Rating: 
Summary: A must have for anyone interested in ancient Rome and Greece
Review: A must have for any serious student of the Ancient cultures of the Greeks and Romans. Thousands of references will point you in the right direction on any topic. This single volume resource is an invaluable tool for high school on up to the graduate level. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: The best classical dictionary
Review: Although it is the "BEST" Classical Dictionary written in English ,it doesn't contain the sources of original Greek et Latin texts of each article nor the Greek alphabet-spelling for each entry, and even we cannot find the marks which indicate whether the vowel is long or short, nor the accentuation ... Therefore in Japanese standard , we cannot call it " the best Classical Dictionary ". When we compile the Classical Dictionary, we must write every linguistic-form of each entry ; e.g. a proper noun of Greek like PLATON or ARISTOTELES , at first we show , of course in Japanese following the genuine "Erasmic" pronunciation , and next in romanized Greek, and in original Greek, et in Latine, und in Italian,French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Hebraic, Arabian, Turkish, Sanskrit, Persian, Chinese, etc. etc. and of course the sources of every article as much as we can. So, if you can read the German language, I recommend you the famous Pauly's REAL-ENKYKLOPAEDIA.
Rating:
Summary: A young historian
Review: An excellent reference and source that I recommended for any student of Classical civilization.
Rating:
Summary: Indespensible!!
Review: As a 1st. year Master's degree student studying ancient Mediterranean civilizations I can not believe I made it this far without the book on my shelf. Ok, so I used a library copy. Now that I have my own I find myself using it more and more. I even find myself causualy flipping through the pages as I eat dinner. I am constantly amazed at the wealth of information provided. This is a "must have" volume for anyone with more than just a passing interest in the classics. It may at fist appear a bit expensive but it is worth every dollar, drachma, denari, whatever. I will admit that this is the only 'dictionary' I actually sit down and read, albeit slowly. The volume of entries, their content, and clarity are without equal. A wonderful added bonus is the inclusion of references to further reading and research. For those of us actively studying classical civilizations this is an indespensible aid to scholarly research.
Rating:
Summary: Indespensible!!
Review: As a 1st. year Master's degree student studying ancient Mediterranean civilizations I can not believe I made it this far without the book on my shelf. Ok, so I used a library copy. Now that I have my own I find myself using it more and more. I even find myself causualy flipping through the pages as I eat dinner. I am constantly amazed at the wealth of information provided. This is a "must have" volume for anyone with more than just a passing interest in the classics. It may at fist appear a bit expensive but it is worth every dollar, drachma, denari, whatever. I will admit that this is the only 'dictionary' I actually sit down and read, albeit slowly. The volume of entries, their content, and clarity are without equal. A wonderful added bonus is the inclusion of references to further reading and research. For those of us actively studying classical civilizations this is an indespensible aid to scholarly research.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you ever wanted to know about Greece & Rome!
Review: As a reference work, this revised third edition of "The Oxford Classical Dictionary" merits awe. Like the Grand Canyon or Niagra Falls, the best one can do is simply stand there, mouth agape and say something like, "So, there it is." At 1,640 pages and weighing in a five and three-quarter pounds (1.48 minas according to the Attic-Euboic standard or 1.95 Roman libras), this massive reference work summarizes all that is known about the Greek and Roman worlds. It is a detailed volume that has plenty of entries for both the specialist and general reader. But, realistically, at $100 a throw, this dictionary will be more likely to be purchased by those who have more than a passing interest in the classical era. They in turn will be rewarded with a volume that covers nearly every conceivable aspect of Roman and Greek life, from the public deeds of emperors to the private lives of laborers. Here, among the academic jargon and bibliographical references, one may learn that, in Athens, a popular after-dinner game was the wine-throw,' in which players would flick the dregs from their cups at a target, such as a saucer floating in water; that while incest in general was banned, siblings with the same father could marry in Athens, of the mother in Sparta; that even mimes existed in both Roman and Greek cultures, sometimes acting out on the streets stock stories that sound like the sitcoms and soap operas of our day. Much of the 800 new entries (the editors note that the book is 20 percent larger than the previous edition) focus on the societal aspects, such as alcoholism, breast-feeding, cannibalism, cemeteries, debt, fairs, fantastic literature, homosexuality, housework, suicide and tourism, while the dictionary overall benefitted from archeological discoveries made since the previous edition. While the price may be considered steep, the diction is a treasure trove of information, well-written, thoroughly annotated, and well worth the price for those with a deep interest in the Classical world.
Rating:
Summary: Overall excellent
Review: Everyone else below will tell you how excellent this book is, and I do not disagree. I use it almost every day as a graduate student in ancient history. It's incredibly useful, etc. The one complaint I have is about the article under the heading "pornography." A wretchedly Dworkinized, politically correct definition follows which never discusses the actual meaning of the word (which is, literally, "prostitute depiction"). Whatever happened to the advances in feminism after 1981 in which pornography was thought about again and, with publicatioon such as San Francisco's magazine "On Our Backs," seen as empowering? For that matter, why must the term "pornography" have as its article one written by an ideological feminist of any stripe in the first place? How about by a humanist? The definition in this book isn't broadminded, isn't general, isn't technical, but fanatical. I don't know how it passed the board of dons that controls the Oxford Classical Dictionary unless they are much more susceptible to presentist rhetoric than anyone thought. Aside from this entry -- which, as the gentle reader can observe, is my one bugbear about this book -- it's all superb.
Rating:
Summary: excellent reference
Review: For a person with an avid interest in studying classical civilizations, this book provides an immensely helpful reference in all aspects of the history of the ancient world, legends, myths, and culture. The Oxford Classical Dictionary is vital for anyone who wishes to understand and appreciate the basis of modern western civilization. The book reads more like an encyclopedia rather than a dictionary.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Useful Book On Your Shelf
Review: I cannot imagine how I survived for 20 years without this book. The entries are magnificent, in content, in erudition and so rich in further references that it resembles nothing so much as a kind of World Wide Web search engine for the classical world. As a reference work it will enrich anyone's life; as a scholarly aid it is utterly invaluable
Rating: 
Summary: the new 3rd edition classical dictionary
Review: i would like to say that the new dictionary is very complete. a tremendous amount of work must have gone in to make it more useful for the contemporary student of antiquity. the inclusion of the cd makes life alot easier for those of us who study and write on computer. it is only when you delve deep within the book to find that it has been re-programed for the socialist that the book pales. if you want to write politically correct papers for college then this is for you. if you've studied in the past and know something of life already you'll probably have a problem.
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