[josiejanefox]

Hey, I'm a girl really interested in language but as I went to state school, I never really got the opportunity to even consider Classics.. Now I'm at college I've decided it's something I'd be good at and would enjoy, and I know there are beginner courses/summer courses etc. which will allow me to study it as a degree despite my inexperience (I'm probably going to apply to do a Joint Honours with English Lit), however I'd love recommendations of some good, 'basic' books that would let me get a feel for the subject properly; eg., overviews of Grecian or Roman history/language/philosophy/philology.
-Basically any books you've read and found helpful, or would consider integral to the study.
Thank you!

[Aesc]

Something that was recommended to me, which I found really useful:
Don't be put off by the thought of tackling epics such as the Iliad - I thought it would be really complicated, and that it was perhaps only worth reading in the original Greek (because verse is notoriously tricky to translate properly), but get a decent translation and it can be really enjoyable. Modern translations are probably easier to work with, and I really like my prose version because it's much easy to read.

Good beginner's book about Latin: Amo, Amas, Amat - Harry Mount, mixture of anecdotes, word links and declension tables
I've heard good things about Robin Lane Fox
And if you want the real basics, you can do much worse than "A Very Short Introduction to Classics", Mary Beard and John Henderson, or other VSI books (e.g. Classical Mythology, Helen Morales) if you want info on more specific areas

[Parnassia]

I have a few study books in English and some books I could recommend to you, although I still have to read the study books as they are meant for subjects we get this semester.
The Cambridge history of classical literature: Greek drama
The Cambridge history of classical literature: Philosophy, history and oratory
Richard Rutherford, Classical literature, a concise history
Robin Lane Fox, The classical world, an epic history of Greece and Rome

Another book I personally really liked was Emperors don't die in bed by Fik Meijer. It gives you a very well-structured, chronological overview of all the emperors of the Roman empire.
For learning Greek I only have experience with Athenaze, which I found a very useful and good book to learn from.
A bit less 'serious' but awesome anyway are the books by Steven Saylor about Gordianus the Finder. The books are fiction but they're based on actual events that happened and it could help you develop some understanding of the circumstances in which the trials (they're mostly about crimes) took place. It makes reading the speeches a lot more interesting if you know at least something about the laws and such.