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What does an historian do?

What does an historian do?. Definition. What is history? History … is a form of discourse about the past that emphasizes critical analysis and interpretation, though historians disagree violently about how to use the evidence is usually presented in prose narrative

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What does an historian do?

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  1. What does an historian do?

  2. Definition • What is history? • History … • is a form of discourse about the past that emphasizes critical analysis and interpretation, though historians disagree violently about how to use the evidence • is usually presented in prose narrative • claims to offer a trustworthy account of past events.

  3. Tools: Primary sources – texts and archaeological remains • Written word: Alphabets (abecedarium), dialects • “Stuff” of philologists: texts • Prose • Historical – e.g, Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, Livy • Philosophical – e.g., Plato, Arisototle, Cicero • Rhetorical – e.g., Demosthenes, Cicero • Poetic • Epic – e.g., Homer, Vergil • Epinician (victory) – e.g., Pindar • Lyric – odes and hymns: e.g., Horace • Dramatic – tragedies and comedies: e.g.,Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes

  4. How would an historian use any of the following and with what cautions? • Homer’s Odyssey? • Herodotus’ Histories? • Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War? • Aeschylus’ Agamemnon? • Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannos? • Euripides’ Trojan Women? • Aristophanes’ Clouds? • Plato’s Symposium or Phaedo? • Livy’s History of Rome from the Foundation of the City? • Polybius’ Histories? • Cicero’s Against Verres I?

  5. Historians’ tools: Primary sources – media • Papyrus(literature, 8th c.) • Parchment(pergamenum, literature, 3rdc.) • Stone(decrees, laws, epitaphs, honorifics, 7th c.) • Metal(bronze, lead: oracles, curse tablets) • Perishable materials(wood: correspondence)

  6. Ancient historians’ methodology • Ancients and moderns do not use the same approach • Cause and effect was not applied systematically • “Great deeds by great men” the norm • Ancient historians focused on values and morals, politics and the affairs of the citizen

  7. Modern historians’ methodology • Don’t reinvent the wheel – read scholarship before producing more • Ask questions • Interrogate evidence • Analyze evidence • Postulate solutions • Test solutions • Share with intellectual community • Receive feedback and critiques • Use comparative data and studies

  8. My scholarly discipline: epigraphy, or the study of inscriptions • Definition • Purpose: read and interpret • Challenges: not all extant • Analogy: unfinished crossword puzzle • White spaces = missing letters • Clues = knowledge

  9. Epigraphy: genres • Public: laws and lawcodes,treaties with other city-states,military operations, political andfiscal decrees, religious regulations,dedications to the gods, inventories, ballot-box tickets • Private: curses, epitaphs, letters, economic and marital contracts • Private and public: dedications

  10. The epigrapher’s skill set • Linguistics • Cultural content • Stylistic formulae • Dialectal differences • Alphabetical variations • Difference between error and new knowledge • Understanding of the stonemason’s craft • Patience!

  11. The epigrapher’s toolbox • Cameras • Raking light • Magnifying glass • Measurement scales • Eyesight and touching • GPS to calculate location • PCs/PDAs to record data

  12. Squeezes: paper, water, brush

  13. A modern example: reconstructing history from fragments

  14. Imagine you discovered this …

  15. Laid it out like this …

  16. Placed it in a grid like this …

  17. How would you restore it?What knowledge/skills would you employ?

  18. The end result …

  19. A restored text … [Fo]ur sc[or]e a[n]d [se]venyears a[go o]ur [fa]thers b[ro]ugh[t f]or[t]h [on t]his [cont]inen[t a ne]w na[ti]- [o]n c[on]cei[ved] in [liber]ty [an]d ded[icate]d [to t]- [h]e [pro]posit[ion] th[a]t [all men] are created [eq]- [ua]l[.] Now [we are] engaged in a gr[eat ci]vil [war] t- [es]t[i]ng [whe]the[r th]at [nati]on [or an]y nation s- o c[on]cei[ved] and [s]o ded[icate]d [can long] endu- re[.] We are [met on] a great ba[tt]l[efi]eldof th[at] [war.] We have [come to] ded[icate] a portion of th- at [fiel]d as a [fin]al res[ting pl]ace for those [who] here gave [their l]ivesthat [that] nat[ion] migh[t li]ve[.] It [is al]toget[her fi]ttingand [pr]- oper[th]at we should [do th]is. - Gettysburg Address, A. Lincoln, November 19, 1863

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