The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-05-22
so,rr NEW sooxA
new lasss upo. er..s History.

PERCY GAppSEn. has collected and interpreted
the historical results OF recent excavations In
Greece and Asia Minor. BY the title OF his
hook. Neo CHAPTERS IN Greek Histo,N he
means, OF course. tho chapters which have
been opcncd to us at Mycena. at Olympia,
ou tho hill Of Hissarlik. In Cyprus. and In tho
other scenes OF recent researches. What no
purposes to describe is. in word. tho contri.
buttons OF tho spade TO history. It is. how
ever. not technical but popular EXPOSE
tton. Mr.. Gardner Is not writing for his fellow
archnoiogists. but for the ordinary educated
rcador-for those who are acquainted with
tho history. or the nrt. OF Greece. and who wish
20 MI up gaps in their knowledge. or to learn
in what directions excavation is increasing
our acquaintance with ancient Hellas.
!.
Mr.. Gardner begins his series OF essays by
reminding US OF the broad distinction between
objective history on the ono hand and
idsal history or tho other. Objective history
rccounts what actually occurred. while ideal
history Cives the version OF fact which tho
writer himself believes, or desires his read
ers to believe. II we except Thucydides.
and possibly Hcrodotus and Polybfus. all the
historians OF classical times were producers OF
ideal history. We can only elicit The objec.
two truth from their versions by bringing tho
latter into contact with four kinds OF touch
stones. viz. geographical facts. inscriptions.
works OF art. npd coins Nor are these tests
euoally unerriNe. Inscriptions. for example.
are simply statements which 1t was the inter-
est Of a given locality at q Givon time to
have beloved. H. indeed. an inscription
given men hold tho Office OF Consul.
there ia no reason to doubt It H. on the
other hand. tho Inscription registers q
victory over q forNisn enomy. It Is not neces.
sarly trustworthy. We are not, however. to
assume that because Greek and Roman his
tories belong for tho most part to tho ideal
category. they should therefore be neglected.
On the contrary. 1t las often happened that
beliefs ma to what took pluce. though not cor
responding to the facts. yet exercised greater
political and social influence than the facts
them. elves. Take. for instance. the story OF
tho war against Troy. We do not know
whether tho tradition was based upon fact or
not nor would the decision OF this point be OF
great importance In relation to subsequent
Greek history. The contemporaries OF
Miltindes and OF Alexander believed tho Trojan
war to be an historical fact. and that belief
exercised on enormous effect on their polit-
zeal and military actions 80. II not itself
fact. the Trojan war became the cause OF In
Vulnerable facts.
Examining the several tests applicable to
history. AIR Gardner points out that the geo.
graphical Is tho most objective. The facts on
which this Is based depend not at all upon
man and his iancies. but on tho laws Of phys
les and chemistry. 1t may turn out that geo.
graphical fact is totally at variance with all
the accounts Of an event which have como |
down to us. In such q case ideal history can
not DO transformed into objective history. !
But far more frequently the facts Of geography |
will establish one version and discredt the |
conflicting version OF nm event. A striking ex- |
ample Is presented in the criticism made by |
Prof. Goodwin OF Harvard College on the &C. |
count OF the battle OF Sa1amis. which has gen.
orally passed current and Is adopted By |
Grote. Busolt. and other authoriueh This ac-
count. based profeesedly upon tho text Of
Herodotus. assumes that on the night before
the battle the Persian feet. which had been
moved right along tho shore Of Attica to |
Eleusis so as to block the Greek feet |
inro the opposite harbor Of salamis:
and that with morning It advanced In |
. long line from the shore Of Attica against the
Greek fleet to destroy It After personal in |
spcction Of the locality. Prot Goodwin has do |
clared that the account cannot DO reconciled
with tho geographical facts Of the strait He
accordingly adopts the alternative view. which
the conlguratlon Of tho district permits.
namely. that the Persians blockaded the west
ing q squadron around tho south coast Of the
island OF Salamis. Having. as he believes. es-
tablished the objective fact, he undertakes to
show that the language of Diodorus and OF |
Eschylus. and even that Of Herodotus. may
b. reconoled with his own view.
II.
We have said that the testlmonyof inscrip-
tons must be judged by the same canons as
IN
some cases only help us to recover ideal. not |
objective. history. II. however. IN inscription
contains q law or deoreo Of any kind. it is IN
objective fact that tho law or decree was |
passed and recorded by authority. The i'm
portance OF the cuneiform inscriptions has |
been brought home to US in connection with |
the question OF the credibility OF Herodotus. |
Not many years ago scholars wore divided ON |
the question whether the testimony Of Herod-
otus or that OF Ctesias was preferable in re-
gard TO the ancient history OF the East. The
means OF veriloation offered by the cunoiform
tablets havo enabled US to determine for all
time that CtesiRs was the impostor and Herod-
otus tho true witness, II tho value OF Crock
inscriptions hus seemed less demon strable.
this Is because 1t is seldom possible to place
opposite page Of Thucyddes or Horodotus
the text OF q Greek inscription disprovlnE
or confirming the writer's statement. This
can sometimes be- done. however: for ex-
amrlo. Groto rejected on tho ground Of
the silence OF Thucydides the assertion
OF some ancient authorities that the trib-
ute exacted by the Athenians from their
Allies was doubled toward the end OF tho
Peloponnesinn war. nor could the question
have boon settled but for the testimony OF an
Inscription published by K0hler. which proves
beyond question that such doubling Of the
tribute did occur. Tho new fact tells against
Grotes view OF the character Of tho Athenian
Government Tho corrections OF historical
statements. however. due to inscriptions are
but . small part Of their use and Importance.
They open fields untraversed by tho ancient
historians They show US what wore the rela-
lions between city and city. what laws were
passed to govern the conduct OF the citizens.
what decrees In honor OF benefactors. They
reveal to us hundred traits Of manners and
feeling. religious observances. and customs OF
daily life. The ancient historians give full de-