Historiography

(This subject may not be combined with III. 4 Lyric, 7 Comedy, 15 (b) Late Latin Hexameter Poetry, or 15 (e) Reception of Classical Literature. It is examined by pre-submitted essay and 1.5 hr translation paper [see Introduction to this Greek & Latin Literature section].)

Greek and Roman historians saw their subject matter as epic in scope. Like Homer, they were drawn to treat great wars that involved great suffering. In this paper we look at how the greatest historians of antiquity handled some of the greatest military expeditions of antiquity: the Persian invasion of Greece, the Athenian invasion of Sicily, the Punic Wars, the war against Jugurtha, and the Year of the Four Emperors. We see how the historians exploited their place in the tradition of historiographical writing about great expeditions; with Polybius and Livy, we analyse how two very different historians, one Greek, one Roman, treated the same historical event. We also explore how the historians used speeches to raise questions about the use of the pre-emptive strike, about the tactics of shock-and-awe, and about the causes of war, and we compare the rhetorical techniques employed in their narratives. How far did this rhetoric involve writers in sensationalism and fiction, and how far was it a matter of presenting interpretation in a forceful and persuasive way? How far is interpretation textured by moral and patriotic bias? How concerned were writers to explore what it was to be a Greek or a Roman? How seriously should we take historians' professed ambitions to guide their readers in practical politics?

J. Marincola, ‘Greek Historians’, Greece and Rome New Surveys (2002) C. S. Kraus and A. J. Woodman, ‘Latin Historians’, Greece and Rome New Surveys (1997)

Teaching: University lectures and classes, and tutorials.