Practice question · Multiple choice
Herodotus preserves accounts he personally doubts; Thucydides confines himself to what he can cross-examine. What is the trade-off between the two methods?
Hints
- Ask what we would not know if Herodotus had applied Thucydides' standard.
- Both choices have a cost.
Show the answer
B. Herodotus preserves what rigour would discard, and conversely
Why
Breadth against reliability. Herodotus' scruple in flagging his doubts is what makes the preserved material usable, and much of what we know about the wider ancient world survives only because he kept it.
Practise From Herodotus to Ranke
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