Practice question · Multiple choice
Thucydides admits his speeches give what he thought the situation demanded rather than what was said. Why is that admission treated as a mark of rigour?
Hints
- Compare a historian who reconstructs and says so with one who reconstructs silently.
- The rigour is in the disclosure.
Show the answer
C. Because he states his method instead of passing it off as record
Why
Declaring the method is the rigour. Reconstruction was unavoidable without recording; presenting it as transcription would have been the failure.
Practise From Herodotus to Ranke
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