LacusCurtius is the ancient Graeco-Roman part of a large history website, hosted as of March 2025 on a server at the University of Chicago. Starting in 1995, as of January 2004 it gave "access to more than 594 photos, 559 drawings and engravings, 69 plans, and 59 maps". The overall site is the creation of William P. Thayer. in January 2004,<blockquote>th[e] site has developed into an impressive array of primary and secondary resources on ancient Rome... [with n]ew materials are added regularly... [U]sing the gazetteer in the classroom, students can take a virtual tour of many of the major Roman archaeological sites, and learn about Roman social life through its material culture. / This is also an excellent site for studying historical geography... / The uniqueness of this site is the availability of translated works that are not readily available online... All the texts and translations have links for easy navigation between passages, footnotes, and other parts of this site. / The section on Latin Inscriptions is very useful... The photographs of the inscriptions are accompanied by helpful notes and are linked to a written transcription and the translated solution. The inscriptions are electronically indexed by geographical location and topic. / One of the best features of this site is the search engine. All of the texts and images can be accessed... Also included is a statement covering the copyright status for items... [and] a chart defining when published and unpublished works go into the public domain.</blockquote>

The compiler and editor, Bill Thayer, describes himself thus:<blockquote>By profession I'm a simultaneous interpreter (French/English) specializing in mechanical engineering and the financial markets. In Roman history, art history, archaeology, architecture, etc. I have no credentials at all, but then those of you who are professionals in the various disciplines covered in this site will have seen that right away!</blockquote>

References

  • top-level entry page
  • LacusCurtius