How do we know they were telling the truth

A detailed Summary of How do we know they were telling the truth

How Do We Know They Were Telling the Truth?

The inscription on the reverse of the radiate of Aurelian illustrated at right proclaims that hi si "Restorer of the World." How believable is his claim? Did he really restore the world th the Roman Empire and people? Follow the link to read the article and judge for yourself.

Objectivity is a thorny problem when it comes to interpreting ancient sources. In many, if not most cases, there is only one surviving account of any particular event, emperor, or situation. That person may have been highly opinionated and have had a great personal stake in the events he or she describes. Indeed, the most interesting ancient writers were either highly one-sided or wrote about the social problems and scandals of their day. Anna Comnena, writing in the Eleventh Century, makes it very clear that she is praising the good deeds of her father, the Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus and her Alexiad exalts the Comnenus family name and very vehemently blackens the name of their enemies. Tacitus clearly displays his dislike of the imperial system and his greater dislike of civil wars in his Histories and his Annals. Sometimes, an author will confuse us even more by doing a total flip-flop on an issue. Pro

In summary, it can be shown that we are all better learners when we are the ones to decide what and how to study history. To some people, the lurid stories make history come alive. Some students are interested in little details like whether ancient wheat and bread were very much like their modern equivalents. Others love to hold a coin in their hands, looking at the smooth green patina, seeing a portrait of a beautiful woman or an iron jawed emperor. We daydream about the lives of these people and wander over to their bookshelf to pick up a copy of Cassius Dio to read about that particular special person's life and compare it to our own existence. The study of history means many different things to different people and we all approach it in our own individual way. Our efforts should be directed by what we want to get out of our studies

This all gets back to the issue of whether you consider history a story well-told, an exciting drama with a mixture of fact and legend, or an accurate portrayal of facts, dates, and numbers. The scholarly historian has available to him or her some of the best and most accurate data one would care to use, especially in areas in which a lot of research has been done. The British Museum (as well as almost every national museum in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East) has sponsored, coordinated, and collected data from painstaking research by scholars that probably runs into the millions of study hours. One example is a thin volume called Late Roman Bronze Coinage, in which all the late Roman bronze coin types are listed by mint, emperor, reverse type, and OFFICINA (workshop). There are a few mediocre plates of pictures at the back of the book, but most o

Some common words found in the essay are:
Secret History, Fifth Centuries, Juvenal Procopius, Bronze Coinage, Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian, Sixth Century, Caligula Nero, Cassius Dio, Comnenus Alexiad, roman bronze, late roman, late roman bronze, coin hands, truly objective, bronze coin, sixth century, roman bronze coin, study history, anna comnena,

Approximate Word count = 1140
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous