| Description |
1 online resource (xvi, 361 pages) : illustrations |
| Physical Medium |
polychrome |
| Description |
text file |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-315) and indexes. |
| Summary |
This book is a study of the various claims to authority made by the ancient Greek and Roman historians throughout their histories and is the first to examine all aspects of the historian's self-presentation. It shows how each historian claimed veracity by imitating, modifying, and manipulating the traditions established by his predecessors. Beginning with a discussion of the tension between individuality and imitation, it then categorises and analyses the recurring topoi used to establish the historian's authority: how he came to write history; the qualifications he brought to the task; the inquiries and efforts he made in his research; and his claims to possess a reliable character. By detailing how each historian used the tradition to claim and maintain his own authority, the book contributes to a better understanding of the complex nature of ancient historiography. |
| Contents |
The scope and subject of the book -- Authority -- Tradition -- History's place and audience -- The greatness of the subject -- Decisions and dreams -- Dedications and the desires of friends -- Glory and renown -- Eyes, ears and contemporary history -- Closed societies and privileged access -- Improving the past -- Myth and history -- The importance of character -- Experience -- Effort -- Impartiality -- Praise and self-praise -- Person and perspective -- Strategies of self-presentation -- The uses of polemic -- Polemic and self-definition -- Continuity and culmination -- App. I. Table of historians -- App. II. Name and nationality -- App. III. Isocrates on autopsy and inquiry? -- App. IV. Variant versions. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
History, Ancient -- Historiography.
|
|
History, Ancient -- Historiography. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
|
| Other Form: |
Print version: Marincola, John. Authority and tradition in ancient historiography. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1997 0521480191 (DLC) 96018630 (OCoLC)34704951 |
| ISBN |
0511002297 (electronic book) |
|
9780511002298 (electronic book) |
|
9780521480192 (hardback) |
|
0521480191 (hardback) |
|
0521480191 (hardback) |
|
