PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Ancient Greek and Roman works

How to Cite Ancient Greek and Roman Works in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for an ancient Greek or Roman work gives the author's name as it's known (Aristotle, Plato), the title in italics, the original date if you add it (Circa 350 BCE), Translated by and the translator's name, then the publisher and year of your translation, or the website in italics and the URL. The in-text citation is the author's name and the work's own book, chapter, or section numbers instead of a page: (Aristotle, bk. 2, ch. 1).

The format

Author. Title of the Work. Circa Year BCE. Translated by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 30, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

In PERRLA, choose Ancient & Classic Works. Fill it in from your translation's title page and copyright page, or from the website you read:

  • Contributors: the ancient writer with the role Author. For a writer known by one name, type it in the last name box and leave the first name empty. Add the translator with the role Translator, and any editor with Editor. PERRLA writes Translated by and Edited by after the title.
  • Title of the Work as your translation prints it. PERRLA puts it in title case and italics.
  • Publication Year: the year of your translation, from its copyright page or the website.
  • Publishers: the publisher from your translation's copyright page, or, for a translation you read online, the website's name. Add the URL too, and PERRLA sets the website's name in italics as the container, the MLA way.
  • Original Publication Year: optional in MLA. Type it the way the form's hint shows, like ca. 350 B.C.E., and PERRLA writes it the MLA way, Circa 350 BCE. Leave it empty when nobody agrees on the date.

In the citation box, open Page or location. For a labeled place, choose Other: type bk. 2, ch. as the label and 1 as the value. For numbers joined by periods, like 4.3, choose Act, scene, & line, type 4 and 3, and leave the last box empty.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Author

Most ancient writers are known by a single name. Write it the way your book prints it, followed by a period, with nothing to invert: Aristotle, Plato, Homer, Sophocles. Keep a Roman name together the same way.

Aristotle.

Marcus Aurelius.

2. Title

Italicize the title and write it in title case, using the English title your translation prints. End with a period.

Nicomachean Ethics.

3. Original date (optional)

MLA lets you add the date the work was written right after the title. Ancient dates are usually estimates, so start with Circa, spelled out. Put BCE after a year before the common era, with no periods. Years in the common era, like the 170s for Marcus Aurelius, don't take BCE.

Circa 350 BCE.

A span of years works the same way: Circa 380–360 BCE. When scholars disagree on the date by a century or more, leave it out.

4. Translator

Write Translated by and the translator's name in normal order. Before a publisher, follow it with a comma. Before a website's name, end it with a period, because the translator worked on this one text, not the whole site. The translator chose every word you quote, so leaving the name out leaves your reader guessing which version you read.

Translated by C. D. C. Reeve,

Translated by W. D. Ross.

If your copy also has an editor or an edition number, they follow the translator: Translated by …, edited by …, 2nd ed.,

5. Publisher and year

For a print book or an e-book, give the publisher with no city, a comma, and the year of your translation. MLA drops business words like Company and Inc. End with a period.

Modern Library, 2002.

6. Website and URL (online)

For a translation you read online, the website is the container: its name goes in italics, then the date the site gives, then the URL without https:// and a period.

The Internet Classics Archive, 1994, classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html.

Examples

An ancient work you read online

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics in W. D. Ross's translation on the Internet Classics Archive. A nursing ethics paper might cite Book 2, Chapter 1, where Aristotle argues that people become just by doing just acts. The site dates the work to 350 B.C.E., an estimate, so the entry says Circa 350 BCE. The site has no page numbers, so the citation names the book and chapter.

  • In-text citation(Aristotle, bk. 2, ch. 1)
  • Narrative citationAs Aristotle argues, … (bk. 2, ch. 1).

Plato's Republic in C. D. C. Reeve's 2004 translation from Hackett. Plato is cited by the Stephanus numbers printed in the margin of nearly every edition, so 514a, the opening of the allegory of the cave, is the same place in any translation. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy dates most of the Republic to about 380–360 BCE, so the original date is a span.

  • In-text citation(Plato 514a)
  • Narrative citationAs Plato describes it, … (514a).

A Roman work written after the common era began

Marcus Aurelius's Meditations in Gregory Hays's translation, published by the Modern Library in 2002. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy dates the notebook to about 171–175, so the date takes Circa but not BCE. Book 4, entry 3, where he says a person can retreat into their own mind, is cited as 4.3 in any translation.

  • In-text citation(Marcus Aurelius 4.3)
  • Narrative citationMarcus Aurelius reminds himself that … (4.3).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for an ancient work gives the author's name and the work's own numbering, never your copy's page numbers, so your reader can find the passage in any translation. MLA leaves dates out of in-text citations.

  • Book and chapter: the labels bk. and ch. in lowercase, with Arabic numerals and a comma after the name: (Aristotle, bk. 2, ch. 1)
  • Standard section numbers: Plato's works use Stephanus numbers like 514a, and Aristotle's use Bekker numbers like 1103a, printed in the margins of most editions. A bare number takes no comma: (Plato 514a)
  • Book and entry joined by a period: (Marcus Aurelius 4.3) for Book 4, entry 3 of the Meditations
  • Book and line of an epic: the book, a period, and the line: 9.19 means book 9, line 19
  • Name in your sentence: give only the location in parentheses at the end: Aristotle argues that virtue comes from practice (bk. 2, ch. 1).

The translator appears only in the Works Cited entry, not in the text.

Common mistakes

  • (Aristotle, 1994)(Aristotle, bk. 2, ch. 1)That's APA. MLA leaves the year out of the in-text citation and gives the place in the work instead.
  • Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. ca. 350 B.C.Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Circa 350 BCE.In the Works Cited entry, MLA spells out Circa for an approximate date, and writes BCE after the year with no periods.
  • Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. The Internet Classics Archive, 1994.Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by W. D. Ross. The Internet Classics Archive, 1994.You read a translation, and the translator's wording is what you quote. Name the translator after the title.
  • (Plato 208)(Plato 514a)Page numbers differ between translations. The Stephanus number points to the same passage in every edition of Plato.
  • (Aristotle, Book II, Chapter 1)(Aristotle, bk. 2, ch. 1)MLA abbreviates book and chapter in parentheses, in lowercase, and uses Arabic numerals instead of Roman ones.

Quick checklist

  • The author's name as it's known
  • Title in italics and title case
  • Circa and BCE for the original date, if you add it
  • Translated by and the translator after the title
  • Publisher and year, or the website in italics and the URL
  • Book, chapter, or section numbers in the text, never a page or a year

Questions students ask

Do I need a Works Cited entry for Plato or Aristotle in MLA?

Yes. Every source you quote or paraphrase gets an entry, ancient or not. Cite the translation you actually read, since its wording is what appears in your paper.

What does BCE mean, and how does MLA write it?

BCE stands for "before the common era" and goes after the year, with no periods: 350 BCE. MLA leaves the choice between BCE and BC to you, though its own publications use BCE and CE. A work from the common era, like the Meditations, doesn't take BCE.

Do I have to include the original date of an ancient work?

No. MLA treats it as optional. Add it after the title when it helps your reader, with Circa in front of an estimate. If scholars disagree widely, leave it out.

Do I name the translator in my in-text citation?

No. The in-text citation has the author and the location. The translator goes only in the Works Cited entry, after the title.

What are Stephanus and Bekker numbers?

They're the standard section numbers for Plato (514a) and Aristotle (1103a), taken from early printed editions and printed in the margins of most modern translations. Because every translation shares them, they're the best location to cite when your edition has them.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, other contributors such as translators, and the optional original publication date) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's answers on era designations (BCE and CE), approximate dates (Circa 1400-10, in its guide to citing archival materials), numbers in citations of poems, translated lyrics on a website (where the translator goes), and a Project Gutenberg book as a container. Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: the Internet Classics Archive's Nicomachean Ethics pages (re-checked Oct 27), Hackett's page for the Reeve Republic, Penguin Random House's page for the Hays Meditations, and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy for the dates.

PERRLA builds the Works Cited entry for an ancient work with its translator and original date, and writes the section numbers into every citation.

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