Ask A Historian

[Pyrrho]

Yes, although Livy does mention his sources. 

http://www.livius.org/li-ln/livy/livy4.html

I read the linked page.  Thank you for that and for your honest labor at a thankless and sisyphean task.
I likely will never fully believe history.  Worse yet, I question my ability to weight incoming information.
But it's the only game in town, so I play.  At least I don't think you're actively trying to scam the rest of us.

He gets trivial thanks, in terms of kudos here and reputation.  This thread, for example, is why I added to his reputation.  I wish he would say more in this thread, of whatever interests him, instead of waiting for questions.  I am enjoying this thread very much.

My guess is, he is a retired history teacher.  Which explains a certain testiness, as one cannot tell one's moronic students that they are asking stupid questions and are fucking hopeless idiots.  Not, that is, if one hopes to keep one's job and collect retirement.


Now, if he wants a really thankless task, he will read David Hume's History of England, and tell me what he thinks of it.  (I have read it, but I have never met anyone else who has, though I understand it was formerly regarded as excellent, when it was first written.)  Probably the best currently available edition is from Liberty Classics, though I do not have that edition.  My guess is, if he did, he would say that Hume's sources were not as good as are available today, and so some of his remarks are off.  But I would be interested in his thoughts regarding Hume's approach and attitude toward his sources.  If one wants a very quick idea of how Hume viewed history, Section X of his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, "Of Miracles," would give one a glimpse.