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Harvard

This guide introduces the Harvard referencing style and includes examples of citations.

Ancient text

In text citation:

To be made up of:

  • Ancient author.
  • Title (in italics) - not required if only one work by the author survives.
  • Prose authors: Book number, chapter number, section number.
  • Verse authors: Book/poem number, line number.

(Herodotus, 1.32.7)

(Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 447-462)

(Virgil, Aeneid 2.49)

You can also use the standard abbreviations of author's names and titles of works as listed at the front of the Oxford Classical Dictionary:

(Hdt. 1.32.7)

(Soph. OT 447-462)

(Verg. Aen. 2.49)

This allows readers to find the relevant passage in any modern edition. If a translation does not provide precise book/chapter numbers, you can find this information by using the online editions of texts and translations in the Perseus Digital Library. Avoid using the page numbers of translations unless you want to comment on the way a particular translator has handled the text.

Reference list:

To be made up of:

  • Ancient Author.
  • Title (in italics).
  • Translator/commentator
  • Date of translation/commentary (in round brackets).
  • Location: publisher.

Herodotus. Book I. Edited with an introduction and notes by J. H. Sleeman (2002). London: Bristol Classical Press.

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Translated by Stephen Berg and Diskin Clay (1978). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Virgil. Aeneidos: liber secundus. With a commentary by R. G. Austin (1964). Oxford: Oxford University Press.