Ancient Historians and “Enlightened” Reviewers

Extract

Although Dr. Johnson wanted to hear no more of the Punic Wars most of his literate English contemporaries did not agree. Early in the century, to be sure, Thomas Madox found hostility — partly a philosophic revulsion against antiquarian “trash and cinders” and partly a rationalist revolt against the past — to ancient history, and was thereby moved to insist that the knowledge of antiquities could not be impugned without impugning history itself. That this belief had hearty support in succeeding decades is attested by the avid curiosity concerning Herculaneum, the frequent reference in periodicals, and the direct appeal to ancient historians in times of crisis. This “dream of antiquity” changed with the contemporary world. If, at first, archeology—a harmless conversation piece—excited the chief response, threats to liberty, mounting problems of empire, social disorganization, and international anarchy soon drew attention to Greek cities, Hellenistic expansion, and the decline and fall of the Roman Republic and Empire. There was, it is true, but a small harvest of ancient histories, and of these only a few warrant attention. The full measure of devotion must be sought elsewhere: men gained their knowledge of the ancient world not from histories alone but from literature, philosophy, and law.