on reference writers

There are several ancient authors people often cite for references but rarely read all the way through.

Heres my list of Greek Authors that you should try to read completely at least once so you have some context for quotes.

Plutarch 

The Lives n the Moralia 

Athenaios also spelt

Athenaeus 

 the Deiphnosophists 

It will make you realise how much poetry we have lost.

All of Thucydides and Herodotus not just the passages set for an undergrad class 

Likewise Strabo Polybius and other Hellenistic writers

I also recommend Lysias a d the Greek anthology.

All of these are available free online as downloadable pdfs and in other formats if you don't mind reading older translations or flipping pages between the greek n english in loeb reprints 

Finally may I recommend you read or acquire Diogenes Laertius a major source for ancient philosophy.