APA Style (7th ed.)
According to the American Psychological Association (2020), when citing from a classical work: “when the date of original publication for a classical work is ancient, use the abbreviation ‘B.C.E.’ …, and if that date is approximate, use the abbreviation ‘ca.’" (p. 303). Include the republished dates in the in-text citations and references when the year or approximate year of original publication is unknown (APA, 2020, p. 302).
Keep in mind what you're actually reading; that is, if you're quoting from Plato, you're probably not reading the original text that was published in the vernacular Greek of 370 B.C.E. Rather, you're likely reading a republished and translated version of the text, and a reference entry will provide information for the more recent publication you used, rather than the original publication. For example:
Plato. (2000). The Republic (T. Griffith, Trans. & G.R.F. Ferrari, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://books.google.ca/books?id=aPwPjVIxbGQC&dq=plato%27s+republic&source=gbs_navlinks_s (Original work published ca. 370 B.C.E)
Similarly, both the original year of publication and the recent publication date are included in an in-text citation:
(Plato, ca. 370 B.C.E./2000)
Accordingly, the reference should point your reader to the translation that you read (as shown above in the Plato reference), versus to the original text.
For more information on citing classical sources, please the examples on page 324-325 of the APA Style manual and How Do I Cite and Reference Religious Literature in APA Style?.
Reference
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
