Sunday, July 7, 2013

The Reliability of Appian’s “History of Rome”



This is a paper I wrote on the reliability of the work by the Greek Historian Appian called "History of Rome". This is not to be copied or used as a source, it is merely a help at further understanding of historical works and historians; as well as to educate on the history of Rome and Greece. NOTE : THIS IS NOT TO BE USED IN ANY WAY  AS A SOURCE IN ANY RESEARCH PAPER OR ANY PAPER, IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ON THIS SUBJECT CHECK THE SOURCES BELOW.

John McInnes
HIS 111-A
(excluded for privacy reasons)
March 6, 2012
The Reliability of Appian’s “History of Rome
           
            During his time as a procurator in Rome, the historian Appian wrote a history of Rome, that started at the beginning of Rome’s history and continued up until the A.D. 160’s.[1] In his account of Roman history, Appian goes throughout the stages of Rome’s history starting with its founding it then continues with the peoples Rome conquers, the Civil Wars, [2] and gives mention of many important people in Roman history such as Julius Caesar, and Tiberius Gracchus.[3] Appian begins with telling the difficult struggle of the Roman people, and tells of how they chose to have a republican form of government rather than a monarchy. In their greatness and strength they flourished and prospered. When Julius Caesar came to power he brought with him the time of the emperors. The emperors were actually kings, but were called imperatores which made them seem like an ordinary citizen, but actually meant that they were the head ,or first citizen. In The Civil Wars, he talks about the conflicts between the Plebians and the Senate of Rome and of how they never had open conflict with each other, until the banished Marcius Coriolanus and the Volsci attacked. There was really no bloodshed in the Senate until Tiberius Gracchus, and others, were murdered for trying to pass laws some of the senators did not like.  This started a time of fighting between the opposing sides that involved open conflict, sometimes leading to people assassinating one another. Appian concludes The Civil Wars ,Book I, with the beginning of the reign of Octavius, Augustus, and the empire.[4] The reliability of the document however is questionable in that Appian was biased, he did not get all the information, and he tended to romanticize what he was saying.
            The time at which Appian wrote, History of Rome, was the Pax Romana.  During this time the Roman Empire experienced great prosperity and peace. It was this time when Appian was born, and when he began his career. Appian liked the Roman Empire and even held the position of procurator Augusti,[5] during which he wrote, History of Rome.[6]  His bias toward Rome is easy to see when reading; he portrays the Romans as people of great virtue and ardor saying things as,” Through prudence and good fortune has the empire of the Romans attained to greatness and duration in gaining which they have excelled all others in bravery, patience, and hard labor.”[7] By doing so he makes the Romans sound more noble than they probably were. Appian was also a monarchist and showed a clear pro-monarchy position in his work. [8] When he talks about the emperors, especially Julius Caesar, he portrays them as keepers of the peace and eliminators of dissention, which had plagued the Senate and Plebians.[9] He portrayed the republican form of government as being unable to keep the peace, to have only caused strife, and to be full of people who were power hungry, and were always close to causing armed conflict with each other.[10]  Because of his biases, it is critical to look through the document and to try to decipher truth from fact, and to back up what Appian has said with other writers.
            We know that not every single iota of history is possible to record, due to the fact that people are not always present, and that some accounts are lost. Still, Appian left much out of his history of Rome. Choosing rather to focus on the wars, he neglected, and sometimes misunderstood, the ways and history of the Republic.[11] One example of how he did this is in how he describes the selections of the Consuls; he says that the consuls are chosen by the senate, when in fact they were chosen by all the people.[12]  Appian actually reduced the material he obtained in order to accommodate an entire history of Rome, up until his present, in one single work.[13]   His leaving out of materials can easily be seen when comparing the lengths of his accounts of wars and battles, compared to that of other things, save the account of Tiberius Gracchus’s trial.[14]  The fact that Appian did not say too much about things other than wars, or other matters, does not change the valuable material that he covers in the thirteenth chapter on the Civil Wars.
            Being born in Alexandria meant Appain was a Greek, and being a Greek meant that he grew up with the stories of people like Achilles, and Jason, and Alexander the Great and stories like Jason and the Argonauts and The Iliad and The Odyssey, and all the classical Greek literature. This influenced Appian and you can see it in his work. Throughout his history of Rome you see his dramatic flair like those you see it told almost like a classical Greek story. One example is the duel between Hannibal and Scipio Africanus. [15] When he wrote his book, Appian directed it toward his fellow Greeks, perhaps to give them a history of the conquerors that sounded like being conquered by the Romans was a great honor. The way Appians portrays Rome at its beginning is that of a people struggling for centuries to make themselves great, that they are a people of great virtue, and that they cannot be stopped by anything.[16]  Greek mythology is also seen when he describes Rome’s vast territory,” Then entering the Mediterranean by the Pillars of Hercules and circumnavigating the same we find under their rule all the islands washed by that sea…”[17] He may have also copied Thucydides, in that in some parts he may have made up his own speeches that he thought some of the people in his work would say. [18] This makes it hard for readers to be able to understand which is made up and what is actual fact, and the same can be said for Greek mythology; it also makes it hard to know if some of these events actually happened and if these people said the things they said.
            Appian’s History of Rome could be a good summary of the history of the Roman Empire up to AD 160, [19]and is a good source for a historian to use if he needs to have a quick overview of its history. Unfortunately his work needs to be cross referenced with other sources of the events he is recording. His bias means that he has taken a side and is more likely to promote an idea, power, or nation, over another. In his attempt to right an entire history of Rome, he left out some of the information he obtained in order to make it all fit into one book, which means that a historian cannot use this as a main source for research. Also, he did not totally understand the republican form of government. Finally, it cannot be trusted to have totally accurate description to some of these places, or facts due to his use of Greek mythology, and his own personal input. His account gives us a romantic, and interesting account of Roman history that would spark a person’s imagination, and desire for adventure, but cannot be a truly reliable source for some of Rome’s history, and should never be used as the truest account of Roman history.


[1]H. White,  The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. ,Appian, (Loeb 1912-1913) 130
[2] Oxford 130
[3] The Cambridge Oxford History,886
[4] Appian, Roman History, translated by Horace White, The Leob Classical Library ( Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1912-1913)
[5] Michael Grant, Greek and Latin Authors, 800 B.C.-A.D. 1000 (New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1980), 28.
[6] Greek and Latin 28
[7] Appian1
[8] Oxford 130
[9] Appian 1-2
[10] Appian 2
[11] Cambridge 886
[12] Appian 2
[13] Oxford 130
[14] Cambridge 886
[15] Greek and Latin Authors 28
[16] Appian 1
[17] Appian 1
[18] Oxford 130
[19] Greek and Latin Authors 28

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Picketts Charge

On this day in 1863 the Battle of Gettysburg was drawing to a close; stopping General Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North. During this battle Confederate forces launched an attack aimed at the center of Union lines. Led by Brigadier General George Edward Pickett 12,000 Confederate troops charged the Union lines. As the Confederates advanced they came under heavy fire from infantry units of the 71st and 69th PA along with Cowan's 1st artillery, suffering heavy losses. Despite the heavy fire the Confederates overran the 69th and 71st PA at an area of the Union lines called the Angle; which was behind a wall that formed a 90 degree angle.This led to General Alexander Webb calling in the 72 PA to reinforce them. With their arrival, the 72nd PA halted the Confederate advance causing them to  retreat behind the western side of the wall, while in the angle the men had resorted to hand to hand fighting. The Angle was eventually overrun by  the 19th MA and the 42 NY. Forcing any Confederates approaching to retreat and capturing or killing any left inside the Angle. In the end Lee retreated back to Virginia, losing the battle. The aftermath showed that both sides had  51,000 casualties from both sides collectively. Four months later Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg address during the dedication of Gettysburg's Soldier National Cemetery.

Sources:
http://www.civilwarhome.com/pickettbio.htm

http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/gettysburg/getty32.aspx

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html?tab=facts

Sunday, June 30, 2013

A Little Overview of What Your Friendly Historian Tends to do.

   Hello and welcome to the blog for your history need and the answer to your various historical questions. As said in the blog's description I am Your Friendly Historian and I intend to help you and others to grow in your love for history and the enrichment that it brings. My posts will hopefully be things for you to not only learn from but to also enjoy and to debate with others who are thinking about the same thing. The posts that I do will also contain things like book reviews and movie reviews that are done on historical events or are historical fictions with fictional characters living during historical events. My posts may be as long as an essay or paper, or as short as a two or three sentences. I will also do video reviews as well to help better portray what it is I am trying to bring to your attention; although I plan to do this with book and movie reviews mostly then with actual topics that I do research on.

   My interests in history began in school after I learned about the R.M.S. Titanic disaster and the loss of life that was attributed to it. As time went on my interests began to include World War 2, American History(I consider these separate topics although they are interlinked) Celtic, British, and European history, and much more. I say this to let you know what my interests are and to what may be in much of the contents of my posts. Although I may post things about what I have always been interested in, I do plan to branch out and to research things for others to know, and if you have a request you may send it to me as well, though I ask that you give me time to respond to it and as to whether or not I will actually do it as there may be things I will not do due to personal reasons, however I doubt that may happen so I am not concerned about it.
  
   Here on Your Daily History Needs you will find posts that are dedicated to help you understand what history is, to help you understand elements that go into history, and to educate and expose you to ways to help your knowledge of history and of the study of history to grow. I do not say that you will like what I post , I am not saying that you know nothing, and I am not saying that what I say should be taken blindly. I know I can be wrong on some things and if that happens I want to be called on it, so I say that after you read my posts go research the topic and try to learn from it, in the end you'll realize that researching it might actually help your understanding of history better than I ever could have. Well I have said all I needed to say thank you to those who become the first to join me on this quest and to say welcome to those who are to come.

Yours In Time,

Your Friendly Historian