Transcript pre-modern historiography

Concepts and Methods
Mosaic depicting
Thucydides
Pre-modern historiography
Historians
• Pre-modern historiography (ancient, Christian,
medieval)
• The development of modern historiography
(Renaissance and early modern, von Ranke, 19thcentury historians)
• Marx and Marxist historiography
• The Annales school
• The ‘new’ history (preparing for next term’s
consideration of some recent developments in
historiography)
Why study the history of historiography?
The value of the history of historiography
• Earlier histories are important primary (and
sometimes secondary) sources
• Demonstrates the extent to which history
writing is a product of its time
• Provides insights into some of the theories,
debates and concepts connected with the
practice of history
• Helps us understand some of the assumptions
of the modern discipline of history
Robin George Collingwood
(1889-1943)
British philosopher and historian.
Wrote on the history of Roman Britain, as well
as on metaphysics and aesthetics.
Important contributions to the philosophy of
history: The Idea of History (1946), Essays in the
Philosophy of History (1965), The Principles of
History (2001).
Herodotus of Halicarnassus
(c.484 BCE – c.428 BCE)
Wrote the first major prose
work in European literature: the
Histories
Bust of Herodotus; Roman copy (2nd cent CE of
a bronze Greek original (4th cent BCE)
Outline of Herodotus’ Histories
Book 1. Croesus, king of Lydia,
conquers the Greek cities of
Asia Minor. In turn, Croesus is
defeated by Cyrus, king of
Persia and founder of the
Persian empire.
Book 2. Cyrus is succeeded by
Cambyses, who adds Egypt to
the empire.
Books 3 and 4. Cambyses is
succeeded by Darius—his
military campaigns.
Books 5 and 6. The unsuccessful Ionian revolt, when a number of Greek cities attempt to
throw off Persian rule. Darius’s campaign against Athens, and the defeat of the Persians
at the battle of Marathon (490 BCE).
Books 7-9. The unsuccessful attempt of Xerxes to conquer the whole of Greece.
Opening sentence to the Histories
Herodotus of Halicarnassus, his Researches
[ἱστορίης (‘histories’)—researches, inquiries] are
here set down to preserve the memory of the
past by putting on record the astonishing
achievements both of our own and of other
peoples; and more particularly, to show how
they came into conflict.
Achilles in battle, with goddesses; drawing
after a vase, c.490 BCE
Bust, purportedly of Homer
Achilles fighting Hector
In what ways do Herodotus’ Histories differ from earlier
accounts of the past, such as Homer’s epic poem of the
Trojan War, the Iliad (8th century BCE?)?
Myth
• A common definition: stories that are untrue, false.
• More specifically (and less concerned with their truth
or falsity) they are accounts understanding the past
in sacred, supernatural terms.
• E.g. the Iliad concerns itself with the origins of the
quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, offering
the explanation that the gods are responsible for
this.
According to Collingwood, Herodotus begins by asking
questions, whereas the writer of myths already knows
the answers.
Herodotus on the beginnings of the conflict
between Greece and the East
So much for what Persians and Phoenicians say; and I
have no intention of passing judgement on its truth or
falsity. I prefer to rely on my own knowledge, and to
point out who it was in actual fact that first injured the
Greeks; then I will proceed with my history…
The nature of Herodotus’ researches
There were other things, too, which I learnt at Memphis
in conversation with the priests of Hephaestus, and I
actually went to Thebes and Heliopolis for the express
purpose of finding out if the priests in those cities would
agree in what they told me with the priests at Memphis.
(Histories, III.3)
My business is to record what people say, but I am by no
means bound to believe it—and that may be taken to
apply to this book as a whole. (Histories, VII.152)
Collingwood: ‘what is remarkable about the Greeks was not the fact that their
historical thought contained a certain residue of elements which we should call nonhistorical, but the fact that, side by side with these, it contained elements of what we
call history.’
Herodotus on liberty
Thus Athens went from strength to strength, and
proved, if proof were needed, how noble a thing
equality before the law is, not in one respect
only, but in all; for while they were oppressed
under tyrants, they had no better success in war
than any of their neighbours, yet once the yoke
was flung off, they proved the finest fighters in
the world. (Histories, V.78)
Thucydides (b. c.460-455 BCE; d. after
404 BCE)
Important member of Athenian
society.
Elected a general in 424 BCE, but
suffered a defeat at the hands of the
Spartans, was put on trial, and
condemned to exile.
Wrote The Peloponnesian War while in
exile.
The Peloponnesian War—
conflict between Athens (and
her allies) and Sparta (and her
allies) from 431-404 BCE,
ending in the defeat of Athens.
Thucydides’ account of it is
unfinished; it ends in 411 BCE.
Thucydides on the value of his work
The absence of romance in my history will, I fear,
detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged
useful by those inquirers who desire an exact
knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of
the future, which in the course of human things must
resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content. In
fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to
win the applause of the moment, but as a possession
for all time.
Thucydides on political moderation
rather than fanaticism
The knowledge of what had happened previously in other
places caused still new extravagances of revolutionary zeal,
[with]… unheard-of atrocities in revenge…
Anyone who held violent opinions could always be trusted,
and anyone who objected to them became a suspect…
human nature, always ready to offend even where laws exist,
showed itself proudly in its true colours, as something
incapable of controlling passion, insubordinate to the idea of
justice, the enemy of anything superior to itself… Men take it
upon themselves to begin the process of repealing those
general laws of humanity which are there to give a hope of
salvation to all who are in distress, instead of… remembering
that there may come a time when they, too, will be in danger
and will need their protection. (Peloponnesian War, book 3)
Thucydides on the effects of plague in
Athens in 430 BCE
The catastrophe was so overwhelming that men,
not knowing what would happen next to them,
became indifferent to every rule of religion or of
law.
No fear of god or law of man had a restraining
influence. As for the gods, it seemed to be the
same thing whether one worshipped them or
not, when one saw the good and the bad dying
indiscriminately. (Peloponnesian War, book 2)
The status of history and historical writing
in the ancient world
• History was considered distinct from but less valuable than
philosophy and poetry
• History was not considered an autonomous discipline within
ancient education, or within classical culture more generally
• History writing provided examples of literary style
• History provided examples of morality; Dionysius of
Halicarnassus (1st cent. BCE): ‘history is philosophy teaching by
example’
• History writing was closely associated with the development
of civic pride and civic identity
Titus Livius (Livy)
(?64 BCE – ?17 CE)
Born in Padua; spent most of his life in
Rome.
Lived at a time of rapid political
change: Julius Caesar had been
assassinated in 44 BCE, and a period of
civil conflict resulted in the end of the
Roman Republic and the beginning of
the Roman Empire under Augustus in
27 BCE.
Wrote a 142-volume history of Rome,
Ab urbe condita (From the Founding of
the City); 107 volumes of this history
have been lost.
Livy on moral decline, and history as
medicine for a sick mind
[Livy invites the reader to] trace the progress of
our moral decline, to watch, first, the sinking of
the foundations of morality as the old teaching
was allowed to lapse, then the rapidly increasing
disintegration, then the final collapse of the
whole edifice, and the dark dawning of our
modern day when we can neither endure our
vices nor face the remedies needed to cure
them. The study of history is the best medicine
for a sick mind.
Cornelius Tacitus (?56 - ?118 CE)
Early career as a politician.
Like Livy, Tacitus also lived through
turbulent political times, e.g. the suicide of
Nero in 68 and the Year of the Four
Emperors in 69.
(Fictitious) portrait of
Tacitus
Wrote the Histories (covering the period
from his youth up to his retirement after
the murder of the Emperor Domitian (96
CE); the Annals (covering the period 14-68
CE); and other works, including the
Germania, an ethnographic treatise on the
German tribes.
Tacitus on Sejanus’ reign of terror
Friends and relatives were as suspect as strangers, old stories as damaging as
new. In the Forum, at a dinner party, a remark on any subject might mean
prosecution. Everyone competed for priority in marking down the victim.
Sometimes, it was self-defence, but mostly it was a kind of contagion, like an
epidemic. (Annals, 6.7)
At Rome there was unprecedented agitation and terror. People behaved
secretively even to their intimates, avoiding encounters and conversation,
shunning the ears both of friends and strangers. Even voiceless, inanimate
objects—ceilings and walls—were scanned suspiciously. (Annals, 4.69)
They [Sejanus’ son and daughter] were taken to prison. The boy understood
what lay ahead of him. But the girl uncomprehendingly repeated: ‘What have
I done? Where are you taking me? I will not do it again!’ She could be
punished with a beating, she said, like other children. Contemporary writers
report that, because capital punishment of a virgin was unprecedented, she
was violated by the executioner, with the noose beside her. Then both were
strangled and their young bodies were thrown on to the Gemonian steps.
(Annals, 5.6)
Tacitus on the value of his history
now that Rome has virtually been transformed into an
autocracy, the investigation and record of these details
concerning the autocrat may prove useful. Indeed, it is from
such studies—from the experience of others—that most men
learn to distinguish right from wrong, advantage and
disadvantage… So these accounts have their uses. But they
are distasteful. What interests and stimulates readers is a
geographical description, the changing fortune of a battle, the
glorious death of a commander. My themes, on the other
hand, concern cruel orders, unremitting accusations,
treacherous friendships, innocent men ruined—a
conspicuously monotonous glut of downfalls and their
monotonous causes. (Annals, 4.32-3)
Features of Roman historiography
• Both Livy and Tacitus (as well as Sallust, ?86 BCE-?35 BCE) were
mostly concerned with political and military history.
• The Roman historians saw history as useful and instructive (for
Sallust writing history was a kind of political action), and as
providing examples of human behaviour, of morality in action.
• Histories tended to focus on the individual.
• The Roman historians desired to write accurate histories,
although divine elements were not entirely absent (e.g. in Livy).
• History was understood to follow a cyclical pattern of rise and
decline; particularly in the cases of Sallust and Tacitus, they saw
themselves as living in a period of decline.
• Literary style was an important feature of Roman
historiography.
Judeo-Christian tradition
• Old Testament (Jewish Tanakh) account of the past
from the Creation, and its history of the Jewish
people
• New Testament account of the life of Christ in the
four Gospels, and of the Acts of the Apostles
• Time in this tradition is linear rather than cyclical
• History is guided by divine providence (divinely
ordained events and divine intervention in human
affairs to uphold the order of the universe)
• A providential scheme encompassing past, present
and future (the Revelation of St John)
Christian historiography
• Early histories were often polemical, reflecting an embattled and persecuted
people. History writing was seen as a way of justifying the Judeo-Christian as
opposed to pagan past.
• Many histories tried to connect pagan history with the Judeo-Christian past.
• Desire to create an authoritative history of faith, based on documents (e.g.
Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, written in about 325).
Collingwood identifies four characteristics:
1. It is universal, treating all of humanity and extending back to the beginning of time.
2. It is guided by divine providence rather than by human actions; God, rather than
humans, is the ultimate agent in this history.
3. It detects intelligible patterns in events; e.g. events may be seen as precursors of
the coming of Christ, or they may be understood as part of Christ’s revelation.
4. History is divided into epochs, e.g. four monarchies or empires, or the Six Ages (as
outlined by Augustine).
The Six Ages
The First Age: From Adam to Noah.
The Second Age: From Noah to Abraham.
The Third Age: From Abraham to David.
The Fourth Age: From David to the
Babylonian Captivity.
The Fifth Age: From the Captivity to the
Advent of Jesus Christ.
The Sixth Age: From Christ to the Last
Judgement.
Image from the
Winchester Bible (14th
century) illustrating
the Last Judgement,
i.e. the end of history;
the Winchester Bible
also illustrates the
other Six Ages
The Four Kingdoms of Daniel; and the Fifth Monarchy
Daniel’s vision of the Four Beasts (a prophetic
vision corresponding, according to some
interpreters, to four world empires making
up an historical scheme); engraving by
Matthäus Merian the Elder, 1630
Title-page to William Aspinwall, A
Brief Description of the Fifth
Monarchy (1653)
Apocalypticism and Christian theories of time and history: Joachim of Fiore
Two illustrations from manuscripts of works by Joachim of Fiore (c.1132-1202).
Joachim understood history according to three eras (or statuses), corresponding with the Trinity:
the Father (the Old Testament), the Son (New Testament), and the Holy Spirit (a time that is
imminent). Each era lasted 42 generations (with about 30 years per generation), and according to
Joachim the end of the second era would be c.1260. The end of the second era marks the seventh
head of the Dragon from the Book of Revelation, which is Antichrist. The seven heads represent
persecutors of Christians (e.g. Saladin is symbolized by the sixth head).
Left: three interlocking circles signifying the three eras or statuses of human history.
Right: the seven-headed dragon
The writing of ‘national’ histories
A number of ‘national’ histories, conceived within the
universal-historical framework, were written by early
medieval historians.
• Jordanes (6th century), De origine actibusque
Getarum (On the origin and deeds of the Goths) or
Getica, c.551
• Gregory of Tours (c.538-94), Historia Francorum
(History of the Franks), completed 594
• Paul the Deacon (c.720-c.799), Historia
Langobardorum (History of the Lombards), between
787 and 796
Bede (672/3 – 735)
Wrote (among other works) the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
(Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed c.731.
His adoption of ‘Anno Domini’ as the method of dating was crucial to its
general adoption.
Bede as imagined by J. D. Penrose, 1902
A page from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; entry for
year 871, with an account of battles between
Wessex and Vikings
The opening page of a later manuscript copy of the
Peterborough Chronicle, the only prose history in
English between the Norman Conquest and the 14th
century
William of Malmesbury
(c.1095/6 – c.1143)
Wrote Gesta regum Anglorum (Deeds of the
English kings), completed 1127; Gesta
pontificum Anglorum (Deeds of the English
bishops), 1125; and Historia novella (New
history), unfinished.
Influenced by Bede; aimed to present
‘substantial’ truths and an unbiased
account.
Human behaviour was nevertheless
understood according to divine influence;
and Christian morality pervades his
histories.
Stained glass window in
Malmesbury Abbey, depicting
William of Malmesbury, 1928
Medieval diversification
• Move away from adherence to classical models in
the 12th and 13th centuries
• Modest revival of interest in some Latin authors,
especially Virgil and his epic poem the Aeneid
• Geoffrey of Monmouth (c.1100-c.1155) wrote a
fanciful history, the Historia regum Britanniae
(History of the kings of Britain), that tried to trace the
origins of the British back to Brutus, a descendant of
the Trojan hero Aeneas; his history also included his
Prophecies of Merlin, our main source for the
Arthurian legends
• Appearance of chivalric histories, designed to
entertain an aristocratic audience
Battle of Poitiers, 1356
Battle of Crécy, 1346
Illustrations to Jean Froissart (c.1337-c.1405), Chroniques
(Chronicles), completed in 1400; an important source for our
knowledge of the Hundred Years’ War
Conclusion: some features of ancient and
medieval historiography
• History distinguished from other practices, such as poetry and philosophy
• A literary practice; histories were seen as models of style
• Historians often claimed their works to be ‘useful’, particularly as they
contained repositories of human behaviour; ancient historians saw
political value in understanding the causes of past events
• Christian authors tended to see the greater purpose of confirming the
authority of their faith and understanding God’s purpose
• History tended to be written for an educated audience, and often
(particularly among ancient authors) for an audience of citizens who had
some say in civic politics
• History emerged from the civic culture of Greece and Rome—the city was
the focus of political identity; Christianity added a new element of
universal history, and the focus shifted onto the study of peoples that
transcended the attention to political, civic entities such as the city
• The Middle Ages saw a gradual diversification of historiographical practice