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I was 45 when I finished my M.A. in Anthropology with a specialization in Archaeology. I am not sure what your background in school is but many starting jobs as an archaeologists require taking a field school or at most a B.A. Granted many of those are of the shovelbum variety but that experience can be built into an excellent CV that can assist you in securing a permanent full time job. If an M.A. is really your goal then start getting published in peer reviewed journals, try to volunteer for NSF funded projects, develop relationships with professors you want to work with for your MA. A low GPA is not the end all and be all of an application to grad school. One more word of advice is to really screen your potential mentors for grad school, There are many great universities that offer terminal M.A. , you have options.

Some days yes some days not so much. These days I mostly review reports and do not get to go out into the field, except for pedestrian survey. I know that I am fortunate to have a job in my field with benefits. My experience in a PhD program has made me much more pragmatic. Academia is so political and that more than anything made leaving easier.

I can feel your pain. I really wanted to get my PhD and got into a program. My advisor was horrible and two years latter I am still trying to regain excitment about archaeology. I left the program and am working as an archaeologist. I think you really need to consider the debt you will acquire by attending grad school. One thing I wish I had been told is that any debt you take on will increase quite a bit. For two years of a program I did not complete (and this is with some funding) my debt plus interest is over 70K (life of the loan). If you are looking at a PhD in classics you need to consider what type of job you will get and how you will pay off those loans. Retail is horrible but in this economy and for the forseable feature you need to be practical. I got into a PhD program and really regret it. Best of luck in what ever you decide to do.