The Prolific Tim Spalding - Oracles, Divination, Astrology and much more...

Tim Spalding’s The Oracle of Delphi and Ancient Oracles website is an organized, annotated list of more than 160 links on Greek and Roman oracles, including Delphi, Dodona, Didyma and others. It includes everything from serious academic articles and books to material pitched to grade-school kids.This site is actually a spin off of his other popular site Ancient Divination and Astrology on the Web. Tim has over 85 images of oracles and wants more. He will list anything relevant. Email him at editor@isidore-of-seville.com.

Ancient Divination and Astrology on the Web has over 215 links to original sources rather than flakey misrepresentations. He is not a believer in astrology or any other form of divination himself,. he is interested in ancient culture, of which astrology and divination are important aspects. His strict policy to include anything remotely useful, but his comments strive to identify the most reliable material. Not all this material is  "academic," but all of it has a scholar's attention to evidence and personal detachment.

Alexander the Great on the web - You must visit Tim's top site on Alexander the Great, so comprehensive it had to be split into two sites:

Site 1: Alexander the Great on the Web - This site contains 1,000 resources about Alexander the Great from history to the Hollywood movie—sorted, described and rated. He spent five years searching the web for this stuff, so you don't have to. Start with Alexander in Brieffor biographies long and short. Army and Battles covers Alexander the military commander.Alexander's Character explores Alexander the individual, including sub-sections on Alexander's sexuality, his religious feelings (chiefly, did he think himself a god?), and so forth. His death and (lost) tomb get their own sections. The rich but troublesome Greek and Latin sources get three sections: about the sources,texts on the web, printed translations

Site 2: Alexander in Images - This site catalogues some 400 images of Alexander from ancient statues to medieval illuminations to the recent movie.

Just when you thought he didn't have anymore time on his hands he has also given us  Cleopatra on the Web. Cleopatra on the Web is a comprehensive guide to Cleopatra VII in history and the western imagination. Includes over 580 resources and 168 images.

Ports of call:

The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook is an oldie but a goodie. Paul Halsall has done a sterling job.

Elpenor is a bilingual anthology of all periods of Greek literature,including Homer, the Lyric poets, Presoccratic philosophers, lessons in Classical Greek and much much more. They feature a Forum and Help pages. Wonderful stuff

Centre for Hellenic Studies is a  research institute located in Washington D.C.that is affiliated with Harvard University. It was founded in 1962 by means of an endowment made "exclusively for the establishment of an educational center in the field of Hellenic Studies designed to re-discover the humanism of the Hellenic Greeks." This humanistic vision remains the driving force of The Center for Hellenic Studies.

Bryn Mawr Classical Review publishes timely reviews of current scholarly work in the field of classical studies (including archaeology). This site is the authoritative archive of BMCR's publication, from 1990 to the present. Reviews from August 2008 on are also posted on their blog.

The Antikythera Mechanism

In 1901 divers working off the isle of Antikythera found the remains of a clocklike mechanism 2,000 years old. The mechanism now appears to have been a device for calculating the motions of stars and planets. The three main fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism are on display at the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The Mechanism has been kept within the Museum collections since its discovery in 1901. Other bronze artefacts from the Antikythera wreck are also on display within the same room, while statues and other objects from the wreck (like magnificent glassware) can be admired in other rooms and the atrium.

Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led a recent study of the mechanism said: "This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully...in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa."

As one of the world's oldest known geared devices, it has puzzled and intrigued historians of science and technology since its discovery. A number of individuals and groups have been instrumental in advancing the knowledge and understanding of the mechanism including: Derek J. de Solla Price (with Charalampos Karakalos); Allan George Bromley (with Frank Percival, Michael Wright and Bernard Gardner); Michael Wright and The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project (AMRP).

The magic of the web brings the mechanism into our homes. For those who are numerate The American Mathematical Society has some interesting notes if you are so inclined.

Those of a high tech and practical frame of mind can visit Bob Warfield's site for CNC machinists and have a go at making one themselves Notes on Constructing an Orrery / Antikythera Mechanism

The fun doesnt stop there. Oh no, just search YouTube for The Antikythera Mechanism and you will see animations and working models galore...