The Oxford Classical Dictionary

It is designed to cover the same ground, though on a different sacle, as the well-known dictionaries by Sir William Smith on Greek and roman antiquities and on Greek and Roman biography, mythology, and geography. The eighth edition (1914) of Lubker's Real lexikon was taken as a general model, but with certain modifications in principle and with certain differences in emphasis. The present work is intended to be less purely factual than Lubker. It devotes more space to biography and literature, less to geography and to bibliographical information, aiming in his latter respect at no more than referring the reader to the best work, in English and foreign languages, on the various subjects. A special feature is the inclusion of longer articles designed to give a comprehensive survey of the main subjects and to place minor characters, places, and events, the choice of which as been necessarily selective, against their appropriate literary or historical background.