History Website Review

The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook is a reference website, hosted by Fordham University, which provides information about ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Israel, Persia, Greece, Rome, Late Antiquity (ca. 300-600 A.D.). and early Christian writers via both primary and secondary source material. The site was conceived of in 1999, and its stated goal is to, "provide and organize texts for use in classroom situations." http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ancient/asbook.html#Introduction. However, I have found this site very valuable while researching my senior thesis, as it does feature partial texts, whole texts, and guidance to scholarly resources. Originally conceived of by Paul Halsall, a professor at Fordham University, the website is the preeminent resource for educational material related to the ancient world on the Internet.

The website is broken into the categories mentioned above, with each category broken down into more precise themes, for instance, under "Rome," there is "Roman Law," "The Army," "Empires and Provinces," and many other categories, with primary sources for each theme listed. http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ancient/asbook09.html.

One fringe feature of the site is a section devoted to "Ancient History in the Movies," which lists and critiques for historical accuracy a number of movies set in the ancient world. This page links to IMDB, which is a great website to link to for getting a second opinion on the movies.

The "Help" Page is also valuable, offering a myriad of websites for evaluating history websites on the internet, a list of writing and citation guides, and other history websites which are valuable for looking at.

What makes this website so good is undoubtedly the presentation of primary sources. While not trying to be the definitive compendium for knowledge of antiquity on the Internet, it often comes off feeling that way anyway. For instance, it does offer 9 complete texts of major Roman historians, including Tacitus, Livy, and Caesar. In the Ancient Greece section, Herodotus, Thucydides, and others are represented. In an age in which classical learning is almost vanished compared to previous generations, it is refreshing to consider the wealth of knowledge about the ancient world available to us at our fingertips.

Yet despite the vast amount of red meat learning on the Ancient History Internet Sourcebook website, it is neglecting on presentation. It is obvious that the site is made by an amateur, Halsall, and nobody has bothered to remedy that. The lone pictorial graphic on the website is a cheap, clip-art picture of Ionic columns flanking the "Internet Ancient History Sourcebook" heading. The entire site is blue and black text on an off-white background, and Times New Roman font.

Navigating the site is easy enough, but should be better. A sidebar sits on the left side of the page, directing the user to the different topics of study he or she is interested in. Once the user accesses the main topic (e.g. Rome, Egypt, etc.), the subtopics are presented in outline format, which is good, but then once clicking the relevant link it merely scrolls down the page to the subtopic of interest, and the featured sources open in a new page. The result is that with everything bundled together the user feels somewhat overwhelmed. This site is in desperate need of an overhaul. The lack of color, art, and graphics, as well as a subpar yet valiant attempt at organization certainly detract from this site. Moreover, there is no content such as message boards, quote of the day, videos, etc. to keep the user coming back. If I didn't have to use this website, I would have no reason to return. This is unfortunate, because it offers such an excellent array of neglected knowledge that has potential to gain a wider audience.