Ancient History goes back to the primary sources — the historians who first shaped how Western civilization would understand its origins. Herodotus sets the Persian Wars against a canvas of ethnography and wonder; Thucydides dissects the Peloponnesian War with unflinching political realism; Livy and Tacitus give Rome its epic and its tragedy. All are available as free, cleanly-formatted EPUB downloads.
The collection extends beyond Greece and Rome to encompass Josephus on the Jewish world, Suetonius on the Caesars, and the rich body of classical biography collected in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. Together they form the documentary foundation of ancient studies, presented in authoritative Victorian and Edwardian translations that remain highly readable.
- The City of God, Volume IAugustine of Hippo
- The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, CompleteSuetonius
- The Anabasis of AlexanderArrian
- The Germany and the Agricola of TacitusCornelius Tacitus
- AnabasisXenophon
- Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and RomansPlutarch
- The Egyptian Book of the dead
- The IliadHomer
- LysistrataAristophanes
- Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius AntoninusEmperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius
- Ancient States and Empires / For Colleges and SchoolsJohn Lord
- Plutarch's Lives, Volume 3 (of 4)Plutarch
- A history of art in Chaldæa & Assyria, Vol. 1 (of 2)Georges Perrot
- The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)the Elder Pliny
- The Art of Waractive 6th century B.C. Sunzi
- Cités et ruines américaines: Mitla, Palenqué, Izamal, Chichen-Itza, UxmalEugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc
- Antiquities of the JewsFlavius Josephus
- Vie de JésusErnest Renan
- Geschichte Alexanders des GrossenJohann Gustav Droysen
- Historic Tales: The Romance of Reality. Vol. 11 (of 15), RomanCharles Morris
- A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád' / Showing that all the Wars of Mohammad Were Defensive; and / that Aggressive War, or Compulsory Conversion, is not / Allowed in The Koran – 1885Cherágh Ali
- Romulus / Makers of HistoryJacob Abbott
- Pagan and Christian RomeRodolfo Amedeo Lanciani
- Ancient America, in Notes on American ArchaeologyJohn D. Baldwin
- Ancient lawSir Henry Sumner Maine
- The History of the Peloponnesian WarThucydides
- The Legacy of Greece / Essays By: Gilbert Murray, W. R. Inge, J. Burnet, Sir T. L. Heath, D'arcy W. Thompson, Charles Singer, R. W. Livingston, A. Toynbee, A. E. Zimmern, Percy Gardner, Sir Reginald Blomfield
- The Letters of Cicero, Volume 1 / The Whole Extant Correspodence in Chronological OrderMarcus Tullius Cicero
- The Oriental Religions in Roman PaganismFranz Cumont
- The Religious Experience of the Roman People / From the Earliest Times to the Age of AugustusW. Warde Fowler
- Famous Sea Fights, from Salamis to Tsu-ShimaA. Hilliard Atteridge
- Historic Tales: The Romance of Reality. Vol. 11 (of 15), RomanCharles Morris
- The Life of Cicero, Volume II.Anthony Trollope
- The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume II (of X) – Rome
- The History of Herodotus — Volume 1Herodotus
- The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire / Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes)Edward Gibbon
- The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 03
- Xerxes / Makers of HistoryJacob Abbott
- The Story of the GreeksH. A. Guerber
- Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 7 / Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent OratorsElbert Hubbard
- Babylonians and AssyriansA. H. Sayce
- Pyrrhus / Makers of HistoryJacob Abbott
- The Story of ParisThomas Okey
- The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume I (of X) – Greece
- The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of JerusalemFlavius Josephus
- Cookery and Dining in Imperial RomeApicius
- Au bord du lac / L'Esclave, le Serf, le Chevrier de Lorraine, l'ApprentiÉmile Souvestre
- The Two Great Retreats of HistoryGeorge Grote
- Politics: A Treatise on GovernmentAristotle
- The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08Livy
- Outlines of Greek and Roman MedicineSir James Elliott
- The Bronze Age in IrelandGeorge Coffey
- The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6)the Elder Pliny
- Helps to Latin Translation at SightEdmund Luce
- The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2)Polybius
- On The Structure of Greek Tribal Society: An EssayHugh E. Seebohm
- A Source Book for Ancient Church HistoryJoseph Cullen Ayer
- Historic Tales: The Romance of Reality. Vol. 11 (of 15), RomanCharles Morris
- Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4)Plutarch
- Darius the Great / Makers of HistoryJacob Abbott
- Hannibal / Makers of HistoryJacob Abbott
- The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete / The Challoner Revision
- Punicorum Libri SeptemdecimTiberius Catius Silius Italicus
- A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus with the EncheiridionEpictetus
- Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism / With an Essay on Baal Worship, on the Assyrian Sacred "Grove," and Other Allied SymbolsThomas Inman
- Nero / Makers of History SeriesJacob Abbott
- The History of LondonWalter Besant
- History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria in the Light of Recent DiscoveryL. W. King
- Discourses on the First Decade of Titus LiviusNiccolò Machiavelli
- Letters of Plinythe Younger Pliny
- The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) / Literally Translated, with NotesStrabo
- Cyropaedia: The Education of CyrusXenophon
- 宋史Tuotuo
- Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient EgyptJames Baikie
- An Abridgment of the Architecture of Vitruvius / Containing a System of the Whole Works of that AuthorVitruvius Pollio
- Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic ArtWalter Woodburn Hyde
- An Account of EgyptHerodotus
- The First Four Books of Xenophon's AnabasisXenophon
- "De Bello Gallico" and Other CommentariesJulius Caesar
- Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the Worldactive 6th century B.C. Sunzi
- The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 2 (of 6)the Elder Pliny
- The Age of Justinian and Theodora: A History of the Sixth Century A.D., Volume 1 (of 2)William Gordon Holmes
- Stories from Aulus Gellius / Being Selections And Adaptations From The Noctes AtticaeAulus Gellius
- The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503
- The Instruction of Ptah-Hotep and the Instruction of Ke'Gemni / The Oldest Books in the WorldPtahhotep
- Keskikoulun Yleinen Historia. 1. Vanha ja Keskiaika / Oppi- ja Lukukirja Keski- ja Tyttökouluille Sekä SeminaareilleOskari Mantere
- The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 2, February 1810Samuel James Arnold
- Commentary Upon the Maya-Tzental Perez Codex / with a Concluding Note Upon the Linguistic Problem of the Maya GlyphsWilliam Gates
- Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3 / I. Prolegomena II. Achæis; or, the Ethnology of the Greek RacesW. E. Gladstone
- The Athenian ConstitutionAristotle
- Tacitus on GermanyCornelius Tacitus
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" / Volume 12, Slice 5Various
- The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume 2 (of 3)James Augustus St. John
- HellenicaXenophon
- The Odyssey of HomerHomer
- History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1Edward Gibbon
- History of Greece, Volume 10 (of 12)George Grote
- The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus / During the Reigns of the Emperors Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and ValensAmmianus Marcellinus
- History of the Wars, Books V and VI: The Gothic WarProcopius
- The History of Prostitution: Its Extent, Causes, and Effects throughout the WorldWilliam W. Sanger