If you can define a narrow, focused topic, your paper will be easier to do and the end result will be better. There are several ways you can narrow your topic.
Read an encyclopedia article on the topic. Almost certainly, you will find that the topic is more complex than you imagined. Look for a person, time period, issue, or sub-topic on which to focus.
Search your topic in JSTOR and browse the range of articles you find. Look for patterns and themes. This will give you an idea of the major aspects of your topic and the availability of scholarly articles on it. You may also be able to identify individual scholars who have written a lot on the topic.
Subject headings in the library catalog. Do a keyword search on your topic. Then scroll to the bottom of the screen and find a list of related terms.
Look at the subjects or keywords assigned to the books and articles you find.
Subject terms and thesauri in online databases. Look for a tab on your database that says "Terms" or "Subject terms" or "Thesaurus", and it will lead you to a thesaurus that will give you ideas of broader and narrower terms.
L'Année Philologique has a very useful breakdown on material by subject ("Subjects and disciplines"), and it specializes in ancient Greece and Rome.
Links to Sources for Selecting and Narrowing Your Topic
Comprehensive bibliographic index for multidisciplinary literature. Formats indexed include books, newspapers, and magazines, as well as scholarly and peer-reviewed journals. Subject coverage includes social sciences, arts and humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, health sciences, multicultural studies, and many more. Most citations include abstracts and full text or link to full text content from other providers, based on institutional subscriptions. This database is made possible by TexShare.
Comprehensive bibliographic index for international literature dealing with all aspects of art. Materials indexed include both English-language and international periodicals, art reproductions, yearbooks, and museum bulletins. Subject coverage includes advertising, antiques, archaeology, architecture and architectural history, art history, computers in art, crafts, decorative arts, fashion design, folk art, graphic arts, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, motion pictures, museology, non-western art, painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, television, textiles, and video.
Digital image database of visual material encompassing artistic and historical traditions across many time periods and cultures. Subject coverage includes the arts, architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, and many other forms of visual culture. Designed to be used by art researchers and art historians. Registration is recommended in order to take advantage of all ARTstor features. UTEP faculty and library staff may request instructor privileges that will allow them to create folders to share image groups with students or colleagues.
https://library.artstor.org
NOTE: This database is funded in part by the Academic Library Collection Enhancement Program (ALCEP) through the General Libraries of the University of Texas at Austin.
Provides complete full text access to the Encyclopaedia Britannica as well as the following other resources: World Data Analyst, Gateway to the Classics, Year in Review, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Quotations, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, World Atlas, Timelines, and more. Materials indexed include encyclopedia, newspaper, journal, and magazine articles; selected, rated, and reviewed Internet sites; illustrations, ranging from photographs and drawings to images, maps, and flags; and video and other media. Subject coverage is comprehensive and multidisciplinary.
Provides full text online access to the complete, 250-plus volume Cambridge Histories reference series. Subject coverage ranges from political, economic and social history to histories of philosophy and literature. Includes the histories of specific countries and selected topics. Materials indexed include reference books and book chapters. Coverage: All time periods - from Ancient to Modern.
Provides complete full-text access to an archive of back issues of selected scholarly journals from the following subscribed collections: Arts & Sciences (I - XI), Life Sciences, and Ireland. Subject coverage includes: African and African American Studies, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art and art history, Asian Studies, biology, botany, British Studies, business, classical studies, economics, education, film studies, finance, folklore, geography, health sciences, history, Ireland, Jewish Studies, language and literature, Latin American Studies, law, linguistics, mathematics, Middle East Studies, music, paleontology, performing arts, philosophy, political science, psychology, public administration, religion, science, Slavic Studies, sociology, Women's Studies, statistics and zoology. Other types of publications indexed include monographs, pamphlets, images, and manuscripts.