1. Polybius, Histories, 1.3.3-1.3.4, 1.4.6-1.4.11, 3.32.1-3.32.5, 8.11.3-8.11.4, 38.6 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 3.32.1. For this reason I must pronounce those to be much mistaken who think that this my work is difficult to acquire and difficult to read owing to the number and length of the Books it contains. 3.32.2. How much easier it is to acquire and peruse forty Books, all as it were connected by one thread, and thus to follow clearly events in Italy, Sicily, and Libya from the time of Pyrrhus to the capture of Carthage 3.32.3. and those in the rest of the world from the flight of Cleomenes of Sparta on till the battle of the Romans and Achaeans at the Isthmus, than to read or procure the works of those who treat of particular transactions. 3.32.4. Apart from their being many times as long as my history, readers cannot gather anything with certainty from them, firstly because most of them give different accounts of the same matter 3.32.5. and next because they omit those contemporary events by a comparative review and estimation of which we can assign its true value to everything much more surely than by judging from particulars; and, finally, because it is out of their power even to touch on what is most essential. 8.11.3. Again, no one could approve of the general scheme of this writer. Having set himself the task of writing the history of Greece from the point at which Thucydides leaves off, just when he was approaching the battle of Leuctra and the most brilliant period of Greek history, he abandoned Greece and her efforts, and changing his plan decided to write the history of Philip. 8.11.4. Surely it would have been much more dignified and fairer to include Philip's achievements in the history of Greece than to include the history of Greece in that of Philip. 38.6. 1. And this, I think, is why the most thoughtful of the ancient writers were in the habit of giving their readers a rest in the way I say, some of them employing digressions dealing with myth or story and others digressions on matters of fact; so that not only do they shift the scene from one part of Greece to another, but include doings abroad.,2. For instance, when dealing with the Thessalian affairs and the exploits of Alexander of Pherae, they interrupt the narrative to tell us of the projects of the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnese or of those of the Athenians and of what happened in Macedonia or Illyria, and after entertaining us so tell us of the expedition of Iphicrates to Egypt and the excesses committed by Clearchus in Pontus.,3. So that you will find that all historians have resorted to this device but have done so irregularly, while I myself resort to it regularly.,4. For the authors I allude to, after mentioning how Bardyllis, the king of Illyria, and Cersobleptes, the king of Thrace, acquired their kingdoms, do not give us the continuation or carry us on to what proved to be the sequel after a certain lapse of time, but after inserting these matters as a sort of patch, return to their original subject.,5. But I myself, keeping distinct all the most important parts of the world and the events that took place in each, and adhering always to a uniform conception of how each matter should be treated, and again definitely relating under each year the contemporary events that then took place, leave obviously full liberty to students to carry back their minds to the continuous narrative and the several points at which I interrupted it, so that those who wish to learn may find none of the matters I have mentioned imperfect and deficient.,7. This is all I have to say on the subject. II. The Third Punic War |
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2. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 1.1.5, 19.1.6-19.1.8, 37.1.6 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 19.1.6. The most extraordinary instance of all is that of Agathocles who became tyrant of the Syracusans, a man who had the lowest beginnings, but who plunged not only Syracuse but also the whole of Sicily and Libya into the gravest misfortunes. 19.1.7. Although, compelled by lack of means and slender fortune, he turned his hand to the potter's trade, he rose to such a peak of power and cruelty that he enslaved the greatest and fairest of all islands, for a time possessed the larger part of Libya and parts of Italy, and filled the cities of Sicily with outrage and slaughter. 19.1.8. No one of the tyrants before him brought any such achievements to completion nor yet displayed such cruelty toward those who had become his subjects. For example, he used to punish a private individual by slaughtering all his kindred, and to exact reckoning from cities by murdering the people from youth up; and on account of a few who were charged with a crime, he would compel the many, who had done no evil at all, to suffer the same fate, condemning to death the entire population of cities. |
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3. Dionysius of Halycarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 1.6.5 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 1.6.5. And I, who have not turned aside to this work for the sake of flattery, but out of a regard for truth and justice, which ought to be the aim of every history, shall have an opportunity, in the first place, of expressing my attitude of goodwill toward all good men and toward all who take pleasure in the contemplation of great and noble deeds; and, in the second place, of making the most grateful return that I may to the city and other blessings I have enjoyed during my residence in it. |
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4. Dionysius of Halycarnassus, On Thucydides, 9 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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5. Dionysius of Halycarnassus, Letter To Pompeius Geminus, 3.13-3.14 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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6. Lucian, How To Write History, 55 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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