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IV - THE HISTORIAN'S DEEDS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2010

John Marincola
Affiliation:
New York University
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Summary

Up to this point our concern has been how the ancient historian justifies himself before his audience and attempts to portray himself as the proper person for the writing of history, that is, with his role as narrator rerum. The present chapter examines how he approaches his task when a participant in the very deeds he records, and how he reconciles the dual role of actor and auctor rerum. For in fact many historians of the ancient world had the opportunity to be both participant and rememberer. The historian's formal method of presenting himself has received comparatively little attention, yet it is of interest not only because it tells us something of the way that men who wrote history in the ancient world approached the writing of their own deeds, but also what their concerns were in doing so. It is usually assumed that in order to give authority to his account, an historian who narrated his own deeds used the third person and maintained a show of formal impartiality. But a study of the surviving (and partially surviving) historians reveals a variety of approaches and methods, changing with time, the specific type of history written, and the individual intention of the historian himself.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1997

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  • THE HISTORIAN'S DEEDS
  • John Marincola, New York University
  • Book: Authority and Tradition in Ancient Historiography
  • Online publication: 29 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584831.006
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  • THE HISTORIAN'S DEEDS
  • John Marincola, New York University
  • Book: Authority and Tradition in Ancient Historiography
  • Online publication: 29 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584831.006
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • THE HISTORIAN'S DEEDS
  • John Marincola, New York University
  • Book: Authority and Tradition in Ancient Historiography
  • Online publication: 29 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584831.006
Available formats
×