary qualities of these biblical texts as well as their cultural and historical contexts.
Format: PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
SRS 2170 The World of the Hebrew Bible
World Mythology: Myth, Metaphor, and Mystery∗
Andrew Gurevich (Mt. Hood Community College)
2021
Licence: CC BY 4.0
A deep exploration of the fundamental symbols, ceremonies, rituals, and transformative narratives of the world’s great wisdom traditions and mythological systems. With special attention paid to their relevance to the modern world.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, and MOBI
Suggested for:
SRS 2351 Psychology of Religion
SRS 3140 Religion, Art and Mythology
World Mythology, Volume 1: Gods and Creation∗
Edited by Jared Aragona (Scottsdale Community College)
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Covers Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Egypt, West Africa, Greece, China, Japan, Northern Europe, British Isles, South America, Mesoamerica, and North America.
Format: Pressbooks webbook
Suggested for:
SRS 3140 Religion, Art and Mythology
World Mythology, Volume 2: Heroic Mythology∗
Jared Aragona (Scottsdale Community College)
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Covers Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Africa, China, Japan, Greece, Rome, Northern Europe, and North America.
Format: Pressbooks webbook
Suggested for:
SRS 3140 Religion, Art and Mythology
