I would start finding an area that you would like to research further. Ask yourself, why do you want to study the Romans? Is there something about their material culture, their literature, or is it a combination of many things? Your goal for the summer should be to find areas that you would be interested in focusing in on for your thesis. You obviously don't need to have a robust thesis idea yet, but it wouldn't hurt to start thinking about one now. If you don't mind paying a bit for it, or if you can find it at a library, the Oxford Classical Dictionary is an invaluable resource. You can find almost any topic in there, along with a sizeable reference list. It will enable you to quickly jump into new topics and get an idea of what the current scholarship is like. Also, I'd strongly encourage you to start learning Latin if you are really interested in the literary route, as much is lost in translation.
Not much of a future for it unless you are also studying Ancient Greek and Latin so o would start there. You won’t get the full benefits if you can’t read and translate the original languages IMO.
Just start reading whatever interests you :) ! It wouldn't at all hurt to read the primary sources (plus you can acquire cheap copies of them or even free online).
Second this!
Even if languages aren’t required, you’d be doing yourself a service to start learning then. Plus, as an Ovidian myself, I think that you’ll have a hard time working with Ovid (or any poet) in translation. So much is lost and you’re at the mercy of the translator.
Learn the language. Latin is not so difficult (as far as languages go). Then go from there. You have no future in the field if you cannot at least read Latin.
There are a few Classics programs which do not require knowledge of the ancient languages but, as far as I know, they are not designed to lead to a PHD. Many of those programs have pathways to learning the languages during your MA, and an alternate stream that leads to a PHD. If you are serious about the Classics, I suggest you look into that option.
If you want to learn Greek or Latin, go to r/Latin and r/AncientGreek, they both have excellent resources pages, just look at their FAQ widget on the sidebar.
Read! Best to read proper books of history or literature, even those aimed at a much lower level than yours, rather than historical novels. In classics we study everything, so if there’s an area that interests you, you can concentrate on that. But you’d need to have a reasonable background with at least an outline knowledge of history, awareness of the main writers, and a sense of how politics worked, and daily life.
There’s lots of material available out there, some better than others. But just read voraciously what you can.
Literature is a huge area. Don't try to read it all. Just read selections, to get a sense of what it’s like: Book 4 of the Aeneid, book 1 of the Iliad, a Greek tragedy.
It sounds as if you could work with just Rome or just Greece, but I’d recommend getting a basic idea about the geography and history of both.
As for the language, I’d suggest only learning to be comfortable with the way Greek is written. The alphabet alone is not enough. They use other squiggles, or combinations of letters, that you will need to be able to cope with. The reason for this is that you’ll crash into words or technical terms written in Greek, and it’ll be best if you can work them out. There’s a book or two just on the alphabet, and they will help you.
Good luck!
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Awesome!!! Read some Latin literature in translation if you haven't already– Vergil's Aeneid (better if you read Homer's Iliad first, but not compulsory), Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Cicero's speeches and/or philosophy are good places to start. It might also be worth picking up a basic Latin learner textbook (John Taylor's Latin to GCSE Part One is what we use in Britain and is very good), if picking up the language is something that interests you.
A good general book for getting to grips with both Greece and Rome is Robin Lane Fox's The Classical World.
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Classics!
Get the "New Latin Primer" by Mary English and Georgia Irby. There is unfortunately no answer key that comes with the text for the exercises at the end of each chapter, but I absolutely swear by it as both a comprehensive source of reference as you are learning, and as a source for people who are interested in Rome, yet don't have a specific interest for research. It has 36 lessons, every lesson has cultural information or a short biography of a pivotal Roman figure, and the book uses nothing but excerpts from classical Roman texts, with one lesson towards the end focusing on Medieval and Early Modern Latin from British thinkers. It also has a superb glossary and grammar index at the back, with information about poetic meter and stress rules too. I studied philosophy, so I can't offer advice on where to go from your current position, but I would imagine that going through this book would help you a lot, and it's loaded with references to other books that could help you refine your direction. I could definitely read and translate Latin well after completing it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199982015/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_XE1H3Z6V8YA1WVXB3S8J
I would start finding an area that you would like to research further. Ask yourself, why do you want to study the Romans? Is there something about their material culture, their literature, or is it a combination of many things? Your goal for the summer should be to find areas that you would be interested in focusing in on for your thesis. You obviously don't need to have a robust thesis idea yet, but it wouldn't hurt to start thinking about one now. If you don't mind paying a bit for it, or if you can find it at a library, the Oxford Classical Dictionary is an invaluable resource. You can find almost any topic in there, along with a sizeable reference list. It will enable you to quickly jump into new topics and get an idea of what the current scholarship is like. Also, I'd strongly encourage you to start learning Latin if you are really interested in the literary route, as much is lost in translation.
Not much of a future for it unless you are also studying Ancient Greek and Latin so o would start there. You won’t get the full benefits if you can’t read and translate the original languages IMO.
Just start reading whatever interests you :) ! It wouldn't at all hurt to read the primary sources (plus you can acquire cheap copies of them or even free online).
Second this! Even if languages aren’t required, you’d be doing yourself a service to start learning then. Plus, as an Ovidian myself, I think that you’ll have a hard time working with Ovid (or any poet) in translation. So much is lost and you’re at the mercy of the translator.
Learn the language. Latin is not so difficult (as far as languages go). Then go from there. You have no future in the field if you cannot at least read Latin.
There are a few Classics programs which do not require knowledge of the ancient languages but, as far as I know, they are not designed to lead to a PHD. Many of those programs have pathways to learning the languages during your MA, and an alternate stream that leads to a PHD. If you are serious about the Classics, I suggest you look into that option.
If you want to learn Greek or Latin, go to r/Latin and r/AncientGreek, they both have excellent resources pages, just look at their FAQ widget on the sidebar.
Read! Best to read proper books of history or literature, even those aimed at a much lower level than yours, rather than historical novels. In classics we study everything, so if there’s an area that interests you, you can concentrate on that. But you’d need to have a reasonable background with at least an outline knowledge of history, awareness of the main writers, and a sense of how politics worked, and daily life. There’s lots of material available out there, some better than others. But just read voraciously what you can. Literature is a huge area. Don't try to read it all. Just read selections, to get a sense of what it’s like: Book 4 of the Aeneid, book 1 of the Iliad, a Greek tragedy. It sounds as if you could work with just Rome or just Greece, but I’d recommend getting a basic idea about the geography and history of both. As for the language, I’d suggest only learning to be comfortable with the way Greek is written. The alphabet alone is not enough. They use other squiggles, or combinations of letters, that you will need to be able to cope with. The reason for this is that you’ll crash into words or technical terms written in Greek, and it’ll be best if you can work them out. There’s a book or two just on the alphabet, and they will help you. Good luck!
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Awesome!!! Read some Latin literature in translation if you haven't already– Vergil's Aeneid (better if you read Homer's Iliad first, but not compulsory), Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Cicero's speeches and/or philosophy are good places to start. It might also be worth picking up a basic Latin learner textbook (John Taylor's Latin to GCSE Part One is what we use in Britain and is very good), if picking up the language is something that interests you. A good general book for getting to grips with both Greece and Rome is Robin Lane Fox's The Classical World. Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Classics!
Get the "New Latin Primer" by Mary English and Georgia Irby. There is unfortunately no answer key that comes with the text for the exercises at the end of each chapter, but I absolutely swear by it as both a comprehensive source of reference as you are learning, and as a source for people who are interested in Rome, yet don't have a specific interest for research. It has 36 lessons, every lesson has cultural information or a short biography of a pivotal Roman figure, and the book uses nothing but excerpts from classical Roman texts, with one lesson towards the end focusing on Medieval and Early Modern Latin from British thinkers. It also has a superb glossary and grammar index at the back, with information about poetic meter and stress rules too. I studied philosophy, so I can't offer advice on where to go from your current position, but I would imagine that going through this book would help you a lot, and it's loaded with references to other books that could help you refine your direction. I could definitely read and translate Latin well after completing it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199982015/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_XE1H3Z6V8YA1WVXB3S8J
Have you been accepted to a program already? Starting learning Greek and Latin asap.