# Ancient Historians on History 1.11-14

Greek and Roman Historians, Ancient Historians on History, Lines 1.11-1.14. Latin.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/latin/greek-and-roman-historians/ancient-historians-on-history/1.11

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For what gives my work its peculiar quality, and what is most remarkable in the present age, is this. Fortune has guided almost all the affairs of the world in one direction and has forced them to incline towards one and the same end; a historian should likewise bring before his readers under one synoptical view the operations by which she has accomplished her general purpose. Indeed it was this chiefly that invited and encouraged me to undertake my task; and secondarily the fact that none of my contemporaries have undertaken to write a general history, in which case I�should have been much less eager to take this in hand. As it is, I�observe that while several modern writers deal with particular wars and certain matters connected with them, no one, as far as I�am aware, has even attempted to inquire critically when and whence the general and comprehensive scheme of events originated and how it led up to the end. I�therefore thought it quite necessary not to leave unnoticed or allow to pass into oblivion this the finest and most beneficent of the performances of Fortune. ( Histories 1.4)
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A historical author should not try to thrill his readers by such exaggerated pictures [as given by Phylarchus], nor should he, like a tragic poet, try to imagine the probable utterances of his characters or reckon up all the consequences probably incidental to the occurrences with which he deals, but simply record what really happened and what really was said, however commonplace. For the object of tragedy is not the same as that of history but quite the opposite. The tragic poet should thrill and charm his audience for the moment by the verisimilitude of the words he puts into his characters' mouths, but it is the task of the historian to instruct and convince for all time serious students by the truth of the facts and the speeches he narrates, since in the one case it is the probable that takes precedence, even if it be untrue, in the other it is the truth, the purpose being to confer benefit on learners. ( Histories 2.56)

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Greek and Roman Historians, Ancient Historians on History. Text: The Latin Library (thelatinlibrary.com), used with permission. Changes: HTML markup removed and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: Used with permission (https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/about.html). Source: http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/historians/hoh.html.