hollis (they/them) currently studying classics and archaeology.
i know pretty much everyone knows at this point that most history written by the romans was for the purpose of propaganda but sometimes it’s just really funny to start reading a translation and realize how many didn’t even fucking try to appear unbiased
the preface to this one is explaining that polybius’ thing was that he was very dedicated to history as a recording of facts with proof instead of entertainment with “mythical genealogies, tragic drama, or emotional scenes”
which, at first, sounds cool. and then you read the text
We shall best show how marvelous and vast our subject is by comparing the most famous empires…and measuring them with the superior greatness of Rome. (Histories of Polybius Book 1.2)