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ANCIENT HISTORY.   Term Paper ID:29398 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: How two ancient historians presented historical events.... More...

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Paper Abstract: How two ancient historians presented historical events. Approach of Thucydides in his "History of the Peloponnesian War" to draw upon oral history and cultural myths such as the Trojan War. Concerns of tacitus in the "Agricola" and the "Germania," with providing evidence of a particular political and ideological orientation. Unique insights offered by each historian. Paper Introduction: What is the "proper" approach to writing about history? The perspectives of two ancient historians, Thucydides the Athenian and Cornelius Tacitus the Roman, offer us the opportunity to learn from how they presented historical events and the manner in which they did so. While objectivity, lack of personal bias, extensive reliance on source documents, personal interviews, and even first-hand experience of events and knowledge of event-shapers are all valuable qualities in an historian's work, they are not absolute necessities. Thucydides, in his History of the Peloponnesian War, draws upon oral historical traditions and cultural myths to describe such remote events as the Trojan War, and on the speeches he attributes to some of his contemporaries in the war between Athens and Sparta. Tacitus, in the Agricola and the Germania, seems to be more concerned with providing "evidence" of a Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Whileobjectivity, lack of personal bias, extensive reliance on source documents,personal interviews, and even first-hand experience of events and knowledgeof event-shapers are all valuable qualities in an historian's work, theyare not absolute necessities. I have found it impossible, because of its remoteness intime, to acquire a really precise knowledge of the distant past or even of the history preceding our own period. While Tacitus and Thucydides are "flawed"historians, they are true historians. He acted always with energy and a sense of responsibility (Tacitus, Agricola, 55).Agricola is presented as "possessed by a passion for military glory"(Thucydides, Agricola, 55), and thus can be understood as a stand-in forRome herself. .This "impossibility" does not prevent Thucydides from speculating, based onhis understanding of the myths and legends of his culture, upon the natureof that past. 61 to A.D. He also recognizes that "most people, in fact, will not taketrouble in finding out the truth" (Thucydides, 47). London: Penguin, 1972.----------------------- 5 The Agricola and the Germania. Tacitus, in the Agricola and the Germania, seems to be moreconcerned with providing "evidence" of a particular political andideological orientation than in capturing what we might call "reality" ortrue "objectivity." Despite these superficial drawbacks, both writers arehistorians; they offer readers unique insight not only into actual eventsand the behaviors of key individuals and groups, but also into theunderlying cultural norms, ethics, belief systems and values that existedin their lifetimes. With no help coming to us by land, with all the states along our frontier already enslaved, we choose to abandon our city and to sacrifice our property....we took to our ships and chose the path of danger, with no grudges againstyou for not having come to our help earlier (79).These ideas, put into the mouths of "ordinary" Athenians confronted withcharges against the city, are perhaps as (if not more) expressive of theviews of Thucydides than anything else. . History of the Peloponnesian War. Trans. Therefore he was forced to rely upon the oftenconflicting and incomplete memories and views of those who did witness suchevents. In the case of Tacitus, the content of the Agricola owed much to theexperiences of the historian's own father-in-law, who is the subject of thestory of Rome's activities in Britain from about A.D. Works CitedTacitus. 84. Unlike Thucydides, Tacitus does not begin either the Agricola or theGermania with an outline of his methodology. Forexample, he wrote in Agricola that: He never sought a duty for self-advertisement, never shirked one through cowardice. Like Thucydides, Tacitus was possessed of a love and devotionfor his country, Rome, and admiration for the exploits of his father-in-law, whom he saw as a noble example of that which was best in Rome. Life underthe rule of Domition is depicted as a period of bondage (Tacitus, Agricola,53), and the political views of the writer are in no way disguised.Tacitus seems to have been less concerned with geographic accuracy thanmight be desirable in an historian. Theperspectives of two ancient historians, Thucydides the Athenian andCornelius Tacitus the Roman, offer us the opportunity to learn from howthey presented historical events and the manner in which they did so. In describing his methods in writing the history of the central eventof his lifetime - the war between Athens, his city, and Sparta - Thucydides(47) admits that his technique consists of making use of set speechesdelivered just prior to and during the war. Thucydides (35), speaking of the Hellenic past, admits at the outsetof his text that: . He seems to suggest,quite subtly, that if people will not take the time to find out the truth,one of the roles of the historian may well be to give them that truth. Rex Warner. Mattingly. . He leaves this to the readerto discern, commenting only that he did in fact draw on eulogies ofAgricola and certain "records" regarding the interaction between Romans andGermans (Tacitus, Germania, 1 8). We should also recognize that Thucydides was very much biased infavor of his own city-state, Athens. In theGermania, Tacitus drew upon previously published histories, the warexperiences of Roman legionaries and officers, and the stories told bymerchants. Is this history? . As a historian, he was thereforenot without bias. Trans. While perhapsnot the most rigorous of methodologies, Thucydides' strategy wasappropriate for the time and place in which he lived. Their works have stood the test oftime and provide the contemporary reader with as valid - if ideological andopinionated -a portrait of their worlds as the works of modern-dayhistorians (Eric Foner comes to mind) do of our world. This is apparent in the followingpassage, attributed by Thucydides: And the courage, the daring, that we showed were without parallel. London: Penguin, 197 .Thucydides. He was not physicallypresent at each and every one of the events he records - such as thespeeches given by the Athenians who heard the debate at Sparta and thedeclaration of war (79). He also seems, to a degree, to havefiltered his interpretation of events and approach to humans through his onbiases and prejudices and his belief in the values of the old RomanRepublic and the superiority of the Romans in comparison to other peoples(including the Germans). Thucydides, in his History of thePeloponnesian War, draws upon oral historical traditions and cultural mythsto describe such remote events as the Trojan War, and on the speeches heattributes to some of his contemporaries in the war between Athens andSparta. . Tacitus does not hesitate to employ hisown biases in recording his histories, as is evident in his treatment ofEmperor Domition whom he characterizes as cruel and heartless. He also notes that he "found itdifficult to remember the precise words in the speeches to which I listenedmyself," and that his method therefore consisted of: ....while keeping as closely as possible to the general sense of the words that were actually used, to make the speakers say what, in my opinion, was called for by each situation (Thucydides, 47).This is a very revealing statement: the author of a factual history withstrong ideological underpinnings is admitting to his readers and toposterity that he may well have "made" the speakers say what he, in hisview, felt should have been said. What is the "proper" approach to writing about history? The answer must be "yes." Thucydides (48) goes on tofurther describe his methodology, stating that he made it a "principle notto be guided by my own general impressions," and that in relaying upon eye-witnesses he also "thoroughly checked" their accounts before beginning hisown self-appointed task of recording history for posterity. H. 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