History-writing in the Ancient World

1. History-writing in the Ancient World Sources

2. The following pages are the six sources combined with the source analysis questions in a student scaffold

3. Audience: Who did the author write for? Who might be interested in this information? What do you think a ‘physician’ is? Authorship: Who wrote the document? Where did he come from? Was he an eye-witness of the events described? Judge whether he had a particular point-of-view, or perspective, and what it was? The Plague in Athens, 430 BC ... I had the disease myself, and watched its effects of others...As a rule, however, there was no ostensible cause; but people in good health were all of a sudden attacked by violent heats in the head, and redness and inflammation in the eyes, the inward parts, such as the throat or tongue, becoming bloody and emitting an unnatural and fetid breath. These symptoms were followed by sneezing and hoarseness, after which the pain soon reached the chest, and produced a hard cough. When it fixed in the stomach, it upset it; and discharges of bile of every kind named by physicians ensued, accompanied by very great distress. In most cases also an ineffectual retching followed, producing violent spasms, which in some cases ceased soon after, in others much later. Externally the body was not very hot to the touch, nor pale in its appearance, but reddish, livid, and breaking out into small pustules and ulcers. But internally it burned so that the patient could not bear to have on him clothing or linen even of the very lightest description; or indeed to be otherwise than stark naked. What they would have liked best would have been to throw themselves into cold water; as indeed was done by some of the neglected sick, who plunged into the rain-tanks in their agonies of unquenchable thirst; though it made no difference whether they drank little or much. Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War Book 2 writing around 403 BC, Athenian general and historian • Purpose: What is the author describing? List three symptoms. Why do you think the author wanted to record these events? • Conclusion: How might an historian living today use this source? Write a one paragraph summation of this material OR an evaluation of what it tells us about ancient times.

4. Which language? The Plague in Athens, 430 BC ἐγὼ δὲ οἷόν τε ἐγίγνετο λέξω, καὶ ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἄν τις σκοπῶν, εἴ ποτε καὶ αὖθις ἐπιπέσοι, μάλιστ᾽ ἂν ἔχοι τι προειδὼς μὴ ἀγνοεῖν, ταῦτα δηλώσω αὐτός τε νοσήσας καὶ αὐτὸς ἰδὼν ἄλλους πάσχοντας. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἔτος, ὡς ὡμολογεῖτο, ἐκ πάντων μάλιστα δὴ ἐκεῖνο ἄνοσον ἐς τὰς ἄλλας ἀσθενείας ἐτύγχανεν ὄν: εἰ δέ τις καὶ προύκαμνέ τι, ἐς τοῦτο πάντα ἀπεκρίθη. τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἀπ᾽ οὐδεμιᾶς προφάσεως, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξαίφνης ὑγιεῖς ὄντας πρῶτον μὲν τῆς κεφαλῆς θέρμαι ἰσχυραὶ καὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐρυθήματα καὶ φλόγωσις ἐλάμβανε, καὶ τὰ ἐντός, ἥ τε φάρυγξ καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα, εὐθὺς αἱματώδη ἦν καὶ πνεῦμα ἄτοπον καὶ δυσῶδες ἠφίει:Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War Book 2 writing around 403 BC, Athenian general and historian

5. Authorship: Who wrote the document? Where did he come from? Which language? What reasons does the author give for studying history? • Audience: Why would his audience be interested in ‘vicissitudes of fortune’,the ‘calamities of others’, and the unexpectedness of events? What does this tell us about his history? 1. Had previous chroniclers neglected to speak in praise of History in general, it might perhaps have been necessary for me to recommend everyone to choose for study and welcome such treatises as the present, since men have no more ready corrective of conduct than knowledge of the past. 2But all historians, one may say without exception, and in no half-hearted manner, but making this the beginning and end of their labour, have impressed on us that the soundest education and training for a life of active politics is the study of History, and that surest and indeed the only method of learning how to bear bravely the vicissitudes of fortune, is to recall the calamities of others. 3Evidently therefore no one, and least of all myself, would think it his duty at this day to repeat what has been so well and so often said. 4For the very element of unexpectedness in the events Ihave chosen as my theme will be sufficient to challenge and incite everyone, young and old alike, to peruse my systematic history. 5For who is so worthless or indolent as not to wish to know by what means and under what system of polity the Romans in less than fifty-three years have succeeded in subjecting nearly the whole inhabited world to their sole government — athing unique in history? Polybius The Histories Book I writing around 146-120 BC, Greek hostage living in Rome • Purpose: How many years does the author say it took the Romans to build an empire? What is the subject of his history? Why did the author write this history? • Conclusion: How might an historian living today use this source? Write a one paragraph summation of this material OR an evaluation of what it tells us about ancient times.

6. Which language? Εἰ μὲν τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν ἀναγράφουσι τὰς πράξεις παραλελεῖφθαι συνέβαινε τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς τῆς ἱστορίας ἔπαινον, ἴσως ἀναγκαῖον ἦν τὸ προτρέπεσθαι πάντας πρὸς τὴν αἵρεσιν καὶ παραδοχὴν τῶν τοιούτων ὑπομνημάτων διὰ τὸ μηδεμίαν ἑτοιμοτέραν εἶναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διόρθωσιν τῆς τῶν προγεγενημένων πράξεων ἐπιστήμης. ἐπεὶ δ᾽ οὐ τινὲς οὐδ᾽ ἐπὶ ποσόν, ἀλλὰ πάντες ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἀρχῇ καὶ τέλει κέχρηνται τούτῳ, φάσκοντες ἀληθινωτάτην μὲν εἶναι παιδείαν καὶ γυμνασίαν πρὸς τὰς πολιτικὰς πράξεις τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας μάθησιν, ἐναργεστάτην δὲ καὶ μόνην διδάσκαλον τοῦ δύνασθαι τὰς τῆς τύχης μεταβολὰς γενναίως ὑποφέρειν τὴν τῶν ἀλλοτρίων περιπετειῶν ὑπόμνησιν, Polybius The Histories Book I writing around 146-120 BC, Greek hostage living in Rome

7. Authorship: Who wrote the document? Where did he come from? Which language? At what stage of his life did the author write history? What did he do in his earlier life? • Audience: Why is the author writing in the first person? Do you think the work was read to an audience before it was published? Do you think his audience agreed with him that Roman government had become ‘cruel and intolerable’? When I myself was a young man, my inclinations at first led me, like many another, into public life, and there I encountered many obstacles; for instead of modesty, incorruptibility and honesty, shamelessness, bribery and rapacity held sway...Accordingly, when my mind found peace after many troubles and perils and I had determined that I must pass what was left of my life aloof from public affairs, it was not my intention to waste my precious leisure in indolence and sloth, nor yet by turning to farming or the chase, to lead a life devoted to slavish employments. On the contrary, I resolved to return to a cherished purpose from which ill-starred ambition had diverted me, and write a history of the Roman people, selecting such portions as seemed to me worthy of record; and I was confirmed in this resolution by the fact that my mind was free from hope, and fear, and partisanship. I shall therefore write briefly and as truthfully as possible...But when our country had grown great through toil and the practice of justice, when great kings had been vanquished in war, savage tribes and mighty peoples subdued by force of arms, when Carthage, the rival of Rome's sway, had perished root and branch, and all seas and lands were open, then Fortune began to grow cruel and to bring confusion into all our affairs...Hence the lust for money first, then for power, grew upon them; these were, I may say, the root of all evils. For avarice destroyed honour, integrity, and all other noble qualities; taught in their place insolence, cruelty, to neglect the gods, to set a price on everything. Ambition drove many men to become false... finally, when the disease had spread like a deadly plague, the state was changed and a government second to none in equity and excellence became cruel and intolerable. Sallust iusCrispusThe War With Catiline writing around 50-35 BC, Roman senator and historian • Purpose: Why did the author write history? What does ‘ worthy of record’ mean? Did he have a particular point-of-view? What words does he use to describe the Roman system of government? • Conclusion: How might an historian living today use this source? Write a one paragraph summation of this material OR an evaluation of what it tells us about ancient times.

8. Which language? Omnis homines, qui sese student praestare ceteris animalibus, summa openitidecet, ne vitamsilentiotranseantvelutipecora, quae naturapronaatqueventrioboedientiafinxit. Sed nostra omnisvis in animo et corporesitaest: animiimperio, corporisservitiomagisutimur; alterumnobis cum dis, alterum cum beluis commune est. Quo mihirectiusvideturingeni quam viriumopibusgloriamquaerere et, quoniam vita ipsa, qua fruimur, brevisest, memoriam nostri quam maxumelongamefficere.SallustiusCrispusThe War With Catiline writing around 50-35 BC, Roman senator and historian

9. Authorship: Who wrote the document? Where did he come from? Which language? Was he an eye-witness of the events described? If not, how did he know of the events he describes? • Audience: Who did the author write for? What types of things do you think his audience were interested in? Hannibal crosses the Alps, 218 BC 37At last, when men and beasts alike were worn out by their fruitless exertions, a camp was formed on the summit, after the place had been cleared with immense difficulty owing to the quantity of snow that had to be removed. The next thing was to level the rock through which alone a road was practicable. The soldiers were ordered off to cut through it. They built up against it an enormous pile of tall trees which they had felled and lopped, and when the wind was strong enough to blow up the fire they set light to the pile. When the rock was red hot they poured vinegar upon it to disintegrate it. After thus treating it by fire they opened a way through it with their tools, and eased the steep slope by winding tracks of moderate gradient, so that not only the baggage animals but even the elephants could be led down. Four days were spent over the rock, and the animals were almost starved to death, for the heights are mostly bare of vegetation and what herbage there is buried beneath the snow. In the lower levels there were sunny valleys and streams flowing through woods, and spots more deserving of human inhabitants. Here the beasts were turned loose to graze, and the troops, worn out with their engineering, were allowed to rest. In three days more they reached the open plains and found a pleasanter country and pleasanter people living in it. Titus Livius (Livy) The History of Rome Book 21 writing around 28 BC- 17 AD, Roman Knight and historian • Purpose: Why did the author write history? Did you find the passage interesting and entertaining? Why? Did you find it easier to read than other ancient historians? Why? • Conclusion: How might an historian living today use this source? Write a one paragraph summation of this material OR an evaluation of what it tells us about ancient times.

10. Which language? Hannibal crosses the Alps, 218 BC 37tandem nequiquamiumentisatquehominibusfatigatiscastra in iugoposita, aegerrime ad id ipsum loco purgato—tantumnivisfodiendumatqueegerendumfuit. inde ad rupemmuniendam, per quam unam via essepoterat, militesducti, cum caedendumessetsaxum, arboribus circa immanibusdeiectisdetruncatisquestruemingentemlignorumfaciunteamque, cum et visventi apta1faciendoignicoortaesset, succenduntardentiaquesaxainfusoacetoputrefaciunt. itatorridamincendiorupemferropanduntmolliuntqueanfractibusmodicisclivosut non iumentasolum, sedelephantietiamdeducipossent. quadriduum circa rupemconsumptumiumentisprope fame absumptis; nudaenimferecacuminasunt, et si quid estpabuliobruuntnives. inferioravalles et apricosquosdamcolleshabentrivosque etpropesilvas et iamhumanocultudignioraloca. Titus Livius (Livy) The History of Rome Book 21 writing around 28 BC- 17 AD, Roman Knight and historian

11. Authorship: Who wrote the document? Was he an eye-witness of the events described? What did he do for a career? Judge whether he had a particular point-of-view, or perspective, and what it was? • Audience: Who did the author write for? Why does he refer to who the consuls were? Does the speech add drama to the story? Why was Cordus tried? The Death of CremutiusCordus , the Historian, 25 AD When Cornelius Cossus and Asinius Agrippa were the consuls, CremutiusCordus was prosecuted, with the new and for the first time heard charge, of publishing a history in which he had praised Brutus, and had called Cassius the last of the Romans. Clients of Sejanus, SatriusSecundus and Pinarius Natta, were the prosectors. That was ruinous for Cremutius- as was the Emperor’s grim expression hearing the defence, which Cremutius, already resolved upon abandoning life, began in the following way: Senators, my words are being denounced; so guiltless of deeds am I. And nor are my words with reference to the Emperor or the father of the Emperor, whom the law of treason embraces. I am said to have praised Brutus and Cassius, of whose public deeds many have written, and whom no-one remembered without respect... But to freely express an opinion about those whom death had released from hatred or partiality was totally exempt and without hindrance. Indeed are the armed Brutus and Cassius on the plains of Philippi and am I inciting the people from the platform to the cause of civil war. Or even though they were destroyed seventy years ago, aren’t they known by their own wax effigies, which the victor certainly did not abolish, and so through historians they remain a part of our memory? Posterity repays to every man his own dignity. Nor will those be wanting, if condemnation is imminent, who will not just remember Cassius and Brutus but also myself.” Then he marched from the Senate and ended his life by starvation. Tacitus Roman History (14 - 70 A.D.) Book 3, ch. 34-35 writing around 100-118 AD, Roman senator and historian • Purpose: Why did the author write this passage? Is it relevant that the historian is writing about the persecution of another historian by an emperor? Why is free speech important for history-writing? • Conclusion: How might an historian living today use this source? Write a one paragraph summation of this material OR an evaluation of what it tells us about ancient times.

12. Which language? The Death of CremutiusCordus , the Historian, 25 AD Cornelio CossoAsinio Agrippa consulibusCremutiusCorduspostulatur novo ac tuncprimumauditocrimine, quod editisannalibuslaudatoque M. Bruto C. CassiumRomanorumultimumdixisset. accusabantSatriusSecundus et Pinarius Natta, Seianiclientes. id perniciabile reo et Caesar trucivultudefensionemaccipiens, quam Cremutiusrelinquendae vitae certus in huncmodumexorsusest: 'verbamea, patresconscripti, arguuntur: adeofactoruminnocens sum. sednequehaec in principemautprincipisparentem, quos lexmaiestatisamplectitur: Brutum et Cassiumlaudavissedicor, quorum res gestas cum plurimicomposuerint, nemo sine honorememoravit. Tacitus Roman History (14 - 70 A.D.) Book 3, ch. 34-35 writing around 100-118 AD, Roman senator and historian

13. Authorship: Who wrote the document? Were they an eye-witness of the events described? Where did he come from? Which language? What did he do for a career? • Audience: Who did the author write for? What types of things do you think his audience were interested in? Determine whether this was important for the subject matter and the style of the writing? The Author’s Flight from the Siege of Amida, 359 AD Therefore when the darkness of evening was coming on...I hid with two others in a secluded part of the city, and under cover of a dark night made my escape through a postern gate at which no guard was kept; and, aided by my familiarity with desert places and by the speed of my companions, I at length reached the tenth milestone. At the post-house there we got a little rest, and when we were making ready to go farther and I was already unequal to the excessive walking, to which as a gentleman I was unused, I met a terrible sight, which however furnished me a most timely relief, worn out as I was by extreme weariness. A groom, mounted on a runaway horse without saddle or bit, in order not to fall off had tied the rein by which, in the usual manner, the horse was guided, tightly to his left hand; and afterwards, being thrown off and unable to loose the knot, he was torn limb from limb as he was dragged through desert places and woods, while the animal, exhausted by running, was held back by the weight of the dead body... From there we quickly made our way to the Euphrates river, planning to cross to the farther bank by a boat which long continued custom had kept in that vicinity for the transport of men and animals. But lo! we saw afar off a scattered band of Romans with cavalry standards, pursued by a great force of Persians; and we could not understand how they appeared so suddenly behind us as we went along... Alarmed by this danger, since now all hope of life depended upon speed, through thickets and woods we made for the higher mountains. Ammianus Marcellinus The Roman History writing around 390 AD, Roman Government official, Syrian living in Rome • Purpose: Why did the author write history? Did you find the passage interesting and entertaining? Why? Did you find it easier to read than other ancient historians? Why? • Conclusion: How might an historian living today use this source? Write a one paragraph summation of this material OR an evaluation of what it tells us about ancient times.

14. Which language? The Author’s Flight from the Siege of Amida, 359 AD Itaquevesperatenebrante, cumadhuclicetiniquareluctantefortuna, multitudonostrorummanuconsertadistringeretur, inabstrusaquadamparteoppidicumduobusaliislatens, obscuraepraesidionoctisposticaperquamnihilservabaturevado, etsqualentumperitialocorum, comitumqueadiutusceleritate, addecimumlapidemtandemperveni. Inquastationeleniusrecreati, cumireprotinuspergeremus, etincedendinimietateiamsuperarer, utinsuetusingenuus, offendidirumaspectum, sedfatigatomihilassitudinegravilevamenimpendiotempestivum. Ammianus Marcellinus The Roman History writing around 390 AD, Roman Government official, Syrian living in Rome

15. The full texts • The following texts are held by the teacher for you to use and refer to: • Herodotus, Rawlinson, G., & Blakeney, E. H. (1910). The history of Herodotus. London: Dent. • Thucydides, Warner, R., & Finley, M. I. (1972). History of the Peloponnesian War (Rev. ed.). Harmondsworth, England ; Ringwood, Vic: Penguin Books. • Polybius. (1922). The histories of Polybius. London: Heinemann. • Sallust. (1963). The Jugurthine War ; The conspiracy of Catiline. In S. A. Handford (Ed.) Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. • Tacitus & Grant, M. (1996). The annals of imperial Rome (Rev. ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. • Ammianus Marcellinus(1986). The later Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378) (W. Hamilton & A. Wallace-Hadrill, Trans.). Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. • Hornblower, S., & Spawforth, A. (2003). The Oxford classical dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.