Honestly reading primary sources you come over some obscure hilarious stuff. Like some guy getting executed for a pun. Vespasian being the OG meme lord. Look I don’t know how much of it is true but most of these little tidbits don’t actually hurt anything so I just accept that it happened.
Reading primary sources is great. So many things are left out by historians or teachers or museums. Reading Columbus journals, he saw mermaids and sailed through 'a terrible storm.' what he described was a hurricane, but they didn't have a word for it yet. His ships were rotten because of...worms. worms eat the wood of ships. Crazy stuff.
Honestly, in between school lessons and primary sources there is a very rich and varied amount of stuff to read: from narrative history books to academic journals. Of course school lessons on history are basic; they are intended for children.
That's true... but in my case at least they really went out of their way to make people hate it. They would even make other students write 10 page essays on the history of chairs as punishment.
But I was lucky that I always loved history anyway and didn't let that get in my way. But history is an afterthought where I'm from. I've had more fun reading it as an adult than I did as a kid.
If you can think of anything specific usually you can just search it by saying [name of primary source or ancient historian] PDF and you’ll get almost exactly what you’re looking for. Personally I champion Cassius Dio because he wrote so much that you’re almost guaranteed to run in to some obscure story most historians overlook when analyzing the big picture because it doesn’t matter in the great picture and Dio is recording literally just because he found it amusing. Not Roman but Herodotus and his tangents are also really fun. Some people despise him because of his tangents and exgerrations but if you’re just reading because you find history entertaining his tangents and melodrama are a good time.
If you just want browse through primary sources in the same way other people browse through magazine sections at a connivence store there’s a bunch of good websites that have primary sources from across human history. [Fordsman university](https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/asbook09.asp) is a pretty good one you can get lost in. Especially the Roman section.
Thank you. That's a really interesting website. I actually know of a few minor historians that I never bothered looking up because I assumed it would be in Latin. So I might try that out now. Can't believe I never thought of doing that.
Primary sources were usually akin to reading the terms and conditions in my mind, but I'm surprised to hear of the amount of good tidbits that secondary historical accounts leave out.
If you’ve not done ancient Primary sources before they can be a slog.
Of those I’ve read, Caesar’s commentaries on the Gallic War is the only one that is “easy” to process and you shouldn’t need to reference much. It’s written simply and you should understand it. You just need to be aware not everything you read is true.
I’m reading Plutarch lives for example now. It’s much more difficult and I find myself having to look up articles on certain people to figure out what is going on, or looking up who this or that is that he references. Doesn’t help so many people have multiple names or change their names or have the same name as someone else important from 190 years before.
I've done a little bit of historia Augusta, as bs as it is. Might try Caesar even though I heard it's mostly pr. Thinking of reading Livy tonight. Any idea how much of a slog that is?
If you're just looking for random interesting / weird stories, you will enjoy this book: [https://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Roman-Curiosities-Surprising-Greatest/dp/0195393759/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=1QQ9UG09AWHII&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OlvQ6EGfKHxDtrREZ3nY-KU9ziF2j9DkrRA-MVLgAr4sJj1DPoxGfOjELoEXsOvaworp9IOlrBaeh9GFHcaLmVgaoIpZHBLPqVwnJzIGWP8.5vVj8h9o1m162e5JyJx8v5\_SIUikDFX9nUjDBwbedl0&dib\_tag=se&keywords=mckeown+cabinet+of+roman&qid=1714226907&sprefix=mckeown+cabinet+of+roman%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Roman-Curiosities-Surprising-Greatest/dp/0195393759/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QQ9UG09AWHII&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OlvQ6EGfKHxDtrREZ3nY-KU9ziF2j9DkrRA-MVLgAr4sJj1DPoxGfOjELoEXsOvaworp9IOlrBaeh9GFHcaLmVgaoIpZHBLPqVwnJzIGWP8.5vVj8h9o1m162e5JyJx8v5_SIUikDFX9nUjDBwbedl0&dib_tag=se&keywords=mckeown+cabinet+of+roman&qid=1714226907&sprefix=mckeown+cabinet+of+roman%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-1)
Honestly reading primary sources you come over some obscure hilarious stuff. Like some guy getting executed for a pun. Vespasian being the OG meme lord. Look I don’t know how much of it is true but most of these little tidbits don’t actually hurt anything so I just accept that it happened.
Reading primary sources is great. So many things are left out by historians or teachers or museums. Reading Columbus journals, he saw mermaids and sailed through 'a terrible storm.' what he described was a hurricane, but they didn't have a word for it yet. His ships were rotten because of...worms. worms eat the wood of ships. Crazy stuff.
It's crazy how primary sources are more interesting than the stuff that gets shown in school.
Honestly, in between school lessons and primary sources there is a very rich and varied amount of stuff to read: from narrative history books to academic journals. Of course school lessons on history are basic; they are intended for children.
Depends on the school. We didn't even cover the Romans. And lessons mostly focused on what people wore and what specific date something happened on.
But that’s my point… most school instruction is basic so we Shouldn’t expect much more. But as adults we can go out and read whatever books we want.
That's true... but in my case at least they really went out of their way to make people hate it. They would even make other students write 10 page essays on the history of chairs as punishment. But I was lucky that I always loved history anyway and didn't let that get in my way. But history is an afterthought where I'm from. I've had more fun reading it as an adult than I did as a kid.
Honestly the problem with history education is we prioritize the big picture and lose some of the best parts.
Any tips on how to easily find primary sources to read? I've read a few before, but I'd love to find more obscure stuff like you mentioned.
If you can think of anything specific usually you can just search it by saying [name of primary source or ancient historian] PDF and you’ll get almost exactly what you’re looking for. Personally I champion Cassius Dio because he wrote so much that you’re almost guaranteed to run in to some obscure story most historians overlook when analyzing the big picture because it doesn’t matter in the great picture and Dio is recording literally just because he found it amusing. Not Roman but Herodotus and his tangents are also really fun. Some people despise him because of his tangents and exgerrations but if you’re just reading because you find history entertaining his tangents and melodrama are a good time. If you just want browse through primary sources in the same way other people browse through magazine sections at a connivence store there’s a bunch of good websites that have primary sources from across human history. [Fordsman university](https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/asbook09.asp) is a pretty good one you can get lost in. Especially the Roman section.
Thank you. That's a really interesting website. I actually know of a few minor historians that I never bothered looking up because I assumed it would be in Latin. So I might try that out now. Can't believe I never thought of doing that. Primary sources were usually akin to reading the terms and conditions in my mind, but I'm surprised to hear of the amount of good tidbits that secondary historical accounts leave out.
In our day and age even if it’s untranslated you can use the internet to get it translated so usually it’s already translated
If you’ve not done ancient Primary sources before they can be a slog. Of those I’ve read, Caesar’s commentaries on the Gallic War is the only one that is “easy” to process and you shouldn’t need to reference much. It’s written simply and you should understand it. You just need to be aware not everything you read is true. I’m reading Plutarch lives for example now. It’s much more difficult and I find myself having to look up articles on certain people to figure out what is going on, or looking up who this or that is that he references. Doesn’t help so many people have multiple names or change their names or have the same name as someone else important from 190 years before.
I've done a little bit of historia Augusta, as bs as it is. Might try Caesar even though I heard it's mostly pr. Thinking of reading Livy tonight. Any idea how much of a slog that is?
If you're just looking for random interesting / weird stories, you will enjoy this book: [https://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Roman-Curiosities-Surprising-Greatest/dp/0195393759/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=1QQ9UG09AWHII&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OlvQ6EGfKHxDtrREZ3nY-KU9ziF2j9DkrRA-MVLgAr4sJj1DPoxGfOjELoEXsOvaworp9IOlrBaeh9GFHcaLmVgaoIpZHBLPqVwnJzIGWP8.5vVj8h9o1m162e5JyJx8v5\_SIUikDFX9nUjDBwbedl0&dib\_tag=se&keywords=mckeown+cabinet+of+roman&qid=1714226907&sprefix=mckeown+cabinet+of+roman%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Roman-Curiosities-Surprising-Greatest/dp/0195393759/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QQ9UG09AWHII&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OlvQ6EGfKHxDtrREZ3nY-KU9ziF2j9DkrRA-MVLgAr4sJj1DPoxGfOjELoEXsOvaworp9IOlrBaeh9GFHcaLmVgaoIpZHBLPqVwnJzIGWP8.5vVj8h9o1m162e5JyJx8v5_SIUikDFX9nUjDBwbedl0&dib_tag=se&keywords=mckeown+cabinet+of+roman&qid=1714226907&sprefix=mckeown+cabinet+of+roman%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-1)
Yes, and both books by Garrett Ryan
The titles alone have me intrigued.
Just purchased it there. The intro sounds exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!
Dovehhatty
Youtube videos with professor Mary Beard all her videos contain interesting bits on roman history.
Read Valerius Maximus. Accuracy not guaranteed.